Read This Book: When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Content warning: racism, death, imprisonment, terminal illness

Sydney Green’s beloved Brooklyn neighborhood is changing, and not for the better. Fresh off of a divorce, she’s back home in her mother’s brownstone, trying to rebuild her life and struggling to accept that home just isn’t the same anymore. Her neighbors on all sides are selling their homes and moving to the suburbs, and they’re being replaced with white families who aren’t as kind and welcoming, and contribute to a hostile and even dangerous community. Sydney is fed up, and decides that she wants to start a walking tour of her own neighborhood, with a focus on the history and contributions of Black residents. She takes on an unexpected research assistant: Theo, a white man who bought the brownstone across the street from Sydney and whose relationship with his racist girlfriend has disintegrated to the point where they’re living on separate floors. As Sydney and Theo tentatively begin working together, they stumble upon a lot more than just unpleasant and racist history—they find evidence that suggests that someone is forcibly removing Black residents to make way for white buyers.

I love a suspense novel with fascinating and sharp social commentary, and Alyssa Cole delivers! I would say that this is definitely more on the suspense spectrum than mystery, although there is obviously a mystery here. It just takes Sydney and Theo a little while to realize that something sinister is going on, and that tension had me cringing but unable to look away. Once they’re on to the conspiracy, it’s a nonstop thrill ride as Sydney has to figure out what’s going on, but also whether or not she can trust Theo. Cole uses a dual narrative so you can get inside both characters’ heads, which not only ups the suspense but also allows the reader to see how Theo, as a white person, shrugs off racist incidents that affect Sydney much differently. They both have some growing to do in the book: Theo has to learn how to listen, to speak up, but not be performative. Sydney is still reeling from a traumatic break up and needs to learn how to let people in and trust again, and that goes beyond Theo. You can also see Cole’s background as a romance writer coming through as Sydney and Theo gradually begin developing feelings for one another, although any potential romance takes a backseat to the action. This book had some really excellent and unexpected twists and turns, and I definitely hope to read more thrillers from Cole in the future!