Review: Follow Me by Angela Clarke

Title: Follow Me
Author: Angela Clarke
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: 3rd December 2015
Pages: 326
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 3.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time's running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

ONLINE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM …

Avon's books always stand out as some of my most memorable reads of the year and I couldn't wait to read Follow Me when I received a review copy because I loved the sound of it. The story centres around the 'Hashtag Murderer' who posts cryptic clues on Twitter which point to their next target, the murder basically playing out on social media. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public's imagination. As the story grows, so too does the follower count of the murderer and that's one thing that I really felt was true to life. Some people might not admit it but I think an account such as this would garner a gigantic following in virtually no time at all.

One of our main characters is wannabe investigative journalist Freddie who bumps into an old friend - now police officer - Nasreen and cunningly uses the GPS function on Nasreen's phone to track her whereabouts, thus leading her to the very first crime scene. Nasreen was alarmed to see Freddie first time around, let alone to see her at the crime scene before her. Both of these characters have a mysterious past, no longer friends their history comes out as the story progresses and the reader starts to learn a lot about both of these characters and we really understand the pair once we know what they have been through. I have to say that Freddie was definitely one of my favourite characters in the story. All too often in crime fiction journalists are portrayed as story greedy lunatics who will stop at nothing to get their story but Freddie actually had a heart, she was a 'real' character and you know that somewhere across London there's girls like her just trying to make their way in a very competitive field.

There's a real modern feel to the story and I loved how Angela effortlessly captured London and transported the reader into the story. I could easily see this being one of those dark, edgy films or TV dramas that filmmakers in recent years have done so well across London. Despite studying Film at A Level the words and phrases have deserted me but something along the lines of Top Boy, with a soundtrack that would only enhance the terror felt at what you were witnessing. Ultimately this is a very addictive story, one that I had read in no time and I was as addicted to this book as I would be if this whole thing had been played out online. It was exciting to finish the book and then discover that this is actually the first in a series of social crime novels with the second one centering around Snapchat and I cannot wait for that! Angela Clarke is one to watch and this is a brilliant debut novel that everybody should be reading.