GOOD NEIGHBORS

A seemingly perfect suburb hides secrets and violence just beneath the surface.

From the outside, Maple Street looks idyllic. It’s in a Long Island suburb full of families who work hard and want the best for their children—but something isn’t right. The first sign is the giant sinkhole that opens in the community’s park, coating things in thick oil, scrambling cell signals, and claiming the life of a German shepherd. But the sinkhole is only the beginning of the real trouble for the families of Maple Street. Longtime resident Rhea Schroeder, a community college professor who’s hiding some of her own dark secrets, has it out for newcomer Gertie Wilde, a former pageant queen who doesn’t really fit in. Neither does Gertie's family, which includes her former rock star husband, who commits the cardinal sin of smoking on the front porch instead of in the backyard like everyone else in the neighborhood. When Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls into the sinkhole, Rhea quickly launches into attack mode, blaming Gertie’s family for Shelly’s death. Things spin further out of control, ruining an entire neighborhood and countless lives in the process. The story itself is entertainingly absurd and over-the-top, but perhaps the most interesting part is the way Langan chooses to tell it. She intersperses the story with articles and interviews from years later referencing “the Maple Street Murders,” allowing not only a grim foreshadowing, but a slice of realistic true-crime obsession (as well as a glimpse into what the climate crisis may look like in the near future).

An incredibly dark (and surprisingly fun) page-turner.