The New Neighbors

February 26, 2018
Dueling unreliable narrators drive this creepy psychological thriller from British author Lelic (The Facility). Married couple Jack and Sydney (aka Syd) have saved hard to buy a rundown London house, but they can barely afford it. From the beginning, Jack is bothered that the previous owner, a retiree who ran off to Australia to marry a woman he met on the internet, left behind all his junk, including a collection of stuffed birds. On the other hand, Syd “fell in love with the place right from the start.” A few weeks after they move in, Syd becomes intrigued by a mysterious neighbor, 13-year-old Elsie Payne, and Jack is unsettled to find a box of stuff a little girl would keep in the attic. Neither confides in the other about these developments. When someone is murdered just outside their house, the tension between them grows. That a dark past secret hangs over Jack and Syd gradually emerges. Readers expecting Gone Girl would do best to lower those expectations and just enjoy the intense ride. Agent: Caroline Wood, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.).

With their appealing British accents, narrators Adam Newington and Gemma Whelan convincingly portray young marrieds Jack and Sydney. In the beginning of Lelic's clever psychological thriller, the couple are almost giddy about finding a home they can afford in London. But their outlook turns darker as the eeriness of the house and the neighbors triggers a downturn of events that culminates with a corpse in their back alley. Lelic lets the mystery evolve slowly as Jack and Syd take turns writing sections of a report to the police to explain their innocence in the murder. Both narrators skillfully adjust pacing and intensity as suspicions threaten the couple's safety and marriage. This is a well-written, masterfully presented thriller with broad appeal. M.O.B. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine