A review by anna_bibliophile_sue
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If comparing to 5 stars in other genres, for me it's a 4 star. But this book does everything it should in the literary noir subgenre with 5 stars and beyond. 
The writing is propulsive and spurs the reader to keep reading. There are dark and violent themes, and every character is morally flawed. 
This isn't a whodunit mystery; we know as the story unfolds who does what crimes, but we are examining their motives and deciding who is right and who is wrong.
This isn't a thriller in the sense of big plot twists, but it is a thrilling narrative that keeps you wanting to read the next chapter. I absolutely love a rich neighborhood setting, and this upper class suburban neighborhood a few years in the future is so perfect for this story of class confrontations, alienation, prejudice, and suspense. It describes a possible future climate without getting preachy about it or seeming like it had a political agenda. The dialogue and writing style is short, concise, clever, and sharp.
This is a book I won't recommend to every reader, but if you're looking for something in the crime fiction world, this is a perfect book for you!