Good Neighbors is the ‘burbs gone wild in this dark, disturbing story that could be a glimpse into our not too distant future. Climate change is taking hold and sinkholes are opening across the country. However, in this one neighborhood in suburban Long Island, the sinkhole in their park is only the beginning of the mayhem befallen the 72 residents of Maple Street.
The trouble starts innocently enough with what seems to be a minor tiff between friends Rhea Schroeder and Gertie Wilde. But then events quickly get out of control, forcing neighbors to take sides and turn on one another, which leads to a child disappearing, accusations of pedophilia and physical abuse, and multiple murders.
Good Neighbors is intriguing and thought provoking, but it also made me really angry at times. The reader watches the adult characters continue to get sucked in by the alpha personality with an agenda, resulting in further escalation when it seems clear they are in the wrong. And worse, they drag the kids into the fray in a despicable way, forcing the kids to abandon their natural sense of right versus wrong to appease their parents' misguided search for justice. All told, it’s a case study in mob mentality and getting so caught up in hysteria that facts, human decency, and the benefit of the doubt are no longer considered reasonable concepts.
It’s a heavy book. Climate change, mob mentality, the lost innocence of children, murder…and I haven’t even mentioned the mental illness portion of the story. Let’s just say Good Neighbors is not for the faint at heart. If you have the stomach for dark and twisted domestic thrillers, this book is right in your wheelhouse. But if not, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Follow Steve on Twitter or contact him via the site.
Purchase Good Neighbors
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)
Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen
