Taylor Adams
Mystery Thriller
After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy—or very, very dangerous—in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.
One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?
As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.
My Opinion
(4.5 / 5) After writing a negative review online about a book, Emma starts arguing about it with none other than the author himself. After refusing to change her review, she wipes her hands clean of him and his book. Or so she thinks.
As she goes about her daily life in a secluded house and town, disturbing incidents start to occur making her wonder if it is related to the book review.
For one, the premise of the book is fabulous! What a way to scare all the book bloggers out there! It was fast-paced with new information given throughout. It was hard to put down! The story and the and absurdity of it kept me flipping pages quickly.
A lot of people are complaining about the ending being too long, but honestly, that was my favorite part. We wait throughout the entire book to find out what will happen and this made it all the better. It wasn’t quick, it was well-drawn out into multiple scenes that made each scenario scarier than the one before. Was it perfectly written? No, it had some flaws and some predictability but that didn’t keep me from devouring the details. My rating is based purely on the entertainment factor!
Props to Adams for making me second guess every review I write!
General content summary: F words= 30+, C***= 1 parental death (liver/alcohol), alcoholism, death in car crash (previous), suicide contemplation (multiple), weapon threat, cut off finger (blood, few details), breaking into a house (multiple), killing with a sword (ear cut off, stabbing, a man’s limbs cut off, killing, some details), previous killing details and the memorabilia (few details), decapitation, physical violence (tearing hair, cutting with sword, hitting with hammer, stabbing, standoff (fighting, weapons, injuries, gunshot, stun gun, gun, decapitation by sword, hit with a car), asphyxiation (2x), gunshot wound (blood), stabbing, gunshot death, child death (some details), poisoning, murder (drowning), spousal physical abuse (physical), suicide (gun).
Thank you to BiblioLifestyle and William Morrow Books for the copy and chance to be on the tour.
**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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