Shocktember 2021 - The Stalker

Another thriller I listened to at the end of July but pushed my write-up to now. I was actually in two minds of whether to write this and post in August (Summer of Love) or push till September (more thriller month) as, while a thriller, it does star a newly married couple. Hang on, let me get the info up and you’ll see what I mean...

Title And Author: The Stalker by Sarah Alderson

Publisher: Avon

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher in exchange for honest review/reaction while Audiobook’s borrowed from local library via BorrowBox app. 

Laura and Liam are a newly married couple and, after pushing their honeymoon back several months after the sudden death of Laura’s mother, the couple go to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Just the two of them. Pure bliss. Except they discover the tiny island has a tragic history. Maybe that’s why they get the feeling that they’re being watched? But it’s not until they wake up one morning to discover something scratched into one of the windows that they realise that their stalker wants to do them harm and won’t stop...

Now, I have read Sarah Alderson since her debut teen thriller novel, Hunting Lila, and I know she can write on the edge of your seat thrillers. I mean, I read her last adult thriller The Weekend Away last year and I thought that this would be the perfect airport thriller, the type of book to read by the pool with a large cocktail in hand (and this is being adapted into a Netflix Original Movie so will be hugely intrigued on how that happens!). And while this is an edge of your seat thriller, this isn’t a popcorn domestic thriller. This has a dark heart and you don’t realise how dark until you are near the very end when several twists happen one after another, pulling the rug from under you.

Because of this, I do want to warn you about some triggers and that there are two chapters quite close to the end that are quite intense so if you are triggered by stalking, murder, domestic abuse and death, this might not be the read for you.

I have read some reviews that say some elements were a tad ridiculous. But, even with these moments, Sarah knows how to keep her readers reading, turning the pages as you can’t put it down. I mean, if I didn’t have British Gas coming into my house one day, I would have finished this in two days.

You might have noticed, dear readers, that I haven’t done my typical thing of talking about characters, settings, tone, most things you expected in a review, but I fear that, if I do, I might let the big old thriller twist slip so let me steer clear.

This thriller might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want a domestic thriller with a dark heart and an addictive edge, you might want to have this on your radar...