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Good Neighbors

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 439 ratings · 116 reviews

A compulsively readable debut crime novel inspired by the legendary real-life murder of Kitty Genovese.

At 4:00 A.M. on March 13, 1964, a young woman returning home from her shift at a local bar is attacked in the courtyard of her Queens apartment building. Her neighbors hear her cries; no one calls for help.

Unfolding over the course of two hours, Good Neighbors is the s...more

Paperback, 280 pages

Published May 31st 2011 by Penguin Books (first published 2009)

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Jul 07, 2011 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I liked this book and this book showed the truth. When no one would help Kat it showed that people don't usually help each other we just stand around and watch. Some people do help but mostly not. Everyone just stood there watching as someone attacked her and they didn't even call the cops. They just made an excuse that somebody else called the cops already. Everyone has problems they are faceing themselves but it only would have taken a couple minutes...more

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Mar 05, 2011 rebellyell666 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Inhalt:

Katrina Morino, eigentlich nur Kat genannt, ist auf dem Weg von ihrem Job als Nachtmanagerin in einer Bar nach Hause, als das Unmögliche geschieht: Aus dem Dunkeln tritt ein Fremder und packt sie von hinten, als sie fast zur Haustür hinein ist. Während sich dieser Akt vollzieht, beschäftigen sich die übrigen Bewohner des Appartementkomplexes mit ihren eigenen Problemen…

Schreib-/Erzählstil:

Das erstaunliche Talent Jahns ist es, viele Charaktere in diesem Buch auftreten lassen und trotzdem d...more Inhalt:

Katrina Morino, eigentlich nur Kat genannt, ist auf dem Weg von ihrem Job als Nachtmanagerin in einer Bar nach Hause, als das Unmögliche geschieht: Aus dem Dunkeln tritt ein Fremder und packt sie von hinten, als sie fast zur Haustür hinein ist. Während sich dieser Akt vollzieht, beschäftigen sich die übrigen Bewohner des Appartementkomplexes mit ihren eigenen Problemen…

Schreib-/Erzählstil:

Das erstaunliche Talent Jahns ist es, viele Charaktere in diesem Buch auftreten lassen und trotzdem dem Leser näher bringen zu können. Er schildert gerade so viel als nötig, dass der Leser in jedem Kapitel mehr erfährt. Auch von Dingen, die er nicht wissen will, schreibt Jahn, ohne je den moralischen Finger zu erheben.

Meine Meinung:

Jahn schreibt einen Akt der Gewalt in mehreren Szenen, die sich zwischen vier und fünf Uhr morgens in einer scheinbar ruhigen Appartementsiedlung abspielen. Das Cover trägt dem Leser bereits näher, wie unmittelbar die Nachbarn sich in ihren jeweilig gegenüber liegenden Wohnungen beobachten können. Ja sogar beim Sex wird man beobachtet oder wie man einfach nur leer von seinem Sofa aus dem Fenster starrt.

Als der Schrei Kats die Stille zerreißt, unternimmt keiner etwas. Das ist kein großes Geheimnis, schrieb Jahn dieses Buch doch nach einer wahren Begebenheit, die sich 1964 ereignete. Auch in diesem Buch spielt der Mordfall Kats zu Zeiten des Vietnamkriegs, was die Aufarbeitung der Angelegenheit noch authentischer wirken lässt.

Mich schockierte, wie sehr ich in die Geschichten der Bewohner tauchte und auch Kats blutende Wunden zeitweilig vergaß, weil ich in diesem Sog des Mehrerfahrens über die anderen Personen steckte. Jahn streut dies natürlich in dem Bewusstsein, seinem Leser deutlich zu machen, was dazu führen kann, „wegzuschauen“.

Fazit:

Der „Bystander-Effekt“, ein Begriff, der aus dem Mord an Kitty Genovese, der diesem Buch als Vorlage dient, ist hier sehr gut geschildert. Ein hartes Buch über die Ignoranz der Menschheit, das uns vor Augen führt, was wir im Ernstfall unserem Gegenüber wert sein könnten. Lesen!
(less)

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Nov 08, 2009 David Hebblethwaite rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Queens, New York: 1964. In the small hours, Katrina Marino heads home from her job as night manager of a sports bar. In the courtyard of her apartment, she is attacked and stabbed by a man who has followed her. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of several other apartments in the block are awake. and going through their own personal dramas. Over the course of three hours, relationships are forged, broken, and re-negotiated — but no one comes to Katrina’s aid, even though they heard her screams and saw w...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Ben Loory rated it 5 of 5 stars

though loosely based on the famous real-life murder of kitty genovese, this is actually a conceptual novel with a dark conceit at the heart of it... basically, the idea is that everyone is always at their darkest, scariest, most life-defining moment... whether they notice it or not... the book is a tapestry of interwoven stories about different people in this apartment building, all of whom may or may not be partially guilty for the murder that happens in the courtyard below them (which they may...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Susan by: Readingonarainyday.com

This book has been compared to the movie "Crash", which I watched and really enjoyed. Knowing this took some of the enjoyment away for me, I knew there would be multiple stories interwoven, I also knew the end. The main character would end up dead, after all this book is based on the real life murder of Kitty Genovese. The story unfolds in the courtyard of an apartment block in New York City, one early morning from about 4 a.m. The story unfolds over two hours but when reading the book, it feels...more This book has been compared to the movie "Crash", which I watched and really enjoyed. Knowing this took some of the enjoyment away for me, I knew there would be multiple stories interwoven, I also knew the end. The main character would end up dead, after all this book is based on the real life murder of Kitty Genovese. The story unfolds in the courtyard of an apartment block in New York City, one early morning from about 4 a.m. The story unfolds over two hours but when reading the book, it feels so much longer. The book is very gritty, the language can be coarse in some instances and the desriptions are very vivid. This all adds to the atmosphere in the novel.

The cover featuring silhouettes outlined in windows looking out capture exactly what happens as the crime unfolds. All the neighours are looking on. We get to know the neighbours and their complicated life stories. Some are endearing, some inspire empathy and some characters inspire revulsion. For the first half of the book, I found it hard to connect to any of the characters. But that changed in the second half of the book. Even though most of the plot is unfolding in people's apartments and out on the dark streets, I was drawn in. People's secrets are revealed, their inadequacies laid bare and ultimately their self centeredness comes through. Some people have dealt with abuse, others infidelity and others still are coming to terms with who they really are. In this book, everyone looks out for themselves. Well, almost everyone. Someone eventually does come to the rescue of the poor injured young woman Kat and it may not be who you think it should be. The feeling in the air is captured in this paragraph::

"Nobody saw what was happening out here?" he says, looking from one person to the next. "Nobody called the police?"

That is a loaded question. That so many saw and heard a crime being committed and NONE did anything to try and stop it or tried to help the victim was heartbreaking to me. This story is especially haunting because it is based on a real-life story. Overall, this was a good and fast read. A nice way to spend the evening since I was homebound due to the Blizzard of 2013 in CT. (less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reason for Reading: I was so impressed with the author's latest book, The Dispatcher, that I just had to read this, his first book.

I'll start off by saying I undoubtedly enjoyed this book, not as much as Jahn's second book, but I'm still quite impressed. They are two very different types of books though. While The Dispatcher is most definitely a thriller written at a fast past. Good Neighbors is hard to classify into a genre and while it only takes place within one night it moves forward slowly....more Reason for Reading: I was so impressed with the author's latest book, The Dispatcher, that I just had to read this, his first book.

I'll start off by saying I undoubtedly enjoyed this book, not as much as Jahn's second book, but I'm still quite impressed. They are two very different types of books though. While The Dispatcher is most definitely a thriller written at a fast past. Good Neighbors is hard to classify into a genre and while it only takes place within one night it moves forward slowly. This is not a bad thing though. The book is definitely a crime. A woman is attacked, stabbed and raped in the courtyard feet away from her apartment block. But many more crimes take place also, some illegal, some immoral, some omissions of error and yet all are considered crimes against natural order. What this book mostly does is take a look at a true to life crime, the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese , and imagine how her death could have happened as it did surrounded on all sides by apartment blocks. Jahn goes inside the heads of these people who stand and stare at what is happening below them in the courtyard, some not realizing the gravity of the situation, others realizing it, but everyone assuming someone else has already called the cops so why should they as they'd only become involved and have to answer questions about their own lives. And you see everyone has secrets in their own lives. None of these people are truly "bad" but none of them are without sin either and they'd rather not have to answer embarrassing questions. The book focuses on a handful of people and couples who all have something quite important going on that evening that overshadows the event happening down below in their courtyard. They are too wrapped up in themselves to even notice the outside influence. Then there are others who don't live in the complex but are/or will be connected by book's end who also are having to deal with life threatening issues before they are placed in a position to be of any service to the wounded girl.

Mostly this book is a study of characters, a slice of life from the mid 1960s and deals with social issues and taboos of the times such as: black/white racial tensions, crooked cops, police cover-ups, mixed marriages, serial killers, homosexuals, euthanasia, Vietnam War. The book was not what I had expected (a mystery/thriller) but I ended up absolutely entertained with the psychological insight into the minds of these people from another time and also the effects that mass shock will have upon people. It is a study into the minds of the times and gives a great slice of what 1960s American culture was like.

This is one of my favourite types of books; multiple characters with separate stories where the point of view switches between them rapidly until slowly towards the end connection are made. A fascinating story. I will be on the lookout for Jahn's next book.(less)

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Apr 08, 2012 A B rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: debut

THE RUNDOWN

Good Neighbors is a crime novel that exposes what's lacking in humanity: the raw, gritty details of impersonal city life. Over the course of one night, it tells the story of the neighbors who stand by and do nothing while an innocent woman, Katrina, is raped and murdered outside her Queens apartment. The novel is based on a true story, which makes the vividly violent scenes even more potent.

What I liked about Good Neighbors was the range of voices, from the innocent murder victim to t...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense

Picked this up on impulse from the new fiction shelf at the library. I normally don't care for graphic descriptions of violence against women -- especially the mind of the murder victim as she expires. And this was almost too brutal to read. I found myself skimming over those chapters. Similarly, the policeman is a vicious character who cold-bloodedly attempts another murder and frames a black man for it. I found this character one-dimensional, especially as contrasted with the ambulance driver...more Picked this up on impulse from the new fiction shelf at the library. I normally don't care for graphic descriptions of violence against women -- especially the mind of the murder victim as she expires. And this was almost too brutal to read. I found myself skimming over those chapters. Similarly, the policeman is a vicious character who cold-bloodedly attempts another murder and frames a black man for it. I found this character one-dimensional, especially as contrasted with the ambulance driver who was abused as a child. The latter character is very well developed and sensitively portrayed -- we don't get the why behind the cop's cruelty.

And yet... the Kitty Genovese story has always been a very disturbing seed in the back of my mind when considering how we live in community. This story and others like it (the NYC jogger "wilding," for example) have influenced and reinforced my desire to live in a place where I can truly know my neighbors. That said, I found the actions of the other characters in the book as they failed to act to help Kat were reassuringly normal. Most of them could not truly see in the dark what was happening. One or two saw her rise and go to the bench. They couldn't see the blood. They concluded that she must be alright, if mobile. They assumed (wrongly) that others had called the police. Several stated that they "shouldn't tie up the lines" by also calling -- perhaps an excuse, or perhaps an act of concern for other crime victims who may need police help. They were all involved in dramas occurring in their own lives.

I've never been in a class where the Genovese story was told in detail, but I have read that the indictment of the neighbors who "ignored her screams" or "watched while she was murdered" is exaggerated. Several did call, apparently, reading the Wikipedia account, but most were unaware that Genovese has been stabbed and thought it was a "lovers quarrel." As Jahn told it, I felt reassured about the actions of the neighbors, or inaction.

Interestingly, Wikipedia says that Genovese was a lesbian who lived with her lover. I wonder if that fact was known to her neighbors (probably) and if homophobia led in anyway to the events of her death (possibly). Certainly, I've never heard that fact before, though I've heard the story of Kitty Genovese told literally dozens of times as a narrative of "bystander syndrome" or "diffused responsibility." Where is the narrative of "hyper-religiosity" or "homophobic vicarious revenge?" Certainly, it's also another instance of lesbian invisibility -- making our stories disappear.

In any case, Jahn does not bring up Kat's sexual orientation in any way, which is disappointing since, if he did research, he surely knew. It would change so much about the story if it had been included: the rape of the victim and how she felt about it, the fact that her lover was among those nearby, how the neighbors responded to her attack, etc. Ultimately that's a fatal flaw for me in the book, that the author chose to just piggyback on the accepted cultural narrative and participate in the invisibility, rather than exploring the truths of Genovese's life and death. (less)

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Jan 18, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

This is damned good ensemble crime novel about the complicity of obliviousness. Everyone has their own stuff to worry about, so why pay attention to the scream outside your window? Someone else will call the police, and frankly it's none of your business.

Inspired by the Kitty Genovese case (made famous by Watchmen, among other things), Good Neighbors is about a woman being stabbed in the courtyard of her apartment block while several of her neighbours are apathetically gazing out of their window...more This is damned good ensemble crime novel about the complicity of obliviousness. Everyone has their own stuff to worry about, so why pay attention to the scream outside your window? Someone else will call the police, and frankly it's none of your business.

Inspired by the Kitty Genovese case (made famous by Watchmen, among other things), Good Neighbors is about a woman being stabbed in the courtyard of her apartment block while several of her neighbours are apathetically gazing out of their windows. As Jahn explains, they each have other concerns - but none explicitly more pressing than simply calling the police when an act of brutality is being committed on their doorsteps.

The two hours over which this novel takes place are eventful and introspective, from the man finding a reason not to commit suicide to the mechanic trying to ascertain if his wife accidentally killed a baby, to the paramedic still troubled by his childhood ... to, of course, one woman bleeding from multiple wounds and trying desperately to stay alive. Each of these stories is rendered in exquisite detail, despite the book's relative brevity.

Jahn shows both that he understands human nature and that people can remain sympathetic despite total inaction in a critical matter. Not all of the characters' pressing concerns are equally important, but each of them is mostly realistic. Christopher and Thomas' conclusion may carry with it an excessive weightiness in the face of what their two hours held, but it's compelling nonetheless.

Playing with perspective keeps the book fresh and prevents the violence from becoming too much by effectively anaesthetising the audience against it, imagining that they'd gone into deep shock and that their tactile feelings are peripheral at best. There's an immediacy to Jahn's writing that can cover a character's entire lifetime and make it feel like mere seconds, and nearly every player is equally well drawn.

An easy recommendation for someone seeking a quick and effective novel.(less)

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Aug 10, 2011 Caitlin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, abandoned

This won a Crime Writer's Association Award, so I was expecting big things. It's based on the Kitty Genovese murder that occurred in the early 1960's. For those who don't know, Kitty Genovese was a young woman who was raped and murdered in the courtyard of her apartment with her neighbors looking on while it happened. The murderer ran and left her still alive, but came back ten minutes later, systematically searched for her, and finished her off. It wasn't until that point that someone called th...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Sheri rated it 4 of 5 stars

No where in the book does it mention Kitty Genovese (the woman who was raped, assaulted, and left to die in an alley while her neighbors watched) and the whole time I kept thinking about that amazing story. As a sociology grad student the Kitty Genovese story is widely discussed as a social psychological problem (and the idea that in an emergency it is always best to identify someone, not just ask for help but say "you in the red jacket help me").

And then, I pull up the book here on goodreads an...more No where in the book does it mention Kitty Genovese (the woman who was raped, assaulted, and left to die in an alley while her neighbors watched) and the whole time I kept thinking about that amazing story. As a sociology grad student the Kitty Genovese story is widely discussed as a social psychological problem (and the idea that in an emergency it is always best to identify someone, not just ask for help but say "you in the red jacket help me").

And then, I pull up the book here on goodreads and it mentions at the very top that this is a fictional story based on Kitty Genovese. I'm not sure if that blurb came from the back of the book (reading ebooks I don't get those blurbs) or if the publisher pointed it out or if whoever created the book on goodreads did...but I'm glad to see the acknowledgement.

All of that said, it was a well written, captivating story. I loved Jahn's style of jumping from person to person during the course of the book. Each of these people should have called the police (and certainly the free rider-ish problem of assuming someone else will do it is the social psychological explanation), but mostly the reason they don't is that they are distracted by their own lives. The whole book is very Checkovian in that each of them is so self-absorbed with their own drama (all of which are fairly intense) that they simply forget about not only the dying woman but everyone else outside of their current issue.

Besides being entertaining, Jahn has some great quips about selfish human nature: "If you have thirty dollars and rent is eighty, there's no point in saving any of it. Drink till you're drunk and pay for a ride home. You might as well enjoy your trip to the bottom. It's when you've got eighty-seven dollars and the rent's eight that you need to save."

There was another quote here that I've seen before (but don't remember where): "All courageous men are afraid, he told Frank-all of them: if a man isn't afraid of something that normal men are afraid of, that doesn't make him courageous, it makes him an idiot. A courageous man is a man who feels fear but does what he has to do anyway. If you're not afraid, he told Frank, you're not being brave."

Overall, a bit grotesque (but necessarily so); compelling, and an easy page turner.(less)

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Dec 25, 2011 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

The cover is what grabbed my attention. Before reading anything about the book, I was reminded of 2 things. 1) the movie Rear Window starring Christopher Reeves and 2) the witnessed night time murder of the woman which has been a frequently repeated story in psychology classes (later noted as the Kitty Genovese murder). The cover was well designed as the story line matched my initial impressions. This book featured the lives of multiple individuals and their activities during a three hour period...more

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Nov 14, 2010 Danuta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an excellent and unusual thriller. The characters are convincing, and almost all of them are sympathetic in some way. It's based on a real - and shocking - event, and Jahn reminds the reader of something that the more extreme crime novels seem to have forgotten: that being knifed to death is a horrible way to die. You know from the start what the outcome will be, but to the end, you hope you are wrong. A real page turner.

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Jan 05, 2013 Louise Mundt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, point-of-view

Bogen er inspireret af en virkelig begivenhed fra 1964. En ung kvinde bliver overfaldet få meter fra sin hoveddør i et større lejlighedskompleks. Kompleksets beboere hører skrig og tumult og flere kigger ud af deres vinduer og ser kvinden kæmpe med sin overfaldsmand og det blodspor, der spreder sig over gårdspladsen… Men ingen kommer kvinden til hjælp eller så meget som ringer til politiet. Hvorfor?

“Gode Naboer” er uden den mindste tvivl den bedste bog, jeg har læst i 2011! Skiftevis følger man...more

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Jun 25, 2011 Tiffany Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. I won this book from First Reads and it was an awesome read. It is an absolutely riveting tale that weaves a magnificent web. Ryan David Jahn, creatively depicts a tragedy through the lives of the victim and her neighbors. Based on the Kitty Genovese story, Jahn brings to life the emotional causes and profound effects of "Genovese Syndrome." This novel will have you questioning your own personal convictions. "Would you...could you stand by an...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Originally posted (with a giveaway until July 4) here.

In my AP Psych class, we learned about Kitty Genovese, murdered on the street in front of her New York apartment building. Though many of her neighbors heard her cries, no one helped her; no one even bothered to call the police. We learned that this is an example of 'diffusion of responsibility,' each witness assumes that someone else will have informed the authorities, so they don't call because that would just tie up the phone lines. Not st...more Originally posted (with a giveaway until July 4) here.

In my AP Psych class, we learned about Kitty Genovese, murdered on the street in front of her New York apartment building. Though many of her neighbors heard her cries, no one helped her; no one even bothered to call the police. We learned that this is an example of 'diffusion of responsibility,' each witness assumes that someone else will have informed the authorities, so they don't call because that would just tie up the phone lines. Not stepping between a woman and a madman is one thing, but not making a call to save her life, the life of a woman you've probably seen any number of times?

When I heard about Jahn's novel based on this incident, I immediately added it to my to-read list, because that whole thing is so incredibly morbidly fascinating to me. So, when I was offered a review copy of Jahn's newest, The Dispatcher, I accepted, and, when offered this one as well, I took it.

Jahn presents the idea in the form of fiction. He changes Kitty Genovese into Kat Marino. The story covers only a few hours, making use of short vignettes. All of the people involved in Marino's murder are shown during the same timeframe: her murderer, the people in her building who heard or saw but did nothing, the people who finally found her, the ambulance drivers who arrived to take her, still alive despite many stabbings, to the hospital. I suspect this is probably the most effective way to tell this story, however I didn't really connect to the characters.

The only people in the story I felt any sort of real interest in were a possibly forming gay couple and an older black man with a strong sense of justice. Otherwise, pretty much everyone here is either awful or boring. There's an adulterous husband, a father who wants to murder a child rapist, and a dirty cop, trying to frame other people for his own actions.

Jahn's writing style, while very apt for a thriller of this sort, isn't one that resonates with me. He uses primarily short sentences and makes heavy use of repetition, not accidentally but intentionally. Others may like his writing, but I prefer longer, more ornate syntax.

What made this still a worthwhile read for me was the subject matter. My mind is still turning over how people could witness a woman being attacked in a courtyard and do nothing. Not only that, but they don't check on her later, once the man is gone. That could have made a difference between her survival and death. It's not like they needed to step in front of the serial killer. They might have been able to save her while never risking themselves, especially since there were so many of them watching. Mankind is awful.

If you like thrillers, ethical questions, or shows like CSI, you might like Ryan David Jahn's work.(less)

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May 31, 2012 Raven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely loved this fictional interpretation of the circumstances surrounding the real life murder of Kitty Genovese and the whole fleshing out of ‘bystander theory’ that this case sparked in the US. I thought the construction of the lives of the residents of the apartment block was exceptional, providing perfect vignettes of the struggles both moral and physical of these people unknowingly a hairs breadth away from the scene of an horrific crime. Their reticence to intervene in this crime w...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Anthony Chavez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads-goodreads, favorites

Won this book as a Goodreads First Reads and I am at a loss for words. Wow... I mean wow... This book was so packed with action. It really did recall movies such as Crash, 11:14, and Vantage Point. Ryan David Jahn or RDJ does an amazing job of weaving the very busy characters lives that revolve around the brutal murder of Kat. At first as I started the book and the characters were being introduced I said to myself how is RDJ going to pull off this whole story with so many characters in under 300...more Won this book as a Goodreads First Reads and I am at a loss for words. Wow... I mean wow... This book was so packed with action. It really did recall movies such as Crash, 11:14, and Vantage Point. Ryan David Jahn or RDJ does an amazing job of weaving the very busy characters lives that revolve around the brutal murder of Kat. At first as I started the book and the characters were being introduced I said to myself how is RDJ going to pull off this whole story with so many characters in under 300 pages, but he does and I wouldn't change a thing.

I never thought Katrina Marino would last and fight until the end of the book, at first I thought it would be more of a story of the neighbors seeing the murder and just not saying anything, like everybody saw it but nobody speaks about it; however, the story is so much more deeper and different then that. You got Patrick the kid called into the draft with a ailing mother who is dependent on him, Thomas Marlowe the lonely man who gets lost in a world with a fake family, Officer Alan Kees a dirty cop whose bad deeds catch up with him, Mr. Vacanti, another man whose past transgressions catch up with him after a car accident, David the paramedic who finds him and who was the victim of Vacanti's past life hobbies, Peter the rich, neat married snob who experiments with swinging with another couple, Diane Myers the housewife who loves her husband but discovers he is cheating on her, William the killer who can't control his urges and doesn't understand why nobody stops him, and Frank Riva the hard working black man trying to help his wife out of a jam and winds up at the wrong place at the wrong time. All of these characters and situations unraveling nearby as Kat is being stabbed to death in a courtyard between two apartment complexes, with most of these characters passing windows or looking out thinking, "someone will call the police, we shouldn't tie up the lines."

It is a amazing story that played out like any well scripted crime movie, I can't see why this doesn't become a movie. It's just so sad that it is based off of the real murder of Kitty Genovese, it pains me to think that people would just stand by and watch as a woman is murdered in plain view and just think, somebody else will help, but it does happen all the time, every day. I definitely will look for more books by Ryan David Jahn, this novel opened my eyes to his amazing writing and characterization. This is a must read. Best Goodreads First Read I have won and read yet.(less)

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Feb 12, 2011 James Kidd rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. I found the violence very direct and visceral. I have read many books with vivid violent scenes and not been affected as I was with this book. The writing was excellent, the story many layered and apart from the all too easy wrap up of the Frank/bad cop story line (that was the bit that just did not ring true) I thought it was compelling.

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May 12, 2012 Kaitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book in one sitting. It's short, compelling and really well executed. It is about the fact that all people, even while with others, are isolated, many are ugly, and most are selfish, no matter what else they tell themselves.

The start of the story is its weakest point. The author begins the book writing in cliches. Also I was daunted at first when character after character was introduced. But the varied viewpoints quickly grew on me, and the writing improved. Each character is experie...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Rachel Willis rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I generally don't read books that I'm know I'm going to rate poorly to the end, but this is a quick read, so I powered through. Loosely based on the murder of Kitty Genovese, Jahn seeks to explore those neighbors who failed to call the police in response to a murder going on right in front of them. In Jahn's rendition, the neighbors are so preoccupied by their own issues, they simply forget a murder is happening in the courtyard of their apartment complex. Full of cliches, the writing is poor, a...more

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May 06, 2012 Christopher rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story is based on a real life event when a woman- Kitty Genovese - was murdered in 1964 in plain view of 38 people in nearby apartments. Kitty Genovese is mentioned, funnily enough in Superfreakonomics - a book I recently read and reviewed.

I struggled with the first few chapters as they followed the "use a chapter to introduce a new character" format - which I have grown to dislike as it seems like lazy writing to me. A few chapters along it loses the slightly manufactured feel, however, and...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Joan rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is hard to "like: a book like this one.

The story is so disagreeable.

But the writing was good. A very quick read. But still so sad and unsettling.

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Jul 21, 2011 steffy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 16, 2011 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, f-thriller, fiction, f-literary

Kat Marino was returning to her Queens apartment from her shift at a local bar at 4 AM in the morning, when she was attacked by a man, who was hiding beside a tree nearby. Kat had never met the man before and is completely taken by surprise and shock. A few of her neighbors whose apartment windows face the courtyard, where the action was unveiling, hadn't yet gone to sleep and were watching dazed, having been interrupted from whatever argument or conversation they were preoccupied with at that h...more Kat Marino was returning to her Queens apartment from her shift at a local bar at 4 AM in the morning, when she was attacked by a man, who was hiding beside a tree nearby. Kat had never met the man before and is completely taken by surprise and shock. A few of her neighbors whose apartment windows face the courtyard, where the action was unveiling, hadn't yet gone to sleep and were watching dazed, having been interrupted from whatever argument or conversation they were preoccupied with at that hour. None of them however make a move to help her. None call the police either. While Kat screams for someone to help, and every observer assumes someone else is making that 911 call, this 280-page short book gives us a brilliant insight into the lives of all the people, whose paths cross Kat's, however marginally, between 4 and 6 am.

This is one of those books I wish I had reviewed right away. I know my head was buzzing with thoughts to share with you but somehow I'm only getting to it now - a good month after reading this book. Even now, I cannot stop thinking about how brilliant this book was and how much I would love to reread it. Good Neighbors is based on a true incident whose details are very much similar to that of this book's. If you don't want to be spoiled by the details of the real crime, skip the rest of this paragraph. New Yorkers will probably be aware of this incident better. 29-year old Kitty Genovese was returning home at 4 am in 1964 when she was attacked by a man thrice, the last time fatally, over the span of a half hour. A lot of the neighbors saw some part of the attack but no one saw the whole thing. Nobody called the police believing that someone else was making that call, though a few claimed to have called. There's a term for it - bystander effect. The New York Times posted an interesting article on this tragedy a few days later. A lot of the facts about this murder are disputed, but it does appear apparent that very few people responded to her calls for help, and although one man did call the police, they didn't turn up. "I didn't want to get involved" was the predominant sentiment.

Good Neighbors is a work of fiction. Although it is based on the Kitty Genovese murder, all the characters in it are fictional. In Good Neighbors, Ryan David Jahn sets an incredible array of characters against this tragedy. On one side, we have Kat making her way home, only to be attacked by a man who then just runs away, leaving Kat shocked and immobile outside. On the other side, we get an inside look into some of the neighbors who see a part of the attack. They are each however plagued by their own problems, so much so that they only feel an odd sense of curiosity over what's happening in the courtyard, before they return to their problems. There is a 19-year old boy who has been ordered to report for the Army's Physical Examination, but he also has an ailing mother he has to look after. Another couple is playing swinger for the first time, until it goes horribly out of control for them, making them question their own relationship. Yet another man is trying to come to terms with his homosexual orientation, but is finding himself reluctant to. Another man, who knows Kat very well, had just left in his car when his wife returned home panicking after hitting a stroller. His own actions form a subplot within this book, opening the pages to more characters - a paramedic, a corrupted cop and his equally corrupted chief, and a paedophile, while they get themselves involved in a car accident just down the road and in an attempted murder.

The huge number of characters is the main asset of this book. While it would have been easy to end up with cardboard cutouts instead of solid characters, Ryan manages to carve out intricate characters, none of whom get 'boring' for the reader. The primary sensation you get is that of the role of fate or chance in life and people's beliefs that they are the center of the world and hence their problems are the most important ones in the world. I found it very interesting to read about all the problems the other characters were having, while a woman was dying outside and calling for help. The last chapter left me thinking a lot - was it worth trying to fix your problems while a woman was losing her hold on life minute by minute? When is it okay to say that "my problem is important, because it affects me and only I can fix it!" Would you be selfish for thinking that or just looking out for yourself? Would you be happier having saved a life, but in return lost everything that meant the world to you? Or would you end up feeling resentful towards life for how things turned out for you? It's fascinating how complex we humans really are. There's plenty of gray in every picture. This book could be an intriguing theater production - I'm sure the questions it raises will be quite humbling. Quite a few of the stories come to some interesting conclusions by the time the clock strikes 6 am. I did feel very curious as to how their stories led from there, because many of the lives did change drastically.

Good Neighbors is one of the best books I've read this year, and I think waiting a while to write this review was a good thing in one respect - in that I know the book has withstood the test of time, wherein sometimes you find you loved a book immediately after reading it, but days or weeks later, your perspective changes a lot, and you start criticizing the book quite a lot, but this book has managed to leave me still impressed a month later. Have any of you watched the movie Crash? The story-telling technique is very similar here - a multitude of protagonists with their own issues, apparently unconnected, but they all have something that ties them together. If you haven't watched the movie, you should. I hope I have convinced you to pick this book right away!

(If you're interested in reading about the real Kitty Genovese, this piece on TruTV is fantastic.)(less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's hard to say what I thought of this book. In a way I think it was excellent and in a way, I hated it. It confirmed what I am starting to believe these days - that people are self-centered and horrid. It was hard to read...hard to believe it's based on an actual event as well. Knowing myself and knowing I can't stay uninvolved (I once saw a woman getting beat up by a man and you bet I called...and followed her down the street to make sure she was okay)....it just infuriated me. But definitely...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Matthew rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 24, 2011 Hilary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This is an incredible story, and even more so for being a debut novel. Kat, the night manager at a bar, is almost home when she's attacked right outside her front door. She thinks she'll be okay, because many of her neighbors are home - in fact, she sees their lights on, and they see her after she screams. But each one of them has a different reason for not calling 911: a more pressing personal problem, someone starts talking, they don't want to tie up the lines with redundant calls... Obviously...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Janet Woit rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can't say this is a great book, but I found it to be compelling. Based on the real murder of Kitty Genovese in the early 60's, Jahn uses this setting to comment on bystanders and how everyone's lives are interconnected. Sure some of the themes are overplayed and obvious, but he weaves the lives together in a way that reminds one of the randomness of life and how we are all connected one way or another. If you like true mystery stories, this may not be for you, but if you are stuck on a long fl...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Kathleen Leilani rated it 5 of 5 stars

I guess the fact that the book upset me shows that it was well written. I feel, however that it is a sad commentary of our concept of "Good Neighbors". I live in the same house I grew up in and only know 4 people, and they are left overs from when I lived her as a child. We do not interact any longer. We do not assist- we bank in machines, check our groceries out with out talking to anyone. We pay our bills, bank, etc on the computer. So our connections are severed....never allowed to connect. E...more

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Goodreads Librari...: ISBN 9780143118961 PB	2	20	Aug 09, 2011 10:40pm

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About Ryan David Jahn

Ryan David Jahn grew up in Arizona, Texas, and California. He left school at sixteen, worked several odd jobs, and spent time in the army before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked in television and film for several years.

He published his first novel, the CWA John Creasey Dagger winning Acts of Violence, in 2009, and has since published two others, Low Life and The Dispatcher. Translation righ...more

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Quotes from Good Neighbors

“He pulls the gun away from his head and sets it on the coffee table. He wonders who first called it a coffee table. He gets to his feet and walks into the hallway. He wonders who first called it a highway. He wonder who first named anything. How did someone look at a dog and decide what to call it? It’s all so random. Everything is so goddamn random.” — 4 people liked it

“He looks at Mr. Vacanti and the man looks back at him with somehow gentle eyes. It surprises David to see the man has gentle eyes. It surprises him, even at thirty-seven, to discover that monsters can have gentle eyes. Something is terribly wrong with a world where monsters are allowed to have gentle eyes.” — 1 person liked it

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