I enjoyed the fast pace and fascinating characters of Secret Story. I thought the characters were quite well-drawn and the story gripping. An entertaining read! ( )

A complex thriller, I think it’s some kind of pulp fiction masterpiece. Worth a read. ( )

The "star" of Secret Story is Dudley, a man relegated to a tedious civil servant position and who still lives with his meddling somewhat busybody mother. Secret Story is gritty and real in away that makes for slightly uncomfortable reading...we feel slightly sorry for him, even slightly embarrassed for who he is, yet there is something darker and more menacing underneath Dudley's seemingly bland exterior. As we are introduced to Dudley, he's done something quite unspeakable, but is never traced back to him (and it's apparently not he first time), unfortunately for Dudley, his mum is always meddling, pushing and prodding him to be something more, convinced that the world just doesn't recognize him for the genius he is and feeling that if he just asserted himself a bit he'd get the recognition he deserves...we all know a mother and son like this pair, but they are stereotypically delicious in the details of Dudley's dreary life that we can recognize and understand...even if we don't particularly like it. It is his mother's meddling that starts him on the long road to hell and we all get to watch in uncomfortable silence as Dudley wins a literary competition (which his mother entered him into without his knowledge or consent) and his secret stories suddenly become publicly known...and what happens as Dudley spirals out of control is both chilling and hard to watch.

What makes Secret Story a success is that he's rather an everyman...he could be anybody...anybody could be a Dudley he's that dull guy in the office who no one really notices, yet he's something darker and more malevolent! This tale is well written and realistic in way that'll make you think twice before getting to close to that train platform or wonder if that guy behind you IS following you! Wonderful late night reading! You'll love and hate this story and before you're done; your skin will be crawling! I give it a solid A, it's suitably bleak, drab and depressingly british (which strongly evokes the flavor of Dudley's life) while also managing to be creepy, uncomfortable, and down right inhuman. ( )

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