A pyschological thriller about a professional woman, mother to three children and loving wife who discovers someone has set up a fake Facebook site in her name and appears to know her every move. A topical theme for a novel in which social media dominates lives and nothing is private. I enjoyed this novel very much, a flawed protagonist and a clever twist.

I really enjoyed this one I would say the first half of the book.

However, by the second half I was starting to get really annoyed with the character of Sarah’s husband. What an annoying whiny poor excuse for a husband is what I kept thinking.
I would definitely not stay married to someone like this.

I didn’t particularly find any of the characters likeable but the stalker storyline was interesting and I love attempting to guess who the bad guy is. I didn’t guess correctly so I like that aspect of it. The motive of the bad guy was pretty bad (in my opinion).

Overall the story was ok, the writing was ok. Nothing particularly WOW and am unsure if I would read anything from this author again.

Read and reviewed courtesy of Netgalley

Keep a close eye on your Facebook account, something Sarah should have done, because it was too late by the time she discovered the second profile with identical pictures and details. Ben, lawyer and Sarah, dr, plus three children are living the dream until sinister things start happening. Despite realising who it was from the start I still loved this story. Sarah’s bewilderment as she tries to convince people “it wasn’t me” and trying to work out who it was and Ben struggling to believe her with so much evidence to the contrary was gripping. The lengths some people will go to get what they want is remarkable! A follow up would work well with this book.

Copycat is a great insight into just how things can go wrong in this technological world - fake Facebook accounts, fake email addresses - so easy to do. Unfortunately for Sarah, this happens to her and her life changes completely. She has no idea what will happen next, but she knows how much of an impact it is having on her and those she loves. Her marriage is on the rocks, she is worried about her children, her mental and physical health suffers.

This book was extremely well written with you hearing from both Sarah and the 'big bad'. You also get snippets from ten years ago, which will eventually tie in with the rest of the story. I was engrossed all the way, right until the last couple of chapters. There were a couple of aspects which didn't seem to add up to me, but perhaps I was reading too much into them. On the whole, this book was a very good read that I would recommend.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Sarah Havenant is a doctor, happily married, with three great children and a best friend that she has known all her life. Then, one day, she finds out that someone has created a Facebook account in her name with photos of intimate family moments and posts written as if by her and is posting new pictures almost every day. Someone is watching her. When she is about to go to the authorities the account is deleted. Then someone starts emailing her friends, making appointments that she knows nothing about. Books are delivered, purchased from her Amazon account that she did not order, letters are written, in her handwriting! Someone is doing this and they are doing it for a reason. Her husband thinks that she is having dissociative fugues, becoming a different person and having no memory of it. Her anxiety attacks, that she had managed to get under control, return. Her family life is disintegrating into chaos and she does not know which of her friends to trust. Why is this happening and who is behind it all?
It is terrifying to think that there are people out there that have such a distorted view of reality that they can plan the downfall of another, and wait years before putting their plan into operation. Do we really know how our words and actions during our lives affect the people around us? Are people who they make themselves out to be? This book made me look at all my relationships throughout my lifetime and try to see myself from the other person’s point of view. How many times in our lives do we hurt others, not meaning to, but because they perceive our words and actions to mean something else? The human psyche is fragile and people around us may be more fragile than we realise.
Saphira
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

"In untangling the web, she had merely become trapped in it."

While the premise for Copycat wasn't particularly original, I did like the sound of this book. Unfortunately it just doesn't deliver. The writing is over laboured, repetitive and littered with cliches. The pacing throughout the entire story is off, dwelling too much on smaller incidents and skimming over the important bits. There were also leads and characters that were never followed up on, something which always frustrates me.

Copycat is very predictable. The build up to the reveal was so obvious that I thought I was being thrown off the scent, thinking it was the very obvious person when it would actually be another. But no.

I couldn't warm to any of the characters, particularly the lead Sarah, who seems to handle having her identity stolen in a completely unbelievable way, not getting worried until the very last minute and refusing to do what a seemingly sensible people would do in the situation.

In fact, a lot of the actions of the characters are unbelievable, as are most of the plot points.

I feel like I'm being very harsh. I know so much work goes into writing a book so I feel mean when I write a bad review, but I also want to be honest on this blog.

There were a few elements to Copycat that I liked; the premise being one, that someone could be impersonating you so completely that they could even take photos from in your house and know what you'd been doing that afternoon.

The book looks at how much we share now through social media and actually how easy it would be for someone to impersonate you.

"Back then, who would have announced to the world the dates of their holiday? Or their children's birthdays? Their wedding anniversary? Their maiden and middle names?"

Also, the sections written by the stalker, while repetitive and overdone, do break up the narrative a bit and create a more excitement.

Overall though I'm afraid Copycat just didn't do it for me. Though, looking at Goodreads, a lot of people loved it, so maybe you will.

My Rating: 2 Stars

I received a copy of Copycat, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

Good story well written
Good character development
Well worth a read for individuals not a school book

I love that there are so many recent novels centred on social media and Copycat really had me hooked. It starts with Sarah finding two Facebook for herself, one that she uses and another that she’s never seen, with photos that could have only been taken by someone inside her house. It’s creepy and actually kind of plausible which makes the whole scenario scarier.

A great quick read for when you need your thriller fill!

I requested this book from Netgalley, on the basis of the description, in return for an honest review.. I’m afraid that I was sadly disappointed.. This is an American book by a British author, now living in the States. All that it did for me was to reinforce my belief that Facebook offers huge opportunities for malice and self absorption . I felt justified in my long held determination to have nothing to do with it.

I never connected with any of the characters. Just not my sort of people.. Sarah, the lead female character, behaves like someone in her early twenties and not a mid thirties G P with three young children. How does she run her professional life, her home, her children and husband, all of which should be demanding in their own right and yet still have time to rush around like a single woman, dashing off to the beach and social events with her family on a whim. Their diet is hardly one that any self respecting doctor should be promoting.. And all the time checking on her Facebook page and obsessing about the fake page set up in her name.. The red herrings are not delicately hinted at if you are bright enough to pick them up, as in the very best of tales. They are rammed straight in your face, one after the other.

I forced myself to achieve fifty percent of the book but couldn’t read any more. In the end I didn’t care who the perpetrator was or why.. I should have given this one star but felt guilty because this was someone’s literary effort.. I guess I’m just not the market at which this is aimed.

This book is gritty, fast paced and with some good twists. Alex Lake has a great style of writing and this turned the book into a proper page turner. I'm very much looking forward to reading Alex's other books

This is one of those books, that could actually become reality given the level of social media used today.

Sarah Havenant is a GP, has three children and a husband, all currently in a lovely area in the States. Her life is pretty perfect, until she discovers she has a stalker. A duplicate email address sending messages to her friends and colleagues, and a facebook profile in her name with photos, who she knows can only have be taken from someone close to her.

This causes havoc in her marriage, with friends and life in general - is she going insane, is someone out to get her, how far will they go to get revenge.

Faced paced, psychological thriller, with many twists and turns. Once you start reading you won't be able to put it down. The first book I have read by Alex Lane and it was not a disappointment.

Thank you to Harper Collins for the advanced copy.

Sarah Havenant is a little mystified when an old school friend sends her a message on Facebook asking which account to send her a friend request. Sarah only has one Facebook account so she searches for herself and finds two of her. At first, Sarah thinks one of her friends is playing a joke because all the photos on the fake page are of her close family and even within her own home, but these aren't pictures Sarah's taken and she hasn't even seen them before. It's got to be someone close until, one by one, her friends and even her husband, think she is doing this to herself. Things escalate, threats start, even one of her children goes missing, but still it appears that she's losing her mind, she's even beginning to question her own sanity. Throughout, Sarah feels certain that it is one particular friend doing all this to her but she can't find proof and she can't think of a good reason why she or anyone else would do this. Then one of the most terrifying things happens, imprisoned with no one looking for her she just about gives up on life.

Copy Cat is a fast paced chiller of a story, a good puzzle for the reader because there doesn't seem to be any good reason for the terrible things happening to Sarah Havenant. The characters are well developed and we meet each one in turn getting a good handle on their personalities and traits. The ending did seem a bit rushed, or more that everything exciting was crammed in to the last few pages giving an unrealistic ending. This is the first of Alex Lake's novels I've read and I would be happy to read her earlier two or any future ones in the pipeline.

An interesting yet worrying read as this is another book about the dangers of social media.

Well written, enjoyable, plenty of twists & turns. Perhaps a tad far fetched and slightly unbelievable in places but well worth a read.

My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Fabulous psychological thriller that's right on point in these days of the internet. Love her books. Highly recommrnded.

Copycat by Alex Lake is a great psychological thriller full of twists and turns that will mess with your mind. It’s a disturbing story of revenge written at a good pace with interesting characters. I admit it’s not the best psychological thriller I have ever read but it’s pretty good and well worth a few hours of your time.

My thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins UK, via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

This is such an interesting thriller. It was really hard to guess who the perpetrator might be, and I actually found myself siding with Ben's theory at one point, because nothing else actually made sense. The ending was a little convoluted though - there was a lot of back-and-forth that could have been condensed into a bit less as it just didn't add that much to the story. The first half of the book at least was pretty gripping though and I did enjoy seeing who the real culprit was. I have a feeling there might be a sequel to this at some point so I'll be keeping an eye out!

A brilliant story surrounding stalking and social media. Really enjoyed reading this.

Thanks for the advanced copy.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I was very impressed. I was engrossed in Copycat from the start. The concept of having. Facebook profile of which you had no knowledge of plus discovering recent pictures of your life events and your family and friends posted there. A thrilling , nail biting read as Sarah and her husband Ben try to fathom what is going on and who, is doing it. I had my suspicions as to who the culprit was but I was wrong. There are several twists and turns with several characters possible suspects. A thrilling can't put it down read!

A promising start, with intriguing premise. However, it turned out completely ridiculous. One dimensional wooden characters, obvious twists, unrealistic plot... I skimmed the last 25 percent, as it became almost unbearably cringing.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this writer's previous novel and was really excited to be approved for this new book. I loved the premise and it started off so promisingly. I had absolutely no idea who was behind the events which were happening. As soon as the big reveal occurred, I'm afraid the story went downhill for me. I found the explanations all quite implausible and any enjoyment I'd had through reading this book suddenly ceased and I just wanted to wrap it up.

It was a shame as the book showed such promise from the beginning and just lost any credibility for me when it became too fanciful.