We Are Watching: A Novel

We Are Watching: A Novel

“Gaylin’s clean prose and controlled narrative voice bring an all-too-realistic chill …. it might also bring to mind the paranoiac claustrophobia of Rosemary’s Baby .”— New York Times From  USA Today  bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award–winning author Alison Gaylin comes a riveting tale of psychological suspense and family bonds, in which a mother and daughter are desperate to protect one another as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists. Sometimes the world is out to get you. Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident. Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled  The Prophesy , which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy ’s author...Meg. As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on … before it’s too late. “Gaylin shines a harsh light into the darkest nooks of the web. The result is a timely and terrifying page-turner.” - Oprah Daily “Gaylin’s chilling tale is right on point for our disinformation-fueled times.” - Air Mail Unpredictable and unique….Richly-drawn relationships, specifically between parent and child, take the idea of feeling ‘seen’ in fiction and push into the more frightful territory of being watched.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Gaylin’s thrillers will always keep readers hooked.” - US Weekly “Gaylin writes perceptively about grief, guilt, and the complexities of parent-child relationships, while also spotlighting the dangers of misinformation and the allure of conspiracy theories in times of chaos. Timely, terrifying, and all too plausible.” - Kirkus Reviews “Briskly paced, We Are Watching demonstrates how ordinary people can overcome outrageous circumstances….A gripping thriller.” - Shelf Awareness “A pure marvel….With a storyline that toes the line between psychological suspense and horror, there is something for everyone here to enjoy. There is not a predictable second in this story, and no one is who they seem to be.... We Are Watching is beyond memorable.” - Bookreporter.com “Gaylin matches her lucid, propulsive prose with crackerjack plotting. This will grip readers from start to finish.” - Publishers Weekly “Gaylin writes highly suspenseful, plausible stories about ordinary people caught up in unusual circumstances….In turn, that means her books are very hard to put down: we’re invested in the stories and absolutely will not stop reading until the book is done. A first-rate thriller from a fine writer.” - Booklist "Chilling domestic drama is Gaylin’s trademark, and We Are Watching captures the Edgar-winning author at the top of her game. Expertly weaving a terrifying suspense plot with family dynamics, she unfurls a creepy and all too believable premise against a backdrop in which everything is familiar, and nothing is as it seems. A harrowing nail-biter from the first chapter to the last!" - Wendy Corsi Staub, New York Times bestselling author “Alison Gaylin has once again excavated the horror and danger lurking everywhere, even in picture-perfect towns. She is today's best chronicler of a certain kind of malaise that can come for any of us, at any time. I loved it." - Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of Prom Mom “Alison Gaylin’s We Are Watching continues her unbeatable streak of timely, of-the-moment mysteries steeped in the primal elements of noir, but refreshingly modern in their execution. Taut, heart wrenching, and empowering, We Are Watching will pull you in and refuse to let go until the final, gripping page.” - Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego “ We Are Watching combines everything I love about an Alison Gaylin thriller – complex parent-child relationships, wonderful prose, and plenty of pop culture references – with a haunting, post-pandemic plot unlike anything I’ve seen from the Edgar Award-winning author before. You’ll be reading all night – with every light on and door locked!” - Kellye Garret