Good Neighbors

By: Sarah Langan

Narrated by: Nicole Lewis

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this “wickedly funny, unnerving puzzle box of a novel” (Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will) about the downward spiral of a Long Island community after a tragedy exposes its residents’ depths of deception.

Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

But menace skulks among this exclusive enclave. When the Wilde family arrive, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo’s a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie’s got a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself.

Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder - a lonely professor repressing a dark past - initially welcomed Gertie, but relations plummeted during one summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much, too soon. By the time the story opens, the Wildes are outcasts.

As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

Riveting and ruthless, Good Neighbors is “a chilling, compulsively readable novel that looks toward the future in order to help us understand how we live now” (Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here).

©2021 Sarah Langan. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Yep... I LOVED this one 👏 ⭐️🤩😍

VERY WELL DONE ... thank you for tackling current issues without going after low hanging 🍎🍉🍌 of the current social and political climate. A combination of elitism, privilege, emotional and mental illness were still very clearly the theme, but in a unique, compassionate and thought provoking way. Honesty, the reason I listen to at least 3 audiobooks a week is so that every now and then I can find a little 💎 like this one.

No real spoilers, but here is a little more...
In terms of likable characters, I’m not sure there has ever been one who fits the bill more than Julia.... what an absolutely beautiful & mature pre-teen. As for unlikeable characters, I’m not sure there has ever been one more-so or more nasty than Reah. As a mom, I think about the mistakes I make, but I sincerely hope my children never describe me on the same spectrum as 90% of the judgmental or willingly blind parents showcased in this neighborhood disaster scenario. You can certainly see how the social snowball rolls and builds, and I think we can learn important life lessons, even from fiction.

Narration was stellar, and I wasn’t sold on it right off the bat, so give her a hot minute to win you over.

To those who have said this should be a Netflix series, YES PLEASE!!! I can soooo visualize this!!!

Just bland

Really nothing to say here. Very middle of the road story. Seems like it wanted to go full satire at times but just seemed to never get there.

entertaining

I thought the story was well written and entertaining. The narrator did a great job by using different inflections and accents for different characters.

LOVED IT!!!

I agree with another review, this needs to be made into a movie or mini series!

Great To Have Sarah Back

This novel is definitely a slow burn. There where times at the beginning I thought I might pull the plug. I'm glad I didn't. Set in an environmental dystopia, this story centers around mental illness and the gullible nature of the common American community. Stick with this and you'll be glad you did.

Five Stars *****

Unbelievably Great!!!

This has got to be a movie or mini series! The characters were just fabulous and it was such a refreshing change to the norm. Highly recommend, not going into detail because I want zero spoilers!

Depressing

As a listener I am wondering if this book would have been better read than on audible. There are interviews and new clippings that went quickly with dates. I would have reread them if i had been reading this book. The events happen in the future and we go back in time to find out what happens. I didn’t like how it told me what was going to happen but we don’t know who or exactly how it was going to happen. Unrealistic tragedies that were very painful to listen too. Not my kind of story while others may love it. At times I wanted to quit and return it but it held me enough because I did want to find out who got murdered. Now that I know....meh I could have stopped. Julia and her friends are what kept me going not the adults in the story.
I also wanted more from the characters not the news. The narrator is a reporter and I didn’t realize that until the end. Tiny things like that were a disconnect for me. Some of the news seemed incorrect as well. I loved the ending and the recap of where they are now.
This is a toss up for me-I actually returned it. It is for book club and I am very interested to hear what others think when we meet.
As I write this I realize more I did not enjoy the book. It is disturbing for me. Over the top exaggeration of what a neighborhood is like in a negative way.

Creepy fun ,and very timely.

Great story worth a read or a listen. Take a chance if you haven't tried anything from Langan .

WOW!

This was scary good. At times it was almost too much for me. There are sick people in the world and this is such a good representation of mob mentality. I'm still stunned but in a good way.

Not what I expected

It was good but from the description I misinterpreted it as some sort of thriller. If I heard the words “bitumen” or “murk” again YTD be too soon. Narrator was fab.