Why we’re excited
Eboni Goodman, a social worker stuck delivering groceries, lands a job running a pilot village meant to house people without homes. The South Jersey town around it resents the newcomers, and inside the gates things keep going wrong.
Cole's 2020 hit turned gentrification in Brooklyn into a thriller, and this new novel shares its world. Readers do not need that earlier book first. It suits fans of social horror where the fear comes from people and institutions rather than ghosts.
On our most-anticipated list since 22 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about It Takes a Village
Alyssa Cole is new to The Bookish Elf: none of their books has a review here yet.
From the publisher
New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Cole is back with another chilling thriller, set in the world of her megahit When No One Is Watching.
It was too good to be true.
Eboni Goodman has earned her Master’s in Social Work… only to be stuck delivering groceries. So when she lands a position as Administrator for an experimental village designed to reduce homelessness, she’s thrilled. Her stubborn optimism has finally borne fruit, and she is ready to change lives―starting with her own.
Except the South Jersey town isn’t exactly welcoming of their new neighbors. Eboni is determined to prove the program works, even when the hostility outside the gates is nothing compared to the glitches happening inside the village. And the only person she can rely on is Michael, a broody security guard and former local who's only recently returned to town.
As the town's buried history comes to light and strange occurrences stack up, cracks begin to show in the organization’s philanthropic facade. Eboni and Michael are pulled into a web of intrigue that threatens not just the program but everyone living there.
After all, it takes a village…
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read It Takes a Village yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
