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 on a wait list at the library for this book for weeks. Then, I got it and read it slowly, which is the pace suited to this slow-paced psychological thriller. Audrey and Cat are friends and go through a lot together, not the least of which is Cat helping Audrey when she has a cyber-stalker. In fact, that is what most of the book is about. Audrey has a strong media presence as an influencer and her stalker finds her there and then finds her personally and stalks her. I suppose that the book was supposed to be kind of creepy and scary, but I didn’t get that vibe at all. I got the warning that social media is dangerous and to choose your friends carefully. I liked the book okay, but I’m not sure that my long wait to read it was really worth it. The plot moved along too slowly, there were a lot of extra and unnecessary details thrown in and by the time the book ended, I just sighed with relief that it was finally over.
Disclaimer:
I checked out a copy of this book from my local library on the Overdrive App. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
We live in a world where we share everything on social media and do not think about it twice. But what happens when the wrong person becomes too interested? In Follow Me by Kathleen Barber, we meet Aubrey and we are kept captivated as we try to figure out what is going on. She is starting over in a new city and is a social media influencer. But who is stalking her? The story is told in multiple point of view and will leave you at the edge of your seat until the end.
Happy reading!
This was a great choice to take my mind off of all of the bad-news headlines lately. I tore right through this book and was glued to the pages! This story is an entertaining, fast-paced and suspenseful look at internet (and real-life) stalking, with plenty of creepy suspects, odd occurrences and nail-biting moments.
Kathleen Barber follows up her stunning debut novel, Are You Sleeping (subsequently renamed Truth Be Told) with a fast-paced, frightening story illustrating the dangers of overexposure on the Internet and through the use of social media.
Audrey Miller is educated, young and beautiful, fit, and obsessed with the personal “brand” she has carefully cultivated, primarily through her Instagram account. She has become an influencer, receiving free merchandise and products in exchange for posting photographs and reviews. In her first-person narration, Audrey rejects her former roommate’s contention that she is a narcissist. Rather, she insists that she shares so many details about her personal life because she loves the “connection. With a million friends at the palm of your hand, how could anyone ever feel truly alone?” She describes herself as a Midwestern transplant to New York City who has “construct[ed] a minor cult of personality out of thin air.”
Audrey has landed her dream job in Washington, D.C. as a Social Media Manager with the Smithsonian. The timing is perfect because her roommate, Izzy, informs her that she must move out of their shared apartment so that Izzy’s boyfriend can move in. Audrey rents an apartment in D.C. without viewing it in person, which proves to be a huge misstep.
Audrey’s friend, Cat, is an ambitious attorney in D.C., Audrey became the best friend she ever had after Audrey befriended her in college, rescuing her from the mean girls who ridiculed and rejected her. They lived together until Audrey moved to New York and Cat continued on to law school. Now Cat is a workaholic striving for partnership who spends precious little time in the tastefully decorated apartment into which she invites Audrey. Cat’s story is also related via a first-person narration. She is self-deprecating, describing her awkwardness and lack of self-confidence, as well as her relationship with Audrey, She gradually reveals details about a disturbing event in her past that she does not want Audrey or anyone else to discover. She may not be able to keep her past a secret, however, when Max Metcalf, an old friend from summer camp, surfaces. And, of course, he is interested only in Audrey. Is he toying with Cat, ready to reveal what he knows about that summer so long ago? Can she risk that he will tell Audrey if she doesn’t capitulate to his requests, including that she set him up with Audrey?
The chapters focused on Audrey and Cat alternate with a disturbing chronicle from “him” about his fixation on Audrey. Barber cleverly reveals the depth of a mystery man’s obsession with Audrey — and determination to be with her in an all-consuming relationship — incrementally, while credibly establishing several potential perpetrators. Connor is the associate at Cat’s firm with whom she is infatuated. Nick is Audrey’s old boyfriend and when she arrives in D.C., they pick up right where they left off in a casual, uncommitted, yet reliably affectionate and friendly relationship. But Audrey finds herself attracted to Max, the thoughtful too-good-to-be-true guy with whom she races into a relationship. She is being terrorized in her apartment by someone lurking in the alley, leaving thorn-studded flower stems on her doorstep, and entering her apartment when she is asleep. Could it be the landlady’s grandson, Ryan? After all, Audrey caught him in her apartment stealing from her. There’s even a visitor at the Smithsonian who persists in lurking around the as-yet-unfinished exhibit that Audrey is tasked with promoting online.
As Audrey is tormented by her unidentified stalker and Cat becomes increasingly paranoid about her secret, Barber deftly accelerates both the dramatic tension and the book’s pace. She continues revealing clues about the man who is diabolically infatuated with Audrey, eliminating suspects until only a couple remain. And then delivers shocking plot developments that send both Audrey and Cat reeling, taking readers on a breathtaking race to the story’s jaw-dropping conclusion.
Barber proves that her initial success with Are You Sleeping was no fluke. Follow Me is a first-rate, compulsively readable thriller populated with intriguing characters and founded upon a scarily plausible plot set against the backdrop of a timely and thought-provoking issue: social media and the extent to which many people share details about their personal lives with complete strangers. Follow Me succeeds at being the cautionary story Barber envisioned and, for that reason, would make an excellent book club selection because there are numerous aspects of the story that lend themselves to contemplation and discussion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
Follow Me by Kathleen Barber
This was a very thought provoking novel. In this day and again of digital and social media, it is important for bloggers, authors, etc. to have followers. Who is trending? Who has the most followers? Are they now an “Influencer”? The younger generation checks multiple times a day to see how many likes they have on a post or a picture. How much information is too much to put out there? Are they building a virtual profile of you and your life? Not everyone is as they seem.
You decide to make a big move to another city for a job. One you know you will be fabulous at. It is right up your alley. But a follower here has somehow figured out where you live. He leaves things at your door. He has made entry into your apartment. It’s getting creepy. Can you figure it out before it’s too late? Especially when he knows you so well.
Pick up this book. You won’t be disappointed.
Disappointed.
That’s how I feel.
I’ve seen so many good reviews for this book, and I was excited to dive in, but this fell flat.
The characters got on my nerves, and the author put more time explaining what the furniture looked like than painting background stories. The high point of the book was glossed over in less than an hour, and there wasn’t much buildup before that.
This is more like a chick lit book than anything close to a thriller.
Follow Me is a cautionary tale for people who live their life for / document their life on Instagram, Facebook and other such social media sites. Audrey, the main character, lives for Insta and how many followers she has. She sets her photos up just so in order to display her “best life” for her followers.
Unfortunately she acquires one too many followers – one that can’t seem to disengage. As the book goes on we see how skilled Audrey is at making something seem awesome, only to find out that the latest perfect picture was taken in only one small corner of her room – the one that is set up to be Insta-worthy while the rest of her place is still in boxes.
Her “best life” attracts the wrong person and things begin to get strange. There are a few interesting twists and turns, leaving the reader wondering who the person is that can’t let go. I had a few candidates, but was surprised by the ending.
Interesting story and one I’d definitely recommend. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. My thoughts are my own.
Spine-tingling chills from start to finish! Follow Me is more than a be careful what you wish for story, it’s more like be careful what you share experience! In this day and age, it’s easy to get lost in social media, constantly checking to make sure we didn’t miss that notification or that DM. We want to share our meals, our kids’ accomplishments, and our every waking movement. What we often fail to realize is that our underlying need to feel liked and followed, as shallow as it may seem, might ultimately lead to our downfall.
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What if your follower indeed follows you home…
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Kathleen Barber goes well above and beyond the call of an author, submerging the reader into the life of a social media influencer. Follow Me was, without a doubt, a five-star read for me, heading straight into my top reads of 2020! Mostly, and quite honestly, the absolute realness and the awareness that this an actual and relatable fear had me second-guessing everything! Do I share too much? That’s a question we must each ask ourselves… especially after reading this stand-out novel!!
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Audrey Miller personifies today’s influencer, going live several times a day, offering up way too many personally identifiable tidbits about locations, likes, favorites, and more. After her move from NY to D.C., she finds herself stalked while settling into her new apartment and job. Luckily she has her ex-boyfriend and college best friend to look out for her, though with a stalker at large, who can you really trust?
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Barber sets you up for a suspenseful interaction at every turn, leaving you unsure of everyone. There were a few times I wanted to rip through the pages and tell her not to be so naive. Still, really how can you blame her – she’s trying to be that independent, take no crap, carefree personality that everyone seems to love – she often forgets to let herself just be Audrey. The supporting characters got on my nerves a few times, but what’s a good story without some variety? That ending, though, WOW!
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I wish Audrey the best and hope she’s actually learned from her struggles! I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, especially social media influencers!
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Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers at Gallery Books (A Division of Simon & Schuster), and the author Kathleen Barber for providing me with a complimentary copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, is there anything more horrifying than the thought that some creepy low low-life could be watching and listening to everything you do without your even knowing it?? I don’t think so either, which is why this one intrigued me and repulsed me at the same time…
The book creeped me out and reinforced all of my negative opinions about the ridiculousness and dangers of oversharing on social media at the same time. The two main characters are, frankly, unlikable. Both Cat and Audrey are strange beasts, each in their own right. One suffers from a startling over-abundance of self-esteem and the other an equally startling under-. They are equally damaged and equally irritating – if in very different ways.
They were, neither of them, sympathetic to me at all.
But their story still resonated with me, even when their personalities rubbed me entirely the wrong way. I chalk that up to Barber’s storytelling, which was handled with a solid sense of pacing and misdirection that worked well given the subject matter. I can’t say it was one of my favorite books of the year, but I’m glad I read it. There were some genuine surprises, although things felt like they wrapped up a little tidily in the end. Still, I think it was a valuable read and kept me turning pages from the get-go.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Audrey has lived in New York City for some years and loves it. However, she longs for a job in Washington. DC at a museum where she can work at what she loves. So, when she is offered the position of Social Media Manager at the Hirshorn Museum, she hates to leave New York but is thrilled about her new job. Audrey has lots and lots of followers on social media. She is also an influencer which gains her samples to try and review. Nothing is secret because she shares literally everything online, thus gaining her huge following.
Audrey’s old college friend, Cat, works at a fast paced law firm where her hours are endless. She has a lovely two-bedroom apartment and offers for Cat move in. However, Audrey has found an apartment online. But when she soon realizes it’s a basement apartment, rather run down and owned by an old lady and her creepy, leering grandson. Determined to make the best of it, she stays.
As Audrey hooks up with some old friends, she’s out a lot of nights having drinks. She soon realizes that someone is watching her apartment and leaving her strange gifts. Who is stalking her and why?
This was a compelling story that had me guessing up to the very end about who the “bad guy” could be. I do have to say that this crazy thing where people have to document and share their every minute of every day with just anyone is pathetic. But it’s what’s “today” so there we are.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Having not read this author before this was a nice discovery. Audrey drew my curiosity out when I came across this one. It is so true that some can get us to see what is up in there posts. This has you following it too the story as it unravels with how it came about. When things begin to change in temp as you read this you are slowly in the web also. You become anxious as the character does. Oh that job so interesting too. She is not the only in this though with two others who will vie for the readers attention. This is one that will keep you until the answers come to light.
Follow Me had a great premise, but for me, the idea of this one was better than the reality. I don’t need to like the characters to enjoy the story, but it does help when I don’t want to pinch the main character’s head off myself. Audrey irritated me to no end. She suffers from a major case of it’s all about me syndrome, which isn’t helped by the pedestal the author puts her on. What I mean by that is we’re expected to believe that all these men are falling for this thoroughly self-centered woman – not just her stalker but nearly every man she comes in contact with. Plus people just drop everything to run to Audrey when she needs something. It’s like no one has a life in this story except the annoying damsel in distress. That brings me to the identity of her stalker, which isn’t revealed until close to the end of the book. Kathleen Barber does give us a fair amount of red herrings to consider, but in all honesty, I didn’t like Audrey enough to care who the stalker was. In fact, I was surprised that a couple of people didn’t at least attempt to take her out before the stalker had a chance to reveal himself. Not that the rest of the characters were much better. In the end, I don’t think there were really any characters that I particularly liked in this one.
At the end of the day, what it really comes down to isn’t whether the characters were likable or not. It’s more about whether this mystery/thriller kept those pages turning. I will say that I finished the book, but that was more out of sheer determination than any real curiosity about the stalker’s identity or how it would all play out. There was too much of the mundane and not enough tension for it to be what I would consider a thriller. That said, there was a decent twist at the end, but when it happened I wasn’t thinking ‘wow, I can’t believe that happened.’ Instead, I was thinking that I couldn’t believe it took that long for that character to go off the deep end.
Maybe this just wasn’t the book for me, which is quite possible. I do realize that I’m in the minority on this one, but I really expected more, and just didn’t find it here.
I had to take a few minutes to process what I had read when I finished Follow Me. The entire story chilled me. I should have known that the book was going to be creepy when I read the author’s foreword about the RAT’s and the whole secret community that envelopes it. Talk about scary!!
Follow Me had a medium-paced plotline. For the type of book it was, I was expecting the plotline to be a little faster. But, then again, if it did go more quickly, some of the smaller clues (about who “Him” was, Cat’s mental state…etc) would have been passed over.
I liked the flow of the book too. Usually, I don’t like it when there are more than two POVs’ in a book. The flow of the book is often thrown off. Not in this case. The author was able to switch between Cat, Him, and Audrey effortlessly. That made for a better reading experience for me.
I didn’t like Audrey. Her preoccupation with her Instagram, followers, filters, and brand was almost too much at times. She drove away her friends because of that. Even Cat wanted nothing to do with her by the end of the book. But, as much as I didn’t like her, I did feel bad for Audrey. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.
I didn’t know what to think of Cat at first. But, as the book went on, I began to understand her character. In her way, Cat was just as obsessed with Audrey as Him was. Her deteriorating mental state was apparent in the latter half of the book. I do wish that Cat’s secret was discussed earlier in the book. But, I can see why the author held it back until the last half of the book. It made sense.
I loved that the author kept Him’s true identity a secret until almost the end of the book. It made his chapters scarier to read. Him was completely obsessed with Audrey. It sickened me how easy it was for him to track her. He was able to use spyware to watch her at home. He knew everything about her. What scared me even more about Him was that he was unhinged. He imagined killing his family and decorating the house with their intestines. I wish that the author spent more time on that, but at the same time, I am grateful she didn’t.
The suspense/mystery angle of the book was wonderfully written. The author did a great job of keeping Audrey off balance and showing Him and Cat’s deteriorating mental states. She also did a great job of keeping Him’s real identity under wrap until the end of the book. Four people were on my list, and it was the last person I thought it would be.
The end of Follow Me was chilling. I did figure what happened between Him and Audrey was going to happen. Not to the degree, it happened, but I guessed that basic. But I wasn’t expecting Cat to do what she did. That threw me for a loop. But, it was the very end of the book that chilled me to the bone.
Kathleen Barber’s latest contemporary fiction, Follow Me is a thriller that will have you questioning not only if you should engage in social media, but also, who might be watching you.
In real life, Audrey Miller is anxious and insecure; she has a deep need to be not just liked but to be enviable. Online, she is happy and carefree. She hides behind the persona she presents on Instagram. Her followers make her feel liked; they make her feel that she has friends. However, some should make her feel afraid.
A falling out with her snarky roommate pushes Audrey to get over her anxiety and leave the comfort of familiarity to take a dream job in a city several states away. Her youth and naivete lead her to make some questionable choices in this move. The shady basement apartment and the creepy neighbor add to the feeling of menace as Audrey posts every move she makes on Instagram. Unbeknownst to Audrey, “Him” has been obsessing over her for years, and she has moved into his hometown.
As the story progresses, Audrey was easy to worry over, but not easy to like. I felt the same about many of the secondary characters. Ms. Barber made me question most characters as possible candidates for “Him”. Even the two people she knows in town–an oddly protective sorority sister and an ex-boyfriend–had me questioning their motivations and actions.
There is a delicious mounting of tension throughout the story, which made Follow Me a page-turner. The denouement is a quick wrap up after all the twists and turns, but Follow Me was none-the-less an engaging thriller.
4.25-4.5 STARS
“Follow Me” is a gripping, psychological thriller about a self-absorbed, social media influencer—Audrey Miller—who is stalked by a creepy, obsessed follower. Right from the get-go, this chilling story pulled me in and held me captive right up until the very end.
As the story unfolds, it is told through 3 different point-of-views, allowing the reader to gain a greater insight into Audrey’s life. But it also showcases how others perceive this creative, vivacious woman, and how they allow their own insecurities to color their biased view.
While I had pegged Audrey’s stalker early on, the author did throw in enough red herrings to keep my questioning whether or not I had gotten it right. I actually enjoyed second-guessing myself, as I wondered how it would eventually all play out. The ending itself was a bit “over-the-top,” but somehow fitting for this crazy little ride.
I couldn’t put down this twisty and deliciously chilling thriller, a cautionary tale about the dangers of oversharing in the age of social media. Audrey is an Instagram influencer who loves the attention and sense of community she gets from her over a million followers. Until she realizes one of them is stalking her, following her every move. Follow Me is a timely and addictive read with a cast of interesting characters and an intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages way beyond my bedtime.
Follow Me by Kathleen Barber brings home the dangers of social media and of the attention-seekers, wannabes, and unstable people who rely on it for various reasons. In this wild ride of a read, young women and men seeking validation through a virtual world discover real life consequences, some of a very unbalanced and dangerous kind!
You know that creepy feeling that someone is watching you? You might be right about that…
Readers, this is a page-turner with a high creepiness factor. 3.5 stars from me.
Think about what you post…
My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Being a social media influencer is Audrey’s way of life. Everything about her can be found online. Never before has she worried about all the things people know about her.
Finding a dream job that uses her skills moves her to DC where she reconnects with some college friends. Soon though, having all her information online causes trouble and someone is following her. With a large cast of characters with multiple issues it became unclear who the stalker was. As soon as I thought I had it figured out, the author surprised me with the reveal. I’m hoping the ending is preparing us for a sequel.
This is a first for me by this author. While I truly liked the book it seemed to go on a bit to long in parts. I did enjoy learning about some of the things that can be done via the internet and from behind the lens so to speak. Cyber stalking is an all to scary thing and it does happen. It has to be awful to be caught up in this and never even know you are.
Audrey was a very popular instagramer. She had millions of followers and lived the life of someone who had all the popularity she could handle. But did she have any real true friends. Was anyone completely there for her? When she moved to DC from New York there her best friend from college, Cat, was excited to have her there. She wanted Audrey to move into her guest room but Audrey had already got an apartment and wanted to be on her own finally. Did she make the right choice or was it one big mistake to think she could live alone. Audrey really hated being alone. She had always hated it even as a small child.
Cat was an up and coming lawyer who had been in love with Connor for years. She had absolutely no confidence in herself though and depended on her best friend Audrey to make things work for her. But was she really a friend or was she just another user. Cat was very selfish in my opinion. I never through this whole story liked her at all. She was way to needed and clingy for someone who worked so hard to be a lawyer with a big firm. She didn’t have a clue how to put herself out there for anything. She was totally dependent on Audrey. What’s worse was I kept wondering how did she survive before Audrey moved to DC. How did she make any decisions on her own. She did love to blame all of her problems on others. I just didn’t connect with her at all.
Max… He was a sad kind of person. He tended to fall in love at the drop of a dime but always over did everything. He too was another clingy type. But he was loyal in his own way. He did some pretty bad things but he did mean well. At least I think he did. He did things that he thought were the right things to do for the one he loved, or was obsessed with at the time. But he was sincere.
Nick. I liked him. He was the only one that seemed to be up front and completely honest. Him and Audrey were both pretty much themselves and didn’t put up fronts for others. Well Audrey may have a bit for her followers, but in her private life she was truly sincere with her feelings. Could Nick really be trusted though?
One of the people in this story is a stalker and you will have many guesses before the end. While I did figure out who it was, it was fairly on into the book before it clicked with me. There were many intense moments in this story that will keep you on edge and wondering what will happen next and who is doing what. It’s a good book though a bit long and in places could have been shortened to make it even better. Some parts just seemed to drag on to me. But over all I enjoyed it.
There were no characters besides Audrey and Nick that I liked. None that seemed likable at all except in places Audrey and Nick. Well I have to admit I did like Nick. I think he was very likable. Audrey was in places but she was also an attention grabber so that made her a bit out there.
Thank you to #NetGalley, #Kathleen Barber, #Gallery Pocket Books for this eARC. This is my own true review.
I give it a 3.5 star and would have given it more if it would not have dragged in places. I still recommend it as it’s a good one and you will learn somethings from it.
Title: Follow Me
Author: Kathleen Barber
Genre: Thriller /Suspense
My rating: 4.5 Stars
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I loved the take on Barber’s thriller. Felt original; like I was in the middle of a suspenseful movie and I was screaming at the heroine on my tv set. I admit, after reading Follow Me; I wondered how much of my life people have access to online (a real eye-opener). That aside, this book is about a young woman on social media who posts too much information about her daily happenings. There is a such thing as TMI, people. And that was something Audrey Miller didn’t get. Audrey hit 1 million followers, and she’s on cloud-nine.
Though, unaware she has someone’s eyes following her every move. This creepy stranger knows where she resides, her hobby’s, her work. He even knows her friend Cat, her ex and intricate details one should never know. Audrey has an itch; a creepy suspicion someone’s watching her.
Who could it be? Why are things in her apartment (slightly) altered without a smidge of evidence someone’s there? These are the things I asked myself; and you’ll ask yourself too in this fast-paced. Page-turning thriller that’ll surely have you reevaluating how you conduct your life from here on out. I loved the 3-part POV: Audrey, Cat and the creepy stranger. It made for a more suspenseful read, in my opinion. Try it for yourself. I highly recommend reading!
*I received this wonderful ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*