Celeste Ng and Liane MoriartyтАЩs enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley JacksonтАЩs creeping dread in this тАЬwickedly funny, unnerving puzzle box of a novelтАЭ (Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will) about the downward spiral of a Long Island community after a tragedy exposes its residentsтАЩ depths of deception.
Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.
But menace skulks among this exclusive enclave. When the Wilde family arrive, they trigger their neighborsтАЩ worst fears. Dad ArloтАЩs a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom GertieтАЩs got a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They donтАЩt fit with the way Maple Street sees itself.
Maple StreetтАЩs Queen Bee, Rhea SchroederтАФa lonely professor repressing a dark pastтАФinitially welcomed Gertie, but relations plummeted during one summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much, too soon. By the time the story opens, the Wildes are outcasts.
As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and RheaтАЩs daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one momтАЩs word against the otherтАЩs in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.
Riveting and ruthless, Good Neighbors is тАЬa chilling, compulsively readable novel that looks toward the future in order to help us understand how we live nowтАЭ (Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here).