This an interesting character study focusing mainly on the effects of personal trauma and developing destructive coping mechanisms.

I liked the slow unfolding of the main character, but was a bit disappointed by the ending.
Still this is an interesting premise involving contemporary social problems mainly stalking and obsession
This is not a fast read, but a thought provoking slow burner which was a nice change for me.

My thanks go to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Not as good as I anticipated. Suspenseful, but not to the level of "can't put down". I felt like the story started in the middle, and ended before you were ready.

Oh wow. Put some time away for this book. It has all the ingredients for a terrific psychological thriller.

No spoilers from me. Book is great with lots of lies, deception, tragedy, and twists. Also, loved the unpredictable ending. Can't say enough great about this. Read it today!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this fabulous book.

Looker by Laura Sims is the story of a woman whose life becomes shattered and she begins to spiral out of control after she separates from her husband after years of being unable to conceive a child. Her mind slowly dissolves as she begins to obsess and emulate a famous actress who lives across the street.

The woman whose name we never learn. narrates the story. Through her eyes we see her begin to lose her mind as she tries to rationalize the anger at her soon to be ex-husband and his cat which she will not return, her poor choices as a Humanities professor and especially her sickening obsession toward the actress known in the story only as "The Actress". As she watches the actress and her family relentlessly from the stoop in front of her house she creates envious imaginary scenarios about them and she begins to sink deeper into madness.

We watch, as the reader, as this troubled woman finally breaks from reality at the annual neighborhood block party where the actress has finally noticed her, only to have her soon to be ex-husband appear and humiliate her in front of everybody. And then we watch, trying in our own mind, to look away, embarrassed for her, as we feel her desperation as she begins to succumb to the madness.

Looker will give your heart palpitations from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book. It will be out January 8. Thank you for the advanced copy #NetGalley #Simon&Schuster #Looker

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Looker.

There's a rise of stalker-oriented books lately, I've noticed and Looker uses this rising trend as an unnamed narrator details her growing obsession with a famous actress who lives next door to her.

The narrator is jealous and bitter of the actress' pretty face, pretty children and handsome husband, while she herself is suffering the loss of her husband due to a separation, her barren and infertile body, and her thankless job teaching at a third rate school with a meager student size.

Her bitterness is only rivaled by her resentment and awe of the actress, absolutely convinced that if the actress would bestow a smile or gracious word to the narrator, then her imploding personal and professional life would suddenly recover, rebound and she would be on the path she was meant to be; married, happy, pregnant and in a job she loved.

But life is rarely that easy. Or simple.

There is not much of a plot as the narrator goes along with her humdrum existence, making one silly and stupid decision one after the other.

A part of you can't help feeling sorry for her, but another part of me couldn't understand why she was so self-destructive.

Yes, she is sad and depressed but incredibly angry, at herself, the world, men, everyone and everything. She makes up delusional fantasies, usually with the actress in a starring role, and has deluded herself into believing all would be well if only she and the actress would become friends, as if the narrator lived in a movie version of her own life.

I wasn't sympathetic toward her; she made mistakes but failed to hold herself accountable for her actions. She would acknowledge her failings but quickly sweep them aside, as if her choices were in the past and no longer affected her.

Her anger and jealously at the life the actress had that she coveted causes the narrator to do something irrevocable at the end, no surprise considering she was heading toward a breakdown of some kind.

The writing was good as was the decent character development but a lack of a solid story and a dull main character made this a less than interesting read.

In this latest psychological suspense novel, the reader witnesses the unraveling life of the unnamed narrator. Divorced, childless, depressed and desperate, her growing obsession with a neighboring actress quickly results in spiraling madness and irreversible actions. For those who enjoyed Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller.

Mismarketed as a thriller and compared to Gone Girl. However, Looker is a slim novel exploring personal trauma and desperate coping methods gone array. Dark and a bit feverish but by no means the fast-paced, suspenseful story usually associated with the thriller genre.

It was hard for me to care about the characters in this book. I struggled with the way the main character came across and the relationship she had with her thoughts and imagination. Thank you for allowing me to read this.

Smart and propulsive. A rich psychological look at contemporary women's lives from a clever and unpredictable new author.

Basically: a guilty pleasure thriller in the same vein as The Girl on the Train and The Woman in the Window. The Woman who Looks?

I enjoyed this one more than the aforementioned novels. In Looker, you get inside the head of this unnamed narrator as she stalks and attempts to emulate a neighbor who happens to be a famous actress. Laura Sims does a fantastic job with creating an uneasy, distorted world. The narrator is unreliable and unstable and the reader bears witness to her crumbling mental state.

I'm normally a slow, distracted reader, but read this one in just a few sittings. I found myself cringing at some of her decisions and almost dreading how she would re-frame her actions to be positive when she actually comes across as downright nuts. That experience may not be for everyone, but I highly enjoyed reading this one.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC!

Looker by Laura Sims is a thriller that is narrated by an unknown woman with stalkerish tendencies. The book is written in the style of YOU by Caroline Kepnes in which the reader is getting the story through the thoughts and interactions of the main character but it didn’t take long to distinguish itself from reminding me of that book.

The main character in Looker is a female going through divorce from her husband and becomes obsessed with a neighbor who is a famous actress. As our character spies upon the actress she sees nothing but perfection as her own life is falling apart.

Now to explain my rating without giving away the entire story since the story honestly didn’t consist of much… Right after I began reading this I thought to myself that a certain event better not happen or I will be one unhappy camper and as you might guess that event did happen. On top of my disappointment and disgust there wasn’t much else to this as to me it reads more like a mid-life crisis during the other 98% of the story than a thrilling read. Needless to say this one wasn’t for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This wasn't a bad reason at all...just not my type of book. It was very well written and a great plot.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you netgally for giving me this title in exchange for my honest review

Thanks for the early review copy!

I picked this because of the cover/plot. It was well-written and a quick read. I recommend this book to fans of adult mysteries

I enjoyed the character development much more than the actual plot in this one. The book was very subtle and evenly paced, but I did find myself skimming in sections just to "get to the good part".

Wow... not sure how I feel about this book. The unnamed narrator leads us down the rabbit hole that is her life. Unable to conceive a baby, her marriage disintegrates and her obsession with an actress living down the street accelerates. Laura Sims debut novel explores one woman’s decent to madness.

Very well written. Definitely interesting character, somewhat sad but interesting all at once. I enjoyed it, and read it quickly, but was disappointed in the ending. Felt like tension was building and building, then SPLAT.

"I’ve never crossed their little fenced-in garden, of course. I stand on the sidewalk in front of the fern-and-ivy-filled planter that hangs from the fence—placed there as a sort of screen, I’m sure—and have a direct line of view into the kitchen at night. I’m grateful they’ve never thought to install blinds. That’s how confident they are. No one would dare stand in front of our house and watch us, they think. And they’re probably right: except for me."

In NYC, there is a narrator that isn't named who is living alone with her ex-husbands cat. This was a truly twisted and creepy novel about obsession, so this one was right up my alley. I live for books about obsession!

It had a similar feel to Our Kind of Cruelty because of the disturbed character’s mind you read throughout the book. Make sure to read this one when you get a chance, just be careful not to get too obsessed with it!

#NetGalley
Pub Date 08 Jan 2019

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This book drew me in and and wouldn't let go. The story of this main character, who is never named, is an excruciating look at a breakdown in the making. The main character should be unlikable - you should probably even hate her, but I found myself really hoping she would get her act together. I could see why she felt the way she did and how stressful things were for her. The ending was shocking but things really couldn't have went any other way. In a way this book is terrifying. I can't imagine being someone's obsession. You could see from this book how it could happen without you even knowing. CREEPY book!

Mmmmm not really for me!! To me this book was really depressing !! I felt bad for her!! Geez! She couldn't have kids after many many different painful treatments , then her husband leaves her! Then she's obsessed with the famous neighbor and her family! Actually she's obsessed with the whole neighborhood! It was just really depressing! Not my cup of tea! Some may like it?? Give it a try? Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!