The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland

Beth and Mike Bradford are living large in McLean, VA. He’s a doc (I think) and she’s a CIA analyst (on the Iran desk). They’ve raised 3 kids on the cul-de-sac. Got great neighbors who also have various positions ‘in government’ including the CIA cuz it’s nearby; they’ve all become like family. Beth and Mike's two older girls are out of college and on their own. Their son is heading out for UVa. Beth and Mike are empty nesters now and preparing to sell their home and downsize. Little does Beth realize just how much they will be downsizing.

For example, About the time of closing on the house, Mike tells Beth he’ll be moving into his own place, preparing for a life without Beth.

If that isn't enough, the Agency has made potentially career-changing decisions for her. Beth has been an analyst tracking mostly attempted incursions by the Iranian security agency into the security apparatus of the US. She’s been successful at it, too. She knows her Iranian counterpart and has been able to stay one step ahead of him, but one case, The Neighbor (a recruiter for Iran), has her and others stumped. She’s been trying for years to get a lead on The Neighbor. Cryptic notes are about all the CIA has, like 'use their children.' As a result, the higher-ups in the Agency think maybe Beth has lost her touch and demoted her to a teaching position at The Kent School – the CIA's school for rookie analysts.

Beth has a hard time accepting things. The pending divorce. Her demotion. Being told stop looking for The Neighbor. Now living alone, she develops a healthy case of paranoia to compete with her own self-loathing about how life has shit on her.

To maintain some sanity, she carries out her own clandestine search for The Neighbor that eventually narrows down to what she (and the reader) believe were her friends on the cul-de-sac. Staking out her old haunts becomes commonplace. And what’s a little breaking and entering amongst old long-time friends. Maybe a little harassment of the young couple who purchased her old home is a sensible endeavor.

And all this goes on for probably 75% of the book. I rarely put a book down once I’ve started. I figure that the author has put a ton of work into the book and if I start, I owe it to the author to finish. I’ll admit to having thought about quitting on a few occasions only to continue thinking the story has got to develop some teeth. Beth really wasn’t a character that made me want to care about what happens – she groans, she gripes, she fuses, she moans. The last 15-20% of the book does, thankfully, rock as Beth comes to realize the proximity of The Neighbor. My only hope is that a sequel won’t tread all that tired, old ground. But that’s just me. I can see some readers lapping up Beth’s descent and subsequent rebound. Not me.

The jacket blurb says that the author is a ‘former counterterrorism analyst’ an NYT best-selling author of three other (CIA and FBI) books. Her first book, Need to Know, has been optioned to Universal Pictures and is rumored to have Charlize Theron playing the lead. All her books focus on a strong female lead. The descriptions all sound interesting (particularly You Can Run). I just hope the lead for any of those other books isn’t as whiny and paranoid as Beth Bradford.