When No One is Watching

This book was excellent. As you probably know by now I am on a pretty much never-ending hunt for more thrillers written by Black women (Tiffany D. Jackson is a favorite!) and I could not put this one down. And in my opinion, it’s a social justice book (tackling racism and gentrification) packaged in an unputdownable thriller. Sydney Green was born and raised in Brooklyn, returning to her mother’s brownstown after her divorce. But the neighborhood is changing – the Black families she grew up with are disappearing and new White families are moving in to flip and build condos. She decides to channel her frustration (and love of the neighborhood and its incredible history) into a community walking tour. Through a series of events Theo (the good looking White man across the street becomes her rather unlikely assistant, but as they dive deeper into the neighborhood’s history they begin uncovering secrets… including connections between the real estate company that’s selling all their houses, a big corporation, the city jail, the police and so on and so forth – and maybe all of those families aren’t leaving as willingly as they would have liked to believe. It’s fast paced and twisty and what’s maybe the scariest part is that given the current climate, doesn’t feel very far-fetched. I loved it