THE CLOSER I GET by Paul Burston @OrendaBooks @PaulBurston

Book Description:

Tom is a successful author, but he’s struggling to finish his novel. His main distraction is an online admirer, Evie, who simply won’t leave him alone.

Evie is smart, well read and unstable; she lives with her father and her social-media friendships are not only her escape, but everything she has.

When she’s hit with a restraining order, her world is turned upside down, and Tom is free to live his life again, to concentrate on writing.

But things aren’t really adding up. For Tom is distracted but also addicted to his online relationships, and when they take a darker, more menacing turn, he feels powerless to change things. Because maybe he needs Evie more than he’s letting on.

A compulsive, disturbingly relevant, twisty and powerful psychological thriller, The Closer I Get is also a searing commentary on the fragility and insincerity of online relationships, and the danger that can lurk just one ‘like’ away…

My Thoughts:

From the very first page, I was well and truly hooked on this story. It alternates between Evie and Tom so we get inside the head of the stalker as well as the victim. What a place to be inside!

To start with everything seems quite straight forward, Evie is obviously mentally unstable and her obsession with Tom is just that. Tom you can’t help but feel sorry for everything that he is going through. As the story goes further along though I started to get a few niggles about whether everything was quite just as it seems and no way was I prepared for what was in store for me.

Everyone knows about the downsides of social media and this really comes across in this novel. The power that people can have. Those horrible keyboard warriors. It was also interesting to see the police taking it seriously and that things can be done against the horrible trolls that lurk on there.

I wanted to feel compassion for Evie as she obviously has issues, but I just couldn’t. Reading of what goes on in her head gave me shivers. Tom on the other hand, I had bucket loads for to start with but that did sway throughout as at times I wanted to slap him for some of his actions.

The Closer I Get has it all. It’s full of wonderful twists and turns with surprises around every corner. The author had me hanging off every word and I entered each chapter with both trepidation and glee at what was to come. Fans of psychological thrillers are going to love this book as I know I sure did. It definitely has the thrill factor in bucket loads.

My thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Closer I Get is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an affiliate link).

Paul Burston is the author of five novels and the editor of two short story collections. His most recent novel The Black Path, was a WHSmith bestseller. His first novel, Shameless, was shortlisted for the State of Britain Award. His third novel, Lovers & Losers was shortlisted for a Stonewall Award. His fourth, The Gay Divorcee, was optioned for television. He was a founding editor of Attitude magazine and has written for many publications including Guardian, Independent, Time Out, The Times and Sunday Times. In March 2016, he was featured in the British Council’s #FiveFilms4Freedom Global List 2016, celebrating “33 visionary people who are promoting freedom, equality and LGBT rights around the world”. He is the founder and host of London’s award-winning LGBT+ literary salon Polari and founder and chair of The Polari First Book Prize for new writing and the newly announced Polari Prize.