Nicholas Kaufmann's Reviews > Good Neighbors

Sarah Langan's new novel is a riveting and brilliantly realized character-driven thriller. Full of tension and tightly controlled prose, GOOD NEIGHBORS is also achingly suspenseful, aided by brief forward flashes in the form of after-the-fact articles and interviews that build a steady sense of dread as the story careens toward its shocking climax. It reminded me in some ways of Jack Ketchum's classic THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, that frustration and worry that comes with reading about characters who ought to know better making the wrong choices over and over. Of course, that's partially the point of Langan's novel, how easy it is for people to make the wrong choices while convinced they're making the right ones, and how easily they can be led to believe something they're already predisposed to believe. It's really well done and never falters in its realistic and immersive depictions of the residents of Maple Street. GOOD NEIGHBORS more than fulfills the promise of Langan's earlier novels and leaves me eager to see what comes next. Sarah Langan is on my list of must-read authors!