When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

The rundown:

Sydney has recently moved back to her childhood Brooklyn home following a nasty divorce and to help her ailing mother. After a walking tour of her neighborhood leaves a sour taste in her mouth, she commits, with the help of her white neighbor Theo, to developing a tour that doesn’t whitewash the neighborhood's history or exclude its current residents. But her efforts soon devolve into paranoia and a sense of helplessness as beloved neighborhood people and establishments start to disappear, sometimes literally overnight. Meanwhile, new neighbors appear in the places amidst a revitalization push that’s even more sinister than it seems.



The review:

This is for readers whose favorite thriller/horror books and movies are the ones that terrify because that stuff really happens (it’s me, I’m that reader). Sydney’s growing paranoia and creeping dread are palpable and visceral, and I may need to book an appointment with my chiropractor after holding myself so stiff with tension while reading this book. I particularly enjoyed that Cole’s take on social horror layered both overt (e.g., police brutality and gentrification) with more subtle forms of racism (e.g., redlining and gaslighting of Black women). Cole’s talents writing historical fiction (including historical romance!) shine, and I learned so much about Brooklyn/NYC racial history without it ever feeling didactic or preachy. My only complaint is that the ending wrapped up quite quickly, in rather stark contrast to the slow-building tension of the rest of the book. For me, however, the fast pace didn’t hurt my overall feelings about the book. I could hardly put this down. 



Goes well with:

Wanda M. Morris’ mystery/thriller books, especially her latest Anywhere You Run, would pair nicely with this one. I also recommend Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow for more social horror, though the two books are not similar in plot at all.