When No One Is Watching

When No One is Watching is a psychological thriller by Alyssa Cole, author of twenty romance novels and two graphic novels. The novel is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2021 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Paperback Original. It is Cole’s thriller debut and explores themes of structural racism, pharmaceutical abuse, and romance in the throes of psychological struggle.

Please note, this guide contains expletives and references to racially motivated violence.

Plot Summary

Sydney Green moves back to her mother Yolanda’s home in Brooklyn after her marriage fails. She is excited to be back in her neighborhood until she discovers that gentrification has forced many of her friends and neighbors out, replacing them with white neighbors who aggressively call the police for any inconvenience. Inspired by a white-centered historical tour of the neighborhood, Sydney starts her own historical tour that highlights the lives of the Black residents. Rumors of disappearances have put her on edge, as have recent arrests of her neighbors.

Theo has recently moved into the neighborhood. He and his girlfriend Kim are gentrifiers; they bought a Brownstone (a house made of or resembling that of brown sandstone intimately tied to New York neighborhoods) and are renovating it.