For fans of complex characters and subtle plots turns in the best tradition of psychological thrillers, comes this stirring and twisty tale that will leave you wondering – just exactly what defines a villain?Reclusive novelist Eugenia writes a bestselling novel under the pen name Amy Mathews. Her outgoing older sister serves as the face of the fictitious writer. It’s a lucrative partnership that … partnership that landed Amy Mathews literary fame and fortune . . . until now.
Virginia wants more books, but Amy Mathews is pretty much dead to Eugenia. She wants to overcome her social phobias and write under her own name. She wants to get out of the house.
But Eugenia soon discovers that it’s not that easy to put down the pen. In fact, it could very well turn deadly . . .
This smart and twisty thriller that is equal parts terrifying and profound will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.
Praise for I Am The Lion
“Freaking fantastic!”– Natalie Barelli, bestselling author of The Accident
“This is a nail biting story that hooks you from the very first page and doesn’t let go until the end. Great thriller.” – Bookfan36, book blogger and top 1% Goodreads reviewer
“The thrilling ending keeps your eyes glued to the book.” – Jenness Drake
“I stayed up through the night until I finished it. I felt like I was in the middle of a psychological drama.” – Christina Blake
“I LOVED this book.” – Audrey Armstrong
“Blew my socks off!” – Peter Tennis
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I LOVED this book. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would! I couldn’t put it down! Definitely a page turner! The writing was incredible! The plot was full of twists and non stop action! Eugenia is a recluse and writer suffering from severe social anxiety! Her sister comes up with a pen name for her sisters books and takes on the role for PR. When her book becomes a huge hit, her sister, Virginia expects her to just pump out book after book as Virgina gets addicted to the fame! When Eugenia is depressed dealing with her mothers death and then a stalker! When Virginia brings home a boyfriend Eugenia isn’t happy. This is when we see how truly dysfunctional their relationship really is. It explores this and how outgoing Virginia’s identity is warped by pretending to be someone else and how she struggles with mental illness. It also shows how Eugenia struggles to leave the house and overcome her anxiety and many phobias! I really loved this book. If you read only one book this year let it be this one! I can’t wait for the next book by this my new favorite author!
Not Quite A Lion
If the story had actually stayed within its description as psychological thriller I would have enjoyed it so much more. I liked the first half of the story as Eugenia deals with her up and down relationship relationship with her sister Virginia who is pressuring her to write a new book to follow up her successful first novel at 21(!). They both have issues. Eugenia’s issues, include agoraphobia which is how her sister became the face of the fictional named author of her book. But as low as Eugenia’s self esteem is, rooted in a traumatic bullying experience, she seemed remarkably resilient and even manages to overcome her agoraphobia rather quickly – such as when the hunky FedEx man asks her out on a date! Eugenia’s thoughts as she went through her writing process and learning to rely more on herself were interesting as well as the symbiotic relationship she and her domineering older sister had built up. I was intrigued to read what was going to happen next.
But then the book took a sharp turn into horror territory with a riff on Stephen King’s Misery and the last third of the book was spent physically battling a very human villain who somehow seemed impervious to every single brutal physical fight. They just kept coming back and it actually became tedious as the fights kept going and going until finally shattering my suspension of disbelief beyond its limits.
The author’s writing was very skillful in her descriptive way of bringing the reader into the story and hold their attention. As much as didn’t like the last part of the book, I still wanted to know how it would end. I will be interested in seeing more from her over time.
I received an ARC for this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Wow, what a great read!
Lately I have been reading a lot of cozies so this was outside of what I normally read. This is the first book that I have read by Ms Lauro and what a place to start! Twisty, turny and so very psychological. Once I started reading, I was hooked. Both Eugenia and Virginia have their own psychological issues that they are dealing with, or not dealing with! Their are certain people that you hope will get theirs in the end. And I was definitely rooting for Ben and Eugenia. I won’t give away any spoilers, you’re just going to have to read the book, but what a great ending! If you like somewhat dark, psychological thrillers, you will love this one!
I received an ARC. This is my honest review.