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Friday, September 4, 2020

Review: One Step Behind by Lauren North

One Step Behind 
by Lauren North

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for this copy.


Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: September 1, 2020
Kindle Edition
Standalone
Genre: Psychological Thriller



A woman pushed to the breaking point by a stalker develops an obsession of her own in this shocking new novel of psychological suspense from the acclaimed author of The Perfect Son.

Jenna is a wife, a mother, a doctor. She’s also the victim of a stalker. Frightening "gifts" are left on her doorstep, her home is broken in to, and when she leaves her house to take her children to school, he’s waiting. She feels powerless, and the police are unable to help.

Then her stalker is brought into the emergency room after a terrible accident, and Jenna has to treat the man who’s been tormenting her for months. With her stalker in a coma, Jenna is desperate to understand the life of this seemingly normal man. When she finds startling images on his phone, she is consumed by her need for answers--and her own obsession leads her down a twisting path of destruction.

Just how far is Jenna willing to go to take back control of her life?


My Review:


This is North's second release and after reading The Perfect Son last year, I reread my review for that one and I pretty much feel the same about One Step Behind.  I was instantly pulled in as I absolutely love stalker/obsessive stories.  While this felt slow at times, it was also fast paced - I know... sounds contradictory but it truly felt that way to me and that's the only way I can put it.

We get two POVs.  Jenna is a mother and doctor who has been stalked and tormenting by somebody for about a year.  This obviously causes a lot of paranoia and when her stalker shows up in her emergency room - she pauses.... let him die or be the doctor she knows she is... but she needs to know why he has been doing this.  Sophie's POV we get to see through various pin points in her life.  Her family life isn't particularly great and now she has to deal with an adoptive brother... who just happens to be in the hospital after a terrible accident.  So...  now what?

Honestly, I was pretty glued to these pages and I couldn't swipe fast enough because SO MANY RED HERRINGS.  I was completely unaware of where the twist was going to come in - if it ever was.  And as always with these kinds of reads, I can't say too much as to not give anything away.  What I will say is that the ending did surprise me and for that, I'm a happy camper.  However, it also didn't *quite* make sense to me in the overall.  I think maybe an opportunity was missed in seamlessly putting together a few storylines and I was left hanging a bit.

I do love North's writing style and certainly will continue to read her and I'm very curious what her next release will be like.  Keep on eye on North - I have a feeling it's only going to get better from here.

★★★☆

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