Book Club: When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

We discuss SFPL’s On the Same Page book selection for Jan./Feb., When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole.

Longtime Black residents are leaving Gifford Place, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. But why? In this novel, Alyssa Cole, well-known as a romance writer, creates an original thriller that includes a bit of history, social commentary and a little romance. Sydney, who is recently divorced, returns to her Brooklyn neighborhood to care for her mother. She connects with her neighbor Theo, who is a newcomer to the block after buying a brownstone with his girlfriend.  

Together, they begin to research the complicated history of Gifford Place. As people begin disappearing from the neighborhood, paranoia and fear begin to grow. Racism and greed fuel a shockingly fast-paced ending full of surprises. This book starts off steady and measured, but you’ll find yourself sprinting by the end.  

Alyssa Cole is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance and thrillers. Her debut thriller When No One Is Watching was the winner of the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original, and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and her contemporary royal romcom A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. Her books have received critical acclaim from the New York Times, Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Shondaland, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her pets.