This is Stepford Wives in a Trans-Urban twist. In Dec of 2016 a book titled The Missing by Caroline Eriksson was one of the Kindle Firsts for the month. I disliked that book because the suspense was bogged down in all the over wrought hand wringing self doubt that killed the book for me from getting anywhere and sadly it is shades of that for me here.

Neighborly, by Katrina Jackson | The StoryGraph

I wish the book had done a better job of fleshing out Kat and Ellen’s childhood friendship. I didn’t care that they reconciled or not because I didn’t have any insight to their history.When Kat and Doug buy their small home in their dream community, everything soon starts to look nightmarish. Somebody is leaving unpleasant notes at their house, stealing their parcels and perhaps spiking Kat's drinks. Kat's got a dark history that she keeps secret from even her husband and that secret runs through the book as an undercurrent. As her dream starts to fall apart, the strange happenings in her neighbourhood leave her unsure who can be trusted and who can't - including her husband, Doug. This was a Kindle First Reads book, and I was excited to read it based on the synopsis. Everything in this book could have been wrapped up in a short story.

Neighborly by Ellie Monago | Goodreads

I wasn’t sure I would like this book as (a) I’m not keen on American novels and (b) I’ve already read several psychological thrillers about neighbours from hell. But it seemed the best of the bunch of the Kindle First on offer this month. But wow, once It got going I couldn’t put it down and I was frustrated that work and other duties got in the way of me reading. Life in her new neighborhood isn't that perfect, someone is leaving her threatening notes and it turns out her neighbors are a bunch of creepy swingers who want Kat and Doug as fresh meat for their sex sandwiches or whatever it is that swingers do with fresh meat. That is the first half of the story. What happens thereafter in Neighborly is equivalent to a sharp right turn on a curvy road. The story shifts directions and touches on many issues, including Kat's childhood trauma. Not only that the person behind the notes steps up and that scenario is detailed through another perspective. The danger Kat faces is suddenly life-threatening. Kat and Doug have used literally all their money to buy a house in the "perfect" neighbourhood and basically, right from the outset, things are not as perfect as they seem. There's something odd about the street and the inhabitants but this idea initially comes from Kat who isn't the most reliable of sources. That’s not exactly a critique; was interesting to an extent. I also thought the anguish Kat felt as a new mother felt very real. I don’t have kids by choice and a lot of the fears revealed by Kat are major reasons as to why. I did get a little tired of Kat’s insecurities being hashed over and over and over and over.... you kind of get why, as you learn more about her past. But at some point she just becomes this weepy, needy nuisance.But really there was not ENOUGH suspense or at least I was too preoccupied by all the overpowering emotion baggage from Kat. sListen, I am not a prude but I feel like it is not fair or really cool to not give readers a heads up about the incredible amount of highly sexual content of this book. How about a quote from the meat of the suspense: "Just because your paranoid doesn't mean nobody's after you." As increasingly sinister and frighteningly personal notes arrive, each one stabs deeper into the heart of Kat’s insecurities, paranoia, and most troubling, her past. When the neighbors who seemed so perfect reveal their open secret, the menace moves beyond mean notes. Someone’s raising the stakes. As for side characters, there’s about 3 million. To be honest, they all merged into one in my head and I couldn’t actually remember who was who whenever a name popped up, apart from Andie, who had a bit more of a developed story than the rest of them.

Neighborly Books - Goodreads

The book will be loved by those who can overlook some of the things that just didn't sit with me. Not enough suspense for a book billed as suspense, the fry pan in the face with the sex talk that would make Dr. Ruth blush. F bombs not included. Fortunately her husaband with the Zoey Daschnell* smile is there to sort of support her while mostly just being an adolescent man-baby who needs attention, what with the wife being so distracted by the other things and gross baby stuff. Also, this ruggedly masculine but still charming man with Urban Outfitter good looks has to be pressured to do anything and will whine like an child whenever asked to contribute. Other than that, totally supportive and worth fighting for! In a neighborhood that just recently finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey and then discovered fetlife and google sheets, one woman must confront her past and being a new mother and postpartum depression and moving into a tiny house and fitting into the perfect neighborhood, all while learning how social media works. I started reading this on vacation and had to stay up one night to finish the last half of the book to find out who was causing the mental turmoil for Kat and trying to destroy her. I needed to know. There were some interesting events that tugged on my emotions. How did I feel about Kat? How did I feel about her neighbors? Did any of her neighbors remind me of people I knew or met? Could I predict the outcome?The whole neighborhood of swingers thing was predictable but I think it was supposed to be. It was cheesy, in ways, but kind of interesting thanks to the extra dialogue that reflected the psychoanalysis I mentioned earlier. I could never do spouse sharing but this book subtly made cases for or against it, that made it feel a little less smutty. Kat is a struggler, she struggles with just about everything like her self esteem, her marriage and sex life, money, her successes and/or failures as a mother, her new home, her new neighbors/friends and her in laws whom she does not like. Oh and there's that secret she struggles with on the daily. I really didn't take to any of the characters, had no empathy or sympathy with them, and finished the book feeling thankful they weren't my real neighbours because I was fed up and bored with all of them.

Neighborly Vacation (Getting Neighborly Book 6) eBook A Neighborly Vacation (Getting Neighborly Book 6) eBook

I will say that the writing in this book is alright. It’s not the greatest but it did well to keep me interested. It’s just a shame that the story that went along with it couldn’t keep up with the quality. As mentioned before, this really is one of those ‘throwaway thrillers’, I can assure you I will have forgotten the story or the characters within a few months, even though I semi-enjoyed it while reading. The plot for this one is nothing unique but it is quite gripping at times and I did enjoy the guessing game of who the baddie was going to be. I had my suspicions about parts of the plot which ended up being correct, but at no point did I have any clue who was leaving the notes… until the chapters begin changing POV. Monago continues to keep the identity of the person undercover, but it becomes really easy to work out who they are, and so even that last reveal becomes dulled by the long drawn out process of officially finding out who they are. Just because your paranoid doesn't mean nobody's after you. F bombs and highly sexualized content. Childhood is a template for all that comes later The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”Good fences make for good neighbors. Minding your own business and not interacting with your neighbors makes for better neighbors! After putting all of the pieces together Kat confronts her tormenter/s and tries to make a citizens arrest. It goes a little something like this... Kat to Guilty Party: “Hello there, long time no see. I finally figured it out! Nice cosmetic surgery by the way. You poisoned my daughter!”