Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the eARC.
This book was an ok, pleasant read for me. But June, the main character, was too weak. Her kids and ex-husband walk all over her and she hardly fights back, which really irritated me. The other thing that irritated me was how the bullying neighbor's 2 pit bulls were portrayed as slavering 'hounds of hell'. But that's probably because one of the sweetest dogs I was lucky enough to have was a pit bull!
June finds herself nastily harassed, but by whom? It's probably the bully, but there are other shady candidates ... When her favorite neighbor is murdered things turn very dangerous. I had a feeling about what was going on and was proved right in the end. The ending was a bit hurried, but happy. All in all, it wasn't great, but it was entertaining.

“Something sinister had come into our lives and was gutting us from the inside out.”

Nightmare neighbours, we’ve all got them. Just ask June Sweeney.

The thing with neighbours is, like Fred and Paul, they can be worth their weight in gold, or they can be your worst enemy. When Steve Murray moves into the neighbourhood, he ruffles the feathers of the long time residents who aren’t used to noise and untidy properties. The feuding starts immediately and gradually crescendos to a murder. June, tired and feeling besieged, has had enough and considers moving out, knowing that this will probably make Steve happy. The relentless retribution has contributed to her feeling a loss of control of her neatly curated life. Can the neighbours get Steve to move out, or will he be the one to make them move?

I loved this psychological thriller! I had previously enjoyed ‘Somebody Out There,’ and was hoping Lynch would write another book as I love this writing style. Like his previous book, he writes to show how each member of a family reacts to an event. When Steve Murray moves in two doors down it causes tension throughout the Sweeney family. Lynch has created such realistic characters and, in the case of the Sweeney family, each offer June a different way of handling her stress. His stereotypical characters and their actions had me smiling as I recognized myself in some of them. It was a good ‘fish bowl’ moment for me to see how I sometimes blow things out of proportion when I don’t see the big picture. Lynch is spot on with his presentation of challenges and the way in which we react to them. He creates a superb atmosphere and his attention to detail makes it possible for readers to enter the scene. I really did feel uneasy and wondered what else was going to happen in this quiet neighbourhood. Lynch exposes how one single person can affect many with their misplaced anger. The idea that one bad apple can poison the whole box is showcased with perfection!

A quick, easy read with twists you won’t see coming, this one isn’t as dark as his previous novel. If you are looking for a good read that won’t increase your blood pressure too much, check this one out. Lynch is quickly finding his niche and each novel is better than the one before. He masterfully writes to expose our human nature when we are brought to our knees and allows us a peek at how this can affect everyone in our sphere of influence.

I was given this advance copy by Kevin Lynch, Inkubator Books, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Synopsis:
When June's new neighbor moves in, it's all going downhill from there. He shows a definite interest in June's daughter, even though he's much older than her. Then, her son seems to be involved in some drug stuff, and her ex-husband is moving into the same street with the woman he cheated on June with. And when someone from the neighborhood is murdered, Cathy knows that she's the next one someone wants gone...

My opinion:
I really liked the ominous vibes of this book, and if there's neighborhood secrets, I'm in! I loved how the story was constructed and I was gripped from start to finish. I loved the characters of the book and really felt for them. The ending felt a bit rushed, but that's okay.

Parts of this book reminded me of:
- We Live Next Door by Laura Wolfe
- Somebody's Home by Kaira Rouda

This was my first book by Kevin Lynch, and it won't be my last.

Our main character, June, is a divorced mom of two college-age children. (I call them children because they were so immature!) She's in her dream house, but when her cheating ex-husband starts sniffing around, and other odd things start happening around the house, she enters a nightmare she can't find the source of.

Overall this was just ok. June never stopped trying to figure out what was happening, but I don't think she really stood up for herself all that much. Her kids and ex-husband were just awful and she really should've slapped some sense into them all. This could've been better with a little more tension and confrontation on June's part. Her kids also needed to grovel a bit more for me.

This book had some suspense, intrigue, the storyline was decent, its worth reading but I don't know I guess once it got going?! It was kind of anticlimactic? And then it just ends. There were some good parts but all and all it was just ok for me. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!