My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“He who searches for evil, must first look at his own reflection.”
----Confucius
Alex Lake, a British novelist, has penned a subtly gripping psychological thriller called, Copycat that is centered around a well established doctor, wife and mother of three kids whose life takes a wild turn when one of her college friends moves back to her hometown who informs her about the fake profile that someone has been using under that doctor's name. Not only that, things get more weird, when the Facebook posts on that fake account gets a little too close to the home, leaving her husband dubious of his wife's mental health condition, owing to the fact that postcards, emails, handwritten notes, Amazon account all are being impersonated by someone who knows the doctor a little too well or maybe the doctor is doing it all by herself, who knows? Read the book to find out!
Synopsis:
Your stalker is everywhere.
Your stalker knows everything.
But the real problem is that your stalker is you.
Sarah Havenant discovers–when an old friend points it out–that there are two Facebook profiles in her name.
One, she recognizes: it is hers. The other, she has never seen. But everything in it is accurate. Recent photos of her and her friends, her and her husband, her and her kids. Even of her new kitchen. A photo taken inside her house.
She is bemused, angry, and worried. Who was able to do this? Any why?
But this, it soon turns out, is just the beginning. It is only now–almost as though someone has been watching, waiting for her to find the profile–that her problems really start…
Sarah, a mother, wife and doctor, has a happy life, until someone begins impersonating her life digitally on Facebook. Gradually that impersonation gets too close to the home when handwritten notes, letters bearing her own handwriting, and gifts begin to show up her door step. Now Ben, Sarah's husband, is dubious of all these stalking acts and is considering them to be an act done by Sarah herself, owing to her deteriorating mental health condition. Things get more complicated when Ben gets a letter addressed to him written on Sarah's handwriting about a ugly little secret. Can Sarah stop this stalker whoever he/she is, before she loses her perfect life and family forever?
This is the first time that I read any book by this author and I must say, I wasn't too satisfied about the story line or the story telling style of the author. Well, to be honest, the book had all the elements to be a riveting thriller, yet all the elements lacked its depth thereby turning it into something uninteresting and bit flat. Moreover, the plot dragged a lot near the end, and many unwanted scenes and dialogues were forcible fed into the story line. Even the backdrop did not play well into the story line, making it look very plain.
The author's writing style is okay and isn't layered with that much depth or emotions or tension that will let the readers relate or connect or feel thrilled about the story. The narrative is articulate but dragged a lot, like a LOT near the climax, which is extremely predictable to begin with. The pacing is really fast, thank god for that, as the story opens smoothly and has that creepy and chilly factor in its prose, but then right at the middle, the story goes downhill, when things get a little too foreseeable.
The mystery is not at all well concocted with suspense or edgy drama to keep the readers glued to the edges of their seats. The first half of the book is promising and thrilling enough to make the readers turn the pages of the book frantically, but then midway into the story line, things fall flat and the mystery takes a backseat and turns into a rather bumpy and uneasy ride to climax.
The characters are a pain to read about. Too unrealistic and too much cliched. I can keep ranting about the characters flaw for a long time, but I would restrain myself from doing that and rather suggesting the readers to skip this psycho thriller.
Verdict: Not so promising! Not recommended.
Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers from Harper Collins India for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Alex Lake is a British novelist who was born in the North West of England. After Anna is the first book to be written under the author’s pseudonym, and it has been a No.1 bestselling ebook sensation, receiving over 100 5* reviews online. The author now lives in the US, in Brunswick, Maine.
Visit her here
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