Rosie and Chad Lowan are “the new couple” in Lisa Unger’s latest psychological thriller, THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B. Rosie is an author, and Chad is an actor, though both have been struggling lately and barely can afford their Manhattan apartment’s rent. However, their lives are about to change drastically.

We see Rosie meeting with her editor, Max, and discussing ideas for her next book. There is something about it that just doesn’t scream “bestseller,” but soon she will find another subject matter to write about. When Chad’s wealthy uncle Ivan passes away, he leaves his upscale apartment in New York City's historic Windermere to Chad and Rosie. They took care of him right up until his death, but the news does not sit well with Ivan’s daughter, Dana, a struggling portrait artist who planned on getting his apartment and selling it.

"THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B has so many plot lines and red herrings for readers to deal with that Lisa Unger is allowed to get away with her typical intricate plotting to toy with her audience right up to the eye-opening finale."

Chad convinces Rosie that this is the start of the profitable future they had hoped for, so they pack up and move into Apartment 5B. The residents are mostly older, well-to-do types --- including spiritualists, psychics and famous producers. Of course, Rosie and Chad have an instant enemy in the jilted Dana, who vows to take legal action against them. Rosie now feels that she can create the greatest production of her life --- a baby. She carries around a pregnancy test with her but has yet to receive a positive reading.

Unger goes back and introduces readers to the previous tenants of 5B, Willa and Paul Winter, who lost their lives there under tragic circumstances that are outlined in several flashback chapters. For Rosie, she has heightened suspicions about the place and its many odd residents. But no one gets her antennas up higher than the doorman, Abi, who she believes is spying on them over the broken intercom system.

Dana reaches out to Rosie directly and requests that they meet at her art studio, promising to have details about Chad that Rosie needs to know. When she arrives with Max in tow, the discoveries they make will be chilling and truly head-spinning. As a result, Rosie and Chad’s lives will be upended. Rosie scraps her original book idea and decides to write about the Windermere and its tragic, almost supernatural, history. She also receives some unexpected happy news at around the same time that Chad is offered a role in a TV series that may allow his acting career to finally take off.

THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B has so many plot lines and red herrings for readers to deal with that Lisa Unger is allowed to get away with her typical intricate plotting to toy with her audience right up to the eye-opening finale. The book definitely has a ROSEMARY’S BABY vibe to it, and I appreciated her homage to its late great author, Ira Levin. But clearly this is a Lisa Unger story, and she has worked her magic once again with this outstanding novel.