Thank you to Joanne at MyChestnutReadingTree and Avon Books for my copy of his book which I won in their competition. I really really wanted to read this book, as I had so enjoyed the prequel to it ‘Follow Me’ which I reviewed HERE! (Follow Me, Book Review)
I gave ‘Follow Me’ 5 stars on Goodreads, and I will be doing exactly the same for ‘Watch me’. As social media murder books they are brilliant.
Although ‘Watch Me’ can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading ‘Follow Me’ first as its amazing.
Description:
YOU HAVE SIX SECONDS TO READ THIS MESSAGE…
The body of a 15-year-old is found hours after she sends a desperate message to her friends. It looks like suicide, until a second girl disappears.
This time, the message is sent directly to the Metropolitan Police – and an officer’s younger sister is missing.
DS Nasreen Cudmore and journalist Freddie Venton will stop at nothing to find her. But whoever’s behind the notes is playing a deadly game of hide and seek – and the clock is ticking.
YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO SAVE THE GIRL’S LIFE.
MAKE THEM COUNT.
Published November 3rd 2016 by Avon
My Thoughts:
My anticipation for ‘Watch Me’ was very high, as I had enjoyed ‘Follow Me’ so much. If you haven’t read ‘Follow Me’, it is the first social media murder book from the very talented Angela Clarke. The social media in the first book was Twitter, which I know and use regularly. The second book ‘Watch Me’, uses Snapchat, which I knew very little about. This didn’t matter as the police force trying to find the criminal didn’t know about snapchat either, so we learnt together, with lots of help from Freddie Venton.
Freddie is a brilliantly developed character, she isn’t part of the force but Nasreen wants her advice on this case, as Freddie is so good with technology and social media. We see the relationship progress between Nasreen and Freddie in the most natural, but complex way and we see the changes in both girls as they find themselves so engrossed in the case of trying to save the life of the latest victim.
The police and medical knowledge that Clarke has spoken about in the book has clearly been very researched to get it exactly right, and I have learnt things from this book, while also being taken on a thrilling ride full of twists and fast paced action.
I have to admit the last book ‘Follow Me’, made me suspicious of the wrong people, and I was grateful to be wrong in who I thought was the criminal. I think it shows the sign of a very talented writer in that I can suspect characters and when the true criminal comes to light, it totally makes sense.
The time line in this novel was amazing, it made me want to read faster and turn the pages to match their 24 hours. (Life gets in the way and I can’t read a book in a day, but I loved that the timing was realistic in the way they did things).
When I finished the book I visited Angela Clarke’s Twitter page and almost did a whoop outloud as I saw that there was a third social media murder on the way. My expections are sky high for the next dose of Freddie and Nasreen. Thank you Angela Clarke for sharing your incredibly imaginative mind with us. I loved ‘Watch Me’ and can’t wait for Trust Me. (released in June 2017).
Links:
Tags: angela clarke, bookblogger, chocolatepages, naz and freddie, sequel to follow me, social media crime book, social media murders #2, watch me
During the run up to Christmas last year, I participated in a Secret Santa that was organised by Emma (@emthebookworm) and Kelly (@kellyspillane). If you search the hashtag #BaublesandBooks on twitter you will see much chat. My match was the very generous Sharon (@SharonSAtkinson). Sharon bought me this brilliant book, amongst quite a few others. I had read the blurb on this book, and being about an online serial killer, it really piqued my interest. It was as I had hoped an excellent griping read. So, thank you to Sharon, Emma and Kelly.
Description:
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. . .
Published December 31st 2015 by Avon
My Thoughts:
This book is brilliant. We follow Freddie, a waitress come investigative journalist. As Freddie is waiting for the big story to make her mark, she stumbles upon just the way she thinks to make her name in the papers! And it does just that, though perhaps not the way she expected!
Freddie accidentally meets up with her old school friend Naz who is working in the police force, and between the two of them and the other police, they have a race against time to find the social media online serial killer who has cleverly named himself @apolloyon aka #murderer. Some of this reading is scary stuff. The Author has really put her knowledge of social media in this book, and it is scary to see how much people can find out or giveway about themselves, without knowing. But also how anonymous you can be, if you know the right tools, as @apolloyon did. This book is so current, and will really appeal to all readers who have an interest in social media and who love crime thrillers. (This is me – absolutely the target audience here!).
The characters are great in this book, really well developed and I liked that you could see how the plot had changed both Freddie and Naz by the end of the book. Freddie is a complex character and I can see how Naz is confused as how to feel about her, Freddie is impulsive, gutsy yet also has a big heart. Freddie is a whizz at social media, despite tripping herself up at times as she adds her location to Facebook!! It did baffle me a bit that the police force seemed so inadequate in their knowledge of social media, but I guess that why they have IT specialists.
At the beginning of each chapter, the killers followers and following are shown, this was a really nice touch and made the book so ‘now’. As the followers go up, so do the murders, so this book really was a page turner.
As the killer is revealed towards the end of the book, I thought back over the pages and could see how cleverly wound this tale was. I had an idea, but that is only because I tend to suspect everyone! Angela Clarke is a very talented writer and I may just have found myself a new favourite Author.
If you love social media and crime thrillers, this book is for you. Even if you are not into social media, then this book will give you a much better understanding of it, and probably keep you away from Twitter and Facebook too. Angela Clarke has written a very clever book, and I can’t wait to read her next book.
Links:
Tags: #murderer, @apolloyon, angela clarke, avon books, bookblogger, chocolatepages, follow me, freddie and naz, social media crime book
ChocolatePages 