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The Neighbor Upstairs
Everything in her life is perfect…except the neighbor upstairs.
Melissa and Ben have a picture-perfect new true love, good communication, supportive family, and a beautiful first apartment together in a safe neighborhood where they hope to start a family.
It looks like nothing could go wrong for them...until everything does.
At first, the new building manager Carla is friendly, accommodating, and handles any problems in their suite promptly.
But then come the problems : harassing emails, unexpected apartment problems, and a sudden and alarming decline in Melissa’s health.
Meanwhile, Carla seems to have taken an unusual interest in the both of them-- especially Ben. And the worst part is that he seems to be returning that interest .
When Melissa suspects he’s returned to his cheating ways, she flees to her parents’ home, leaving Ben alone to uncover the true horror of the situation.
In the end, the two won’t just be fighting for their marriage, but their survival .
A thrilling psychological thriller that you won't be able to put down!
Melissa and Ben have a picture-perfect new true love, good communication, supportive family, and a beautiful first apartment together in a safe neighborhood where they hope to start a family.
It looks like nothing could go wrong for them...until everything does.
At first, the new building manager Carla is friendly, accommodating, and handles any problems in their suite promptly.
But then come the problems : harassing emails, unexpected apartment problems, and a sudden and alarming decline in Melissa’s health.
Meanwhile, Carla seems to have taken an unusual interest in the both of them-- especially Ben. And the worst part is that he seems to be returning that interest .
When Melissa suspects he’s returned to his cheating ways, she flees to her parents’ home, leaving Ben alone to uncover the true horror of the situation.
In the end, the two won’t just be fighting for their marriage, but their survival .
A thrilling psychological thriller that you won't be able to put down!
407 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 15, 2022
457 people are currently reading
511 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 31, 2022
One of the worst psychological thrillers I have ever read. The characters are lifeless and portrayed like immature teenagers. The dialogue and interior monologue could have been written by a teenager and been better. The police procedural was terrible. I couldn't even finish this book it was so bad. Poor editing also. Names mixed up, words left out or in the wrong place. Will be marking this author off my list. Would give zero stars if it was an option.
June 1, 2024
This is one of those crazy psycho type books. While I tend to avoid them, I am on a mission to read all of Theo’s books! It was entertaining but perhaps could have been shortened a bit!
February 3, 2022
Story line was catchy…but
SO MANY TYPOS. Not even sure how this got published unless it was thrown into Google Translate and printed 🙈
SO MANY TYPOS. Not even sure how this got published unless it was thrown into Google Translate and printed 🙈
July 19, 2024
One of the only books I've not even been able to finish. This book is so poorly written and the storyline so boring I just couldn't get into it at all. This book needs some serious editing to fix all the mistakes, maybe then it will be more readable.
February 8, 2024
This one dragged a lot towards the end.
April 9, 2024
I don't even know where to start with this book. I felt like there were so many problems with the writing and the story that by the end I couldn't even take it seriously. There were so many issues with the wrong tense of a word used, and the dialogue felt extremely awkward.
I had a HUGE problem with Ben's character and his relationship with Melissa. Ben spent most of the book gaslighting Melissa, making her feel like she was crazy when in fact almost all of her suspicions were correct. He only hears her out when his friend Tom convinces him that Melissa is right. He doesn't even listen to his own mother. He pressures Melissa to just drop her career goals because he wants to have kids and gets mad when, heaven forbid, she wants to follow her dreams. He is a toxic character, so any attempts to make him sympathetic to the reader is ridiculous. No I don't feel bad for Ben. He's literally an idiot. How do you just forget about the stalker that you had in college and not put two and two together??
And the scene where they have the standoff with Carla was just stupid. I kind of got why Ben went in to try and reason with Carla, but no officer in their right mind would have let Melissa do something so stupid like sneak into an active hostage situation. Their reactions to the situation were completely unbelievable. They treat it like a joke when they laugh at the situation once Carla is caught. And then when they leave the house everyone starts clapping which was extremely cheesy. Melissa's inner dialogue is completely immature, especially when her reaction to seeing her landlord in a pool of blood is "what a mess!"
I heard good things about this book and I had high hopes for it. However, it really didn't deliver, in my opinion and it was entirely too long. The story might have done better as a novella if the author cut out the superfluous parts.
Suffice to say, this book did not do it for me.
I had a HUGE problem with Ben's character and his relationship with Melissa. Ben spent most of the book gaslighting Melissa, making her feel like she was crazy when in fact almost all of her suspicions were correct. He only hears her out when his friend Tom convinces him that Melissa is right. He doesn't even listen to his own mother. He pressures Melissa to just drop her career goals because he wants to have kids and gets mad when, heaven forbid, she wants to follow her dreams. He is a toxic character, so any attempts to make him sympathetic to the reader is ridiculous. No I don't feel bad for Ben. He's literally an idiot. How do you just forget about the stalker that you had in college and not put two and two together??
And the scene where they have the standoff with Carla was just stupid. I kind of got why Ben went in to try and reason with Carla, but no officer in their right mind would have let Melissa do something so stupid like sneak into an active hostage situation. Their reactions to the situation were completely unbelievable. They treat it like a joke when they laugh at the situation once Carla is caught. And then when they leave the house everyone starts clapping which was extremely cheesy. Melissa's inner dialogue is completely immature, especially when her reaction to seeing her landlord in a pool of blood is "what a mess!"
I heard good things about this book and I had high hopes for it. However, it really didn't deliver, in my opinion and it was entirely too long. The story might have done better as a novella if the author cut out the superfluous parts.
Suffice to say, this book did not do it for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2022
Thank you BookSprout and Theo Baxter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
WHAT I LIKED:
This book was a decent story of a young couple trying to get their life started both Professionally and Personally. The storyline is easy to follow and it is descriptive so you can picture what everything looks like.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
This book was slightly odd for me.. there were parts where the emotions weren't there at all, no passion between the two protagonists.. and then there were parts that it was too much; the character would "Think" something and then "say" exactly what they think - Having to double read the same thing twice is irritating. This story was also very predictive, I knew who did what and how that person knew the information way before it was actually revealed. The ending of this book, should have been at the moment when the police arrested the person.. The last 30-40% of the book that came after that could have been extended to a second book.. instead the book Climaxed twice and after the first climax, I was so ready for it to just be over all ready.
OVERALL / RECOMMENDED:
This book was a decent story for those possibly just starting into the thriller genera. For more avid readers such as myself, it was too predictable and slightly boring.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
WHAT I LIKED:
This book was a decent story of a young couple trying to get their life started both Professionally and Personally. The storyline is easy to follow and it is descriptive so you can picture what everything looks like.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
This book was slightly odd for me.. there were parts where the emotions weren't there at all, no passion between the two protagonists.. and then there were parts that it was too much; the character would "Think" something and then "say" exactly what they think - Having to double read the same thing twice is irritating. This story was also very predictive, I knew who did what and how that person knew the information way before it was actually revealed. The ending of this book, should have been at the moment when the police arrested the person.. The last 30-40% of the book that came after that could have been extended to a second book.. instead the book Climaxed twice and after the first climax, I was so ready for it to just be over all ready.
OVERALL / RECOMMENDED:
This book was a decent story for those possibly just starting into the thriller genera. For more avid readers such as myself, it was too predictable and slightly boring.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 25, 2022
Loved it!
I decided to read a second book by this author, since I really liked the first one I read. For me, he is an amazing story teller. As before, I was sold within the first few pages and I love a book that gets me that quickly.
Melissa and Ben are a super happily married with their whole lives planned ahead of them ie: her law degree, him opening his own business and planning on 5+ children! Then a stalker enters their lives and changes everything.
I highly recommend this book.
ps- I did notice MANY grammatical errors and the wrong word used in places but I have to put this off to the proof-reader. It did not change how I felt about the story/author.
I decided to read a second book by this author, since I really liked the first one I read. For me, he is an amazing story teller. As before, I was sold within the first few pages and I love a book that gets me that quickly.
Melissa and Ben are a super happily married with their whole lives planned ahead of them ie: her law degree, him opening his own business and planning on 5+ children! Then a stalker enters their lives and changes everything.
I highly recommend this book.
ps- I did notice MANY grammatical errors and the wrong word used in places but I have to put this off to the proof-reader. It did not change how I felt about the story/author.
January 19, 2022
Amazing read. I enjoyed it a lot. The author has mixed a bit of romance with a lot of suspence excellently! It was like I was in the story, as I was able to fell the characters, there were so beautifully written. It gives me chills down my spine, sometimes a goofy smile around my lips, sometimes I was so lost that I don't knew what I was doing, I was that engrossed in the story!!
Highly recommend reading!
Looking forward to read more of his work, Theo Baxter is in my list of fav authors from now!!
Highly recommend reading!
Looking forward to read more of his work, Theo Baxter is in my list of fav authors from now!!
January 18, 2022
This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
April 8, 2022
I liked the concept of this but the writing was just bad. I could not get past it. It was also just super unbelievable, in my opinion. I hated the characters and I just felt like there was nothing redeemable about any of them. The story was interesting for the most part and I think it had a lot of potential, but I just disliked the writing and that killed it for me.
January 24, 2022
I love the story line and was anxious to read it but couldn’t get past page 60 with all the errors, including errors in the characters names. This needs a re-edit.
January 27, 2022
Good read but went on too long
Good read but could have ended b4 trial...found from the trial on boring...but rest of book read well despite mistakes...
Good read but could have ended b4 trial...found from the trial on boring...but rest of book read well despite mistakes...
July 31, 2023
I usually love a happy ending tied up in a neat little bow. I hate all these characters. No one is relatable. This BS Story is so boring and predictable! Is the author a 16 year old girl who has never had a boyfriend and just learned the phrase "deadpanned". Jesus fucking christ this story sucked balls!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2024
This book, some sentences are not written correctly and don’t make sense. They also misspelled the main character’s name in one chapter as “Marissa” instead of “Melissa” besides this book being written strangely, it’s just okay of a story, how the characters act with some parts are a little unrealistic, like come on already.
July 7, 2024
This book was absolutely terrible. If I could have given it zero stars, I would have. If you want to read about characters having sex all the time, this is for you. It feels like it was written by a teenager.
July 27, 2025
Your Books
Carla/Carlotta To get to Ben she surgically changed her appearance. Broke into his apartment and poisoned his wife. She would do anything to get him. I enjoyed your novel. I’m looking forward to reading another. Thank you.
Carla/Carlotta To get to Ben she surgically changed her appearance. Broke into his apartment and poisoned his wife. She would do anything to get him. I enjoyed your novel. I’m looking forward to reading another. Thank you.
March 12, 2023
Dreadful almost anyone I know could do better than this. There were no twist and turns just boring predictably and a lot of meaningless drivel.
September 11, 2023
This book had a great premise but unfortunately was poorly written. So many typos, grammatical errors, and weak character development. It was difficult to finish…
April 25, 2024
Saw the "killer twist" coming a mile away!
March 30, 2025
Another excellent thriller from Theo Baxter
December 7, 2022
I don't usually write reviews but I have to for this book. The story line in this book could have been really good but with all the HORRIBLE spelling errors and the strung out sentences it kind of ruined it. It was really hard to get through with all the mistakes in this book. I mean even had names mixed up in it. It almost felt like the writer was rushing to write it, there was that many errors. The book is also really long but mainly because some sentences were worded so bad that he just kept repeating the same thing another way in one sentence. I feel like the ending was just dragged out. Could have done without the last 2 chapters. There was no reason for them.
February 19, 2022
Good story, terrible writing
I thought the story could have been good but the characters were dumb as a bag of rocks and none of them were likable. More importantly is the fact that this book has so many typos and words that just didn't make sense. Characters names were misused and misspelled. It was as if the person writing this had very little knowledge of the English language.
I thought the story could have been good but the characters were dumb as a bag of rocks and none of them were likable. More importantly is the fact that this book has so many typos and words that just didn't make sense. Characters names were misused and misspelled. It was as if the person writing this had very little knowledge of the English language.
April 11, 2022
This was a thoroughly disappointing book. The plot had potential but never reached it. The dialogue was terrible. The characters were cliches. The writing was very "flat"...no build-up to suspenseful moments. And the editing is abysmal; poorly worded phrases, wrong verb tenses, at least one instance of a wrong name being used for a character. I finished the book, though it wasn't easy. I fairly certain I won't read another by this author anytime soon.
July 4, 2022
Amazing read. I enjoyed it a lot. The author has mixed a bit of romance with a lot of suspence excellently! It was like I was in the story, as I was able to fell the characters, there were so beautifully written. It gives me chills down my spine, sometimes a goofy smile around my lips, sometimes I was so lost that I don't knew what I was doing, I was that engrossed in the story!!
Highly recommend reading!
Highly recommend reading!
February 6, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this book. However, there were a lot of misspellings and grammatical errors that I caught myself focusing more on those than the storyline itself. With that being said I really enjoy the writing style of Theo Baxter and have already starting reading some of his other works.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
February 9, 2022
just ok
A few twists but nothing shocking. I got aggravated with couple in this book. I felt it was a waste of time. Knew all along who was causing their problems. They were just kinda unbelievable people not to put two and two together sooner.
A few twists but nothing shocking. I got aggravated with couple in this book. I felt it was a waste of time. Knew all along who was causing their problems. They were just kinda unbelievable people not to put two and two together sooner.
March 11, 2022
Poorly written and predictable plot
The writing is very amateur and repetitive. It needs s good copy editor. The plot is predictable and there is a small twist that is not a surprise at all.
The writing is very amateur and repetitive. It needs s good copy editor. The plot is predictable and there is a small twist that is not a surprise at all.
January 8, 2024
Great read!
This book started out slow the first few chapters, but was a huge page turner after that! It seems as it took me forever to finish! But if u like plot twists & turns this is definitely the book to read! 5stars here!! Happy reading!
This book started out slow the first few chapters, but was a huge page turner after that! It seems as it took me forever to finish! But if u like plot twists & turns this is definitely the book to read! 5stars here!! Happy reading!
April 3, 2022
I only liked half the book
I chose this rating because the book was so interesting at first. Then it became a nightmare of bad grammar, worse punctuation, words written out of context, not to mention the way the author solved the mystery too soon.
I chose this rating because the book was so interesting at first. Then it became a nightmare of bad grammar, worse punctuation, words written out of context, not to mention the way the author solved the mystery too soon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews