The New Couple in 5B
by Lisa Unger
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller
Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.
At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.
Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-one novels, including The New Couple in 5B. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Daily Telegraph, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family. - Author's website
Library Journal
At first, Rosie and Chad Lowan—The New Couple in 5B —couldn't be happier to have inherited an apartment from Chad's uncle in the fabled Windermere building in New York's Murray Hill area, but with the building's omnipresent cameras and a history of ugly crimes, they quickly learn that it was all too good to be true; the New York Times best-selling Unger gets a 150,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2023 Library Journal --Barbara Hoffert (Reviewed 10/01/2023)
Kirkus
/* Starred Review */ Although a surprise inheritance sounds like good luck, it turns out to be anything but in a tense, twisty thriller.New Yorkers Rosie and Chad Lowan have spent most of the first year of their marriage caring for his dying uncle Ivan. Rosie, the novel’s engaging narrator, expects Ivan’s long-estranged daughter, Dana, to inherit his dreamy Park Avenue apartment, so she’s shocked to discover after his death that he’s left it to her and Chad. It’s a huge boon—Chad is an aspiring actor, and Rosie has published one bestselling true-crime book but is struggling to start a second, so money is always tight. The apartment in the elegant, century-old Windermere is not just a place to live but a multi-million-dollar asset. Dana, however, is not just surprised to be cut out of Ivan’s will but furious. The couple ’s joy is marred not only by her rage but by odd goings-on in the building. At the behest of her editor and BFF, Max, Rosie focuses her next book on the Windermere’s grisly history of residents who died in murders, suicides, and bizarre accidents. Does the building bear some sort of curse—and if so, is it all in the past? As first one person in Rosie’s orbit and then another die, she becomes suspicious of people like the Windermere’s longtime doorman, Abi, and the kindly old couple across the hall, Charles and Ella Aldridge, who have lived there for decades and take much interest in Rosie’s efforts to get pregnant. And is Chad, a golden-haired charmer, as perfect as he seems? If all this reminds you of Rosemary’s Baby, it’s meant to—the book is salted with references to that classic melding of mystery and horror, and it vibrates with the same sense of escalating dread. But Unger builds her own fast-moving, creepy combination of thriller and horror in one of her best books yet.This propulsive, haunted thriller proves that competition for New York City real estate really can be deadly. (Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2024)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
The Writing Retreat
by Julia Bartz
Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives the opportunity to attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn't dampen her excitement.
Then Roza drops a bombshell: participants must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex tries to ignore Roza's erratic behavior, Wren's cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself.
But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex becomes desperate to discover the truth and save herself.
The Other Mrs.
by Mary Kubica
Propulsive and addictive, and perfect for fans of You, The Other Mrs. is the twisty new psychological thriller from Mary Kubica, the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl.
She tried to run, but she can't escape the other Mrs. Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie. But it's not just Morgan's death that has Sadie on edge.
As the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.
The Housemaid
Freida McFadden
Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day.
But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But soon she finds out -- and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late.
But I reassure myself that the Winchesters don't know who I really am. And they don't know what I'm capable of.
