Aiden Marlowe is an Irish immigrant living in Baltimore with his wife Holly and seven-year-old twins, Bo and Maggie. Heartbreakingly, Holly dies unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm at the age of 34. Then, at his wife’s funeral, an alert on his phone says he won the lottery. But when he moves his family to a new town in Bury, New Hampshire in an attempt to move on, he learns that his new house’s previous occupants suddenly disappeared and never found. Not to mention that he receives mysterious and semi-threatening letters from We Who Watch. The New Neighbor by best-selling author Carter Wilson is a psychological thriller that follows Aiden as he deals with his newfound wealth, grieves from his wife’s death, and tries to protect his family. 

Throughout the story, Aiden (who prefers to go by Marlowe) is an unreliable narrator. He has moments where he blacks out and cannot remember anything that has happened. Even though some may consider him an alcoholic, I’m not convinced this causes the gaps in his memory. Nevertheless, he’s suddenly thrust with two life-changing events, and his sporadic memory loss is not helpful. 

Shortly after moving into his new town, two unsettling things start to happen. He learns that his new house’s previous occupants – Logan Yates, his two daughters, and his grandson – mysteriously disappeared and were never found (dead or alive). Additionally, he begins receiving anonymous letters signed We Who Watch, who somehow know everything about him. They know that his wife just died. That he won the lottery. And that he has children. Thus, in an attempt to have a fresh start after an unimaginable tragedy, Marlowe might have caused even more trauma by doing so. 

Throughout The New Neighbor, readers painstakingly follow Marlowe as he tries to get to the bottom of it all. He reports the letters to the police (who are not exactly helpful). He even hires a security company to install surveillance equipment at his new house. Then begins to investigates the history and disappearance of the Yates family. He’s convinced that finding answers to the cold case and learning the secrets of the new home will help him identify who is watching him and his family. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, his sporadic dissociation with reality proves to not only hinder his progress, but also causes rifts in the few relationships he has left. 

The New Neighbor is not Carter Wilson’s first book – not by a long shot. In fact, this new book is a standalone crossover from one of his previous works, The Dead Husband (note to self: add to reading list). Carter’s experience as a suspense/thriller author shines in this one. Not only was the book easily digestible, but his talent for storytelling kept me hooked until the very end. And while I know I’m a sucker for this genre, I simply did not want to put it down. 

Carter Wilson joins our list of guests on our Cantina Conversations segment on The Nerd Cantina Show podcast. We talk about his life as an experienced author, what draws him to the thriller/suspense genre, and plans for the future. Keep an ear out for the interview and get a copy of The New Neighbor, available now.