From the author of Truth Be Told (formerly titled Are You Sleeping)–now an Apple TV series of the same name–comes a cautionary tale of oversharing in the social media age for fans of Jessica Knoll and Caroline Kepnes’s You. Everyone wants new followers…until they follow you home. Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a … a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor with the help of the only two people she knows in town: an ex-boyfriend she can’t stay away from and a sorority sister with a high-powered job and a mysterious past.
But Audrey’s faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years–from her first WordPress blog to her most recent Instagram Story. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone. In his quest to win her heart, nothing is off-limits–and nothing is private.
With “compelling, suspenseful” (Liz Nugent) prose, Kathleen Barber’s electrifying new thriller will have you scrambling to cover your webcam and digital footprints.
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I was hooked from the very first page of this very addictive scary side of social media thriller and I was afraid to put it down. Audrey Miller accepted a new job at a museum in Washington, DC and goes there to begin a new chapter in her life. Audrey is obsessed with social media and has an Instagram account with hundreds of thousands of followers. She constantly posts her every move and thought on her blog, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. After she is in DC for a while, she realizes she has a stalker. Could it be her new boss? An old best friend, or a new best friend? An old boyfriend, or a new boyfriend? Could it be the creepy grandson of her landlady, or could it be someone else??? There are plenty of twists with a surprise ending in this spine-tingling thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this very gripping thriller in exchange for an honest review.
Follow Me is a pretty fast paced mystery/thriller type of read that definitely has great makings for an amazing read. It wasn’t that anything was really wrong with the story it just never grabbed me enough to make me care about what happened to Audrey. So it’s all about me. The story is well written and edited and while it has great content the ending was just a hard no and didn’t sit well. Like it has been said by other reviewers I agree this is a set up to a book 2 which isn’t bad but. . . Do I recommend it by all means. It just wasn’t a good fit for me. There’s definitely plenty of action and twist. The author does an excellent job of mixing it up and keeping the suspense.
Sometimes the only reason I leave my house is so that when someone asks about my day I don’t have to say, “NetGalley and avoiding responsibilities”.
Today is not that day!! I tore into this like it was my job and I loved every crazy minute of this book. Kathleen Barber, I will follow you straight to Crazy Town anytime!
5 Stars!! This is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile!
Thank you to Kathleen Barber, Gallery, Pocket Books, and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
How much sharing your life online is too much? Audrey loves Instagram and she posts everything of her life to there. Audrey moves from New York to DC and reconnects with her college friend Cat. Cat is a lawyer and doesn’t use Instagram or Facebook and doesn’t understand why Audrey has to post everything! Audrey oversharing has many followers but one may want to cause Audrey harm. The story is told in 3 points of view and I love that! I love getting all the important points of view from their own perspective. This book questions how much you should share of your life with complete strangers in today’s world of constant oversharing. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.
Kathleen Barber is one of those authors whose style is so fluid and elegant, you slip through the pages, losing all sense of time. The writing in this story is superb.
FOLLOW ME asks as many questions as it answers, broaching social questions about internet fame and turning humans into living brands. When we’re inside Audrey’s head, we get a taste for how she’s always framing her life for Instagram, constantly curating her own reality. Her apartment is a mess, in boxes, but one corner is beautifully decorated and staged for her followers: this is Audrey. Audrey is self-centered, “unlikeable” (a word I love to reclaim), and almost vengefully successful. Be as if, she thinks, rocking a fake-it-till-you-make-it philosophy that revolves around creating an aura of glam. “Smoke and mirrors,” she says to her awkward best friend, who has lived a lifetime in her shadow. When she moves away from her glamorous NYC lifestyle to take a dream job in DC, one of her 1M followers is delighted. She’s coming to him. It’s time.
Enter HIM, the one we dread. We know he’s coming for her.
What follows is a fast-paced thriller about stalking, public and private identities, and who we are underneath the facades we so carefully curate online. This nail-biter is full of well-rounded characters, and I was on pins and needles, waiting to see what Audrey’s stalker had in store for her and us. Readers will be forced to confront their own preconceptions about women who live in the public eye and monetize their own identities.
Look how dangerous it is to be one of the hot girls, Barber states eloquently throughout this narrative. Look what we do to them.
Seriously twisted book!
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This author was sure able to get under my skin. She set up a perfect story loaded with all of the creep factor.
* A questionable apartment.
* Weird neighbor.
* Strange friend.
* Stalkers.
* New job with a weird event.
* Social media “influencer” that everyone knew too much about.
* Old boyfriend has been pining away for her.
* Even her new boyfriend was a bit odd.
We had so many options it was hard to determine just who exactly was the culprit. Who wants Audrey? Everyone it seems!
I don’t think I’ve had as many uneasy moments with a book as I have reading this particular story. Especially if you’re single and live alone.
The author did an amazing job crafting this story with all of the highlights on issues we take for granted in our life. While I’m not going to give up any bit of the secrets as to the ending, let’s just say getting there is so entirely worth it.
Just make sure you read this during the day and be aware of things that go bump in the night!
A five star review because Kathleen Barber has captured my attention and gutted me with her psychological crime thriller that will make you squirm!
Highly recommended.
A spine-tingling thriller about the dangers of over-sharing in the age of social media. Addictive, disturbing, and frighteningly real, Follow Me is one of those rare books that is creepy and suspenseful, while still managing to be a fun, unforgettable read. I highly recommend!