This one started off pretty good, but then it began to feel like a retelling of Misery, by Stephen King, and not really in the best way. I did like the dark thriller aspects of this book and found some parts to have good shock value.

Wow I am such a huge fan of Misery and not only read it but saw a stage version of it. This an updated version where the author is female, and the kidnapper is male. This book is creepy, and the villain is disturbed. And it really seems like this could happen.

There is great tension in this one as it is updated for the world we live in today. I really do feel like a fan could blur the lines of fantasy and reality. I was creeped out in all the good ways and couldn’t wait to find out what happened.

We don’t get a lot of horror retellings, but if this is what we will get, then maybe there should be more. If you like horror, Misery and tales about the book industry, you will need to make time for this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Mira for the chance to read Number one fan by Meg Elison. This was touted as a thriller/horror novel and I definitely agree; some parts were very creepy. Some have compared it to Stephen King's Misery, and while the plot does have a psycho fan kidnapping a popular author, it does not copy the wonderful Misery plot. Number one fan starts out with a bag, action right from the start, but it soon bogs down into the past of the two main characters, the seedy side of writing and awards they get. While the horror part is definitely there, the middle of the story dragged on but the current storyline finally started up again. The two things I wished the book spent more time on was the personal assistant who was the only one who knew something was wrong, and that the author Eli Grey was missing and possibly kidnapped and the detective trying to solve the kidnapping . The story definitely shows you how the public has gotten WAY to comfortable with ordering car services like UBER -- our parents always told us not to get into strangers cars....

4.5 stars
A semi-irritating author gets kidnapped by her number one fan, only there's no ransom request, and she doesn't really have anyone to report her missing. Well, maybe one or two might, but no guarantees. Eli Gray is in deep doodoo.

I don't want to get too specific about things so it doesn't spoil things because the best part of this book is the wonderful tension wondering what is going to happen here.

The beginning is quite creepy, especially some of the scenes of Eli's captivity that really carry an emotional impact and had me squirming. Her captor is quite unique and unpredictable.

I adored FBI agent Silvestri and how she worked the case. She was the best part of the story.

The ending was bizarre and a little unexpected. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, but that usually means I've read something thoughtful. Number One Fan has things to say about fandom, convention drama, author drama, and fanfic, but leaves enough room to make your own mind up about what it all meant.

Overall, a very interesting book, with great tension, a heaping dose of creepy and an unexpected ending. While there were some slow spots, there was much I liked about this story and the way it was presented to me. Number One Fan is a book I won't forget when I'm putting together my list of favorites for 2022.

3.5 stars

I'm going to be honest. I had a hard time with this book.
It started very well and caught my attention right away... then took a few turns.
It's has a very intriguing plot and storyline but I was bored during many parts of it. It has 'flashbacks' that don't feel that way and is written in such a way that I had a hard time concentrating. Don't get me wrong, it helps with background but I'm not sure it was done properly.
Now, the suspense and thrills in it?
Well, that gave me chills.
The fact that this could happen for real, and so easily has me looking over my shoulder now.
Overall an ok read.

Number One Fan by Meg Elison is terrifying. I was expecting more of a thriller but this is definitely horror. This was a slow burn but ramped up about 30% of the way in. Once the action started, it didn’t let up. There is graphic detail about torture and that was hard to read. Eli was a really strong character, who came alive on the pages with her perseverance, determination and grit. This is a book worth looking into for fans of horror.

I read The Pill by Meg Elison when it was nominated for the Hugo Award last year -it was one of the best stories I have read in years and it still haunts me to this day. In the third year of a global pandemic that most people, including our public health experts, seem to want to ignore despite nothing changing medically, makes it feel all too real. So when I saw a novel by Ms. Elison on NetGalley, I happily requested an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is not SF exactly, but is definitely SF adjacent. In this novel, a popular fantasy author is kidnapped and tortured, and the story invokes some thinly veiled versions of fannish awards and controversies to add to the backstory of the rapey incel who is the antagonist. This was a hard book to read. It is obviously leaning heavily on Misery by Steven King, as the title would suggest, but the torture was visceral and painful to endure even as a reader.

The author undercut the tension early in the novel when she cut away to the victim’s assistant and later to an FBI agent instead of keeping the perspective close on the victim. Also, those side characters felt less fleshed out than I would’ve expected.

The book really made me want to throw it against a wall, through, when dealing with the law enforcement aspects of the plot (and later, the trial part also). The author took pains in parts of the book to have her protagonist mention that the protagonist was an author who met with and learned from real police detectives in order to be able to authentically write about police investigations. This makes it all the more irritating (and ironic, I guess?) that the actual investigation into the kidnapping in this novel was so unbelievably bad. In the real world, the investigators would’ve gotten the victim’s historical cell site data which would’ve let them know where her phone had been taken. They also would probably have tried to get real time cell site location data once the kidnapper started answering the victim’s phone and posting from it on social media. In addition, the trial part drove me up a wall. No judge worth their robes would have allowed the type of questioning that the defense attorney got away with in the novel. And it was s criminal trial, so the prosecutor is NOT the victim’s lawyer, a mistake Ms. Elison made more than once.

Those problems aside, the book did have enjoyable parts and kept me reading to find out what happened. It wasn’t for me, but it might be for you.

Whoa. This one was a barnburner right from the start. Elizabeth “Eli” Grey is an author of a popular series who had just gotten off a plane to head to the next stop on her book tour. She gets into a car she ordered from a rideshare app that she mistakenly thinks is hers. She realizes that mistake when her actual ride gets charged a cancel fee. The current driver is Leonard Lobovich, a fanfic author and downright sociopath who is intent on going after every word written by Eli. And so begins this riveting and creepy thriller.

Leonard is a sociopath stalker and Eli is his prey. There are a lot of torture descriptions that aren’t for the faint of heart but as I was reading, they felt more and more plausible. From the initial rideshare mistake (which has me beyond uncomfortable) to the way he described what he was going to do to Eli - his sociopathy was on full display.

If you’re looking for a new thriller about an unhinged fan/ stalker, this one is it. This book is out now. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this crazy ride.

First off I want to thank @netgalley & @mirabooks for my free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Unpopular opinion alert, I did not like this one. I was very intrigued in the beginning and kept on reading. At about 60% it got really boring to me and nothing surprising or thrilling happened in my opinion. I kept on reading to see if the ending would surprise me.. nope it did not.
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I had absolutely no attachment whatsoever to the characters, they fell flat, I truly did not care for them. I was expecting much more in terme of twists and turns. A few parts of the book really dragged along for me, things were said which didn't do anything or enhance the story in any way.
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I really wanted to like this one due to the hype of it, it just wasn't for me.

This is a case of 'should have known better' - what your mother told you not to do. Eli Grey, a bestselling novelist gets into a cab and accepts a drink from the driver. Boom! She loses consciousness, wakes up in a basement chained up. She has no one close to her who might be notice she's missing and Eli realizes she's going to have to save herself. Clues from her kidnapper tell her that he's read her books - like really well, and seems to be wrapped up in the fantasy world she created on the page.

The author emphasizes in the story many ways that anyone call find personal informaiton about you and act on it. It's just too easy to do. We see in the news where fans of celebrities have breached their privacy. In this way I think the book is timely and relevant. The story itself was tense and well paced. The plot was interesting using the author's work as the backdrop for the kidnapper's fantasy. The stalker was really creepy and totally consumed with his fantasy world.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on August 30, 2022.

This book was ok to me. As others have said, it was VERY close to the book Misery, but with a modern twist. The story centers on Eli, an author who is abducted by a fan and has to fight for her life while reconsidering choices she has made. You also get some chapters told in the POV of her assistant Joe (my favorite character by far) and the FBI agent, Carla.

Others have mentioned the graphic nature of the book but I love the horror genre and that didn’t bother me. What did bother me was Eli making decisions without thinking them through, and even worse, the suspicion of others around her plight. Though little of the book was centered on the investigation, I enjoyed that part as well, though I felt like I had to suspend my disbelief a bit at some parts. I have no experience with the cultish following of book series/cosplay/book conventions but I felt like I got the scene and it made sense to me while reading.

Overall, decent read but was a little too close to Misery while also not fully connecting me to the characters or decisions made. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sick. Twisted. Diabolical. It’s a lot like the movie Misery, but even more dememeted and perverted.
I finished it but so many scenes just made me ill.
I know some readers flourish with these types of stories, but they just make me sick to my stomach.

Number One Fan by Meg Elison is a recommended horror thriller in a similar vein to Stephen King's Misery.

Novelist Eli (Elizabeth) Grey, a writer, gets into a ride share or uber at the airport and immediately assumes the drinks the driver offers are all okay. They aren't. She is drugged and wakes up chained to a bed in a strange man's basement. It is clear that her abduction was planned. He possessions from her hotel room have been taken to the house. Her captor is an unhinged fan who has a plan and list of rules she must follow. Her survival depends upon her assistant noticing that something is wrong and notifying the authorities.

The treatment Eli receives is a little too physically brutal and graphic while trying to show the level of derangement that Eli's captor is experiencing. A more nuanced, psychological approach would have served the novel better. However, if a visceral, physical element to the abduction was the point, then it was reached. While I appreciated Eli's clever, astute insight into the unthinkable situation she has found herself in, I also didn't particularly enjoy the graphic nature of the narrative.

While Eli is an interesting character, the actual writing isn't quite up to the task of following her narrative in an engaging, inclusive way, beyond the violence. Having never been to a convention, the whole culture of fans at such a gathering went right over my head. I have authors I enjoy immensely, but while I might go to hear them speak, that would be the limit to my adoration. Reading and writing are both rather private experiences and I am good with keep it that way. In the end, this is an uneven novel. It is an entertaining, horrifying novel, but the writing wanders a bit afield and the ending is unsatisfying.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

This is another celebrity stalker story; however, the celebrity in this story is an author.
The stalker poses as her Lyft driver and Eli Grey has no idea she is about to be driven to her own made up hell.

The stalker thinks he is the author and he created created her as the character in her book. Totally wild.

Fast paced and a spin on a classic thriller stalker book.

This is a very dark, twisty, violent, and gorey book that doesn't spare any details. it's interesting how women are able to devise the worst literary torture for other women.
It was totally out of my comfort zone but it was also a well written story. I'm not a fan of Eli and I found the villain more interesting even if totally deranged.
The problems with this book is that it was marked as a sort of Misery. It's not Misery and the style of writing are very different.
It's harsh and disturbing thriller so be read if you want to read it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Number One Fan is an adult horror thriller from author Meg Elison. Which tells the story of a bestselling author who gets kidnapped by her number one fan. While it has vibes of Misery and Psycho, it ends up being a unique and unsettling story.

The story is told through multiple point of views. The two primary ones being Eli and her captor. I didn't love Eli if I'm honest. There was nothing I disliked and I didn't think she deserved the torture and treatment she suffered, but nothing about her stood out to me. Her captor on the other hand was fascinating. He was mentally unstable and pathetic in many ways, but his honest belief in his actions and “destiny” when it came to Eli was fascinating. He was the strongest character for me and I looked forward to his point of views.

The story itself was unsettling, but at times seemed to drag. The way book fans become obsessed and feel entitled to authors time and attention was spot on. The torture and mind games were well executed and the final showdown between Eli and her captive was satisfying. Unfortunately I felt the wrap up that followed said confrontation was a bit of a let-down.

Overall, I enjoyed Number One Fan by Meg Elison it just didn't meet my expectations going into it.

This book had me hooked from the very start, but it got so uncomfortable in the beginning I had trouble picking it up and continuing to read. I was so hooked though I needed to continue to find out what would happen. The simple solution was to read this book during the day and after a certain point in the evening switch to something a little more lighthearted and fun.
The scary part of this book for me is it seemed plausible. I’ve obviously read way too many True Crime Novels. Honestly though, how many times do we hear the story of some poor young woman going missing and being lost for years as she's been locked away in some basement, shed, closet you name it by some psycho.
Meg Elison the author has done a fantastic job creating these characters and the plot. As uncomfortable as she made me feel and as much as she made me squirm in my seat, I loved Eli Grey and the strength she had.
I will definitely be looking for more books by Meg Elison, and definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys Horror/Thrillers.

Yes it is a gender flip of Misery but it's also a little more. Eli's past comes rushing back to haunt her- well, abuse her- after the well known author accepts a drink from the driver of what she believes is a legit ride share. She wakes up chained to a bed and while she hasn't been assaulted, she's in for torture. Seems her books have ignited a warped mind. Cosplay, consent, fan fiction, me too all figure in this but honestly, Elison lost me early on and I DNF because of the violence against a woman. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Just wasn't for me.

This was a sharp and angry and insightful update of fandom and sad puppydom at its worst -- one of those works of fiction where many scenes from the convention and on-line platform settings felt like ones I've actually witnessed.

This was not my favorite thriller, unfortunately. I thought the premise was strong, but as I got to know Eli's character, I found that I wasn't invested in her rescue. This read a little too unrealistic and I didn't care for the writing style.