Review of "The New Couple in 5B: A Novel of Suspense" by Lisa Unger

Rosie and Chad Lowan are young marrieds living in the Village in New York City.

Rosie is a writer and Chad is an actor, and the couple - though struggling financially - take the time to care for Chad's dying Uncle Ivan.



Ivan resides in the Windermere - a luxury NYC apartment building with a reputation for supernatural occurrences, murders, and suicides.



When Uncle Ivan dies, Rosie and Chad are surprised to discover that Ivan cut his daughter Dana out of his will and left his Windermere apartment (5B) - worth millions of dollars - to them.



When the Lowans move in, Rosie immediately starts to feel uncomfortable about the intrusive neighbors; the ubiquitous surveillance cameras; the Alexa-like intercom system; and the general atmosphere of 'big brother is watching you.



Rosie also thinks she might have encountered a ghost boy in the basement.



Bad things start to happen, and the story is fairly predictable from there.

For me this book is too slow and too reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin. Also, I don't like books where the female protagonist is too naive to see what's right in front of her eyes. In other words, TSTL (too stupid to live).

This isn't a bad book and many suspense fans would probably enjoy it. It's just too derivative for me.

Rating: 3 stars