Review | Follow Me by Angela Clarke

Title: Follow Me
Author: Angela Clarke
Release Date: December 3rd, 2015
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Pages: 326 (Kindle)
Rating: 4/5

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time’s running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

ONLINE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM …

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This was a really compelling thriller with a strong modern presence. I was kept guessing right up to about two pages before the identity of the #murderer was revealed.

It took me a little while to get into the story. I felt fairly indifferent towards the main character, Freddie, so it was only when the action started to build that I got interested. The premise of a murderer who leaves clues on Twitter was really gripping. I was itching to see how that whole scenario began, and the way the account was found was not a let down.

Freddie, as a main character, was fine. I didn’t love her, I didn’t hate her. She was just fine. There wasn’t really anything about her that bothered me, but there wasn’t anything that I could connect or relate to either. But that’s just me. I think the way she reacted to events was incredibly realistic, particularly towards the end where the case ramped up a whole lot. It was refreshing to see a main character, who hadn’t been trained to deal with these situations, really struggle with everything that was going on around her.

The mystery of the Hashtag Murderer was great. It was fast-paced and the development of the police investigation was fairly believable. Well, except for the fact that every police officer on the case has zero clue regarding social media. I was quite surprised by who turned out to be the murderer, though I had taken notice of the character previously, just for a different reason. Looking back, the reasons that I had taken notice of the character were definitely hints that they were the killer. Basically, it was really well written.

I was a little underwhelmed when we found out about this big terrible thing that Nas and Freddie did when they were younger. I mean, sure, it was bad, but I was expecting something much worse. Something dramatic that maybe pushed Nas into become a police officer.

Overall, this was a really exciting thriller/crime novel. It’s a brilliant debut for the author, and someone I’ll definitely be checking out when more books are released. I’d definitely recommend this, even if, like me, you’re not a big thriller reader.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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