The Look-Alike: A Novel

3.5-star read

Sienna Scott has spent her entire life dealing with her mother's mental illness. She doesn't blame her mother Vivienne for her illness, but she does blame her for not taking her medication on a regular basis or continuing with therapy. After Sienna came upon a murdered body on her college campus ten years ago, her mother's paranoia became untenable. The solution was to send Sienna overseas to London where her maternal grandmother lived. Sienna lived in Europe peacefully for ten years eventually becoming a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. Sienna has faced many fears over the past decade but her final fear is that of returning home and dealing with her mother. She expected to be welcomed home by her half-brother and touchstone, show more Bradley. He's happy to see her but not pleased at her permanent return, which raises some questions in Sienna's mind. Sienna's mother, Vivienne, is sure that "they" are still out to get Sienna and become even more unhinged than she was after the murder a decade earlier. Two good things come out Sienna's return, her renewed friendship with Randy Clark, a former campus police officer and now town detective, and a burgeoning friendship and romance with her neighbor, Jonathan Hart. However, it quickly becomes apparent that perhaps Vivienne's paranoia may not be unfounded or is it? Will Sienna be able to discern the truth of what happened 10 years ago before something else or someone else dies?

I usually spend my weekdays visiting with my 85-y.o. mother. It's up for question as to whether I'm keeping an eye on her or she's keeping an eye on me, but the one thing we both have gotten used to is spending our afternoons reading. The Look-Alike pulled me in to the point where I didn't hear the phone ringing or my mother talking to me until after she had called my name several times. (Yes, the story was that engrossing, I didn't want to set it aside.) I enjoy reading suspense and this well-crafted psychological suspense kept me on tenterhooks. I enjoyed the unexpected twists-and-turns the story took and Ms. Spindler kept me guessing until the bitter end. The characters are realistic and they all seemed to be hiding parts of themselves from each other, and yes that keeps the reader guessing about what's coming next as well as the action. Although there is violence in the story, hey it starts with a murder, the violence becomes almost secondary to everything else that takes place, such as the theme of dealing with mental illness, the possible hereditary nature of mental illness and the dangling threat of inheriting a mental illness, the destruction wrought by dealing with having a murdered family member, sibling rivalry, friendship, romance, and more. Ms. Spindler packs a lot into this story and although there are only a handful of primary characters, it is a story that seems all-too-realistic especially if you've had to deal with the fall-out caused by having someone with a chronic mental illness in your family. I'm always eager to read a new story by Ms. Spindler and I feel incredibly fortunate that I was given the opportunity to read a review copy of The Look-Alike. For those of you that enjoy mystery or suspense reads, make sure you grab a copy of The Look-Alike. For those of you looking for intriguing suspense read with romance elements, get a copy of The Look-Alike to read. And finally, for those of you looking for something a little bit different to read, grab a copy of The Look-Alike, you won't be disappointed. I enjoyed reading The Look-Alike and will be purchasing a print copy of this book to add to my home library. Who knows, perhaps I'll even lend it to my 85-y.o. mother to read during one of our afternoon reading sessions.

Happy Reading!

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review originally published on 01/23/2020 at https://www.thebookdivasreads.com/2020/01/2020-book-28-look-alike-by-erica.html show less

This just might be the best thriller I've read all year (and I read a LOT of thrillers). Why, you ask? For a number of reasons:

1. The main character, Sienna Scott, is a genuinely likeable person. She was handed some major negativity early in her life (a mentally ill mother, stumbling across a murder victim in college), and is working hard to move past these events. It's nice to see this lovely young woman making an effort to reconnect with her family and achieve her dream of owning her own restaurant. Of note, events cause Sienna to worry that she may have inherited her mother's mental illness.

2. The secondary characters, notably Jonathan, Randy, Bradley, and Mrs. Scott, are also drawn realistically and distinctly. Some are likable, show more some are not, and some are to be pitied, but they are all unique and interesting characters. Even minor characters, like the already-deceased Mr. Scott and Mrs. Scott's doctors, are presented clearly enough that they seem like real people.

3. Author Erica Spindler keeps you guessing about what is real and what isn't. The nature of Mrs. Scott's (and possibly Sienna's) mental illness means that she perceives people and events in a certain way. While she fully believes things are as she sees them, the reader is left unsure as to what is reality and what is delusion.

4. My favorite part of a thriller is trying to figure out who the "bad guy" is. Ms. Spindler gives the reader three solid suspects, and develops each one, along with their motives, as the story moves along. A couple of less-solid (but still plausible) suspects are also thrown into the mix. I honestly suspected multiple people at different times as I read. By the end, I had a pretty good idea, but only because some suspects are gradually eliminated. Also, since I had suspected virtually everybody at some point, I was bound to have been right. This element of multiple truly legitimate suspects really made the book stand out for me. The suspense element was handled perfectly, and I was obsessed with reading on to see what happened. I had to make myself put the book down for little things like "sleeping" and "going to work".

5. The final reveal made perfect sense in the end. One extra-awesome bit....there was a clue I picked up early on. However, I thought it might have been an editing oversight, since I read an ARC (not a final version) of this book. As it turns out, it wasn't an oversight at all, but a critical clue that tied everything together. The novel also gets bonus points for having the culprit be a character who was part of the book all along. I really hate thrillers that bring a character into the story late, and that person ends up being the bad guy.

All in all, five out of five slices of the freshest American cheese. I really loved this book, and it will be making my "Best of 2020" list. Bravo, Ms. Spindler! show less

This is a chilling novel that explores perhaps one of our deepest fears...that danger is always closer than we think. The whole premise of this just sounded fascinating. The main character...Sienna Scott...stumbles across a dead body when leaving her college library late at night. She is haunted by the similarities between herself and the victim...so much so that she flees to London where she remains for ten years. Eventually though, she has to return home to take care of her mother who suffers from a paranoid personality disorder. Almost immediately she starts having more reason to think she actually had been the intended victim all along. The book does a really good job of getting into your head and making you start to question just show more who you should believe. I really liked the story but the book isn’t perfect. The writing felt a little juvenile at times, and the romance...even though there was nothing objectionable to it... was just unnecessary in making the story. I would have to say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and kept me on the edge of my seat guessing the killer and the motive until the very end. show less

This author has never disappointed me in her writing and this was one of my favorites of hers. There were so many twists and turns and I could not figure out the murderer until the very end. I loved the characters and how she wrote about the troubles that Sienna’s mom lived with for much of her life. There was so much suspense and a little bit of romance. I could not put this book down. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

A romantic thriller that goes down the rabbit hole of mental illness...one of my favorite subjects.

It was hard to rate this book and write the review. But I think it’s more about me and my timing, than the book itself. The mental illness element was the big draw for me. Reading about Viv’s paranoid delusions, and how her family members are the focus of her issues, was the highlight of the book.

I was excited to get this ARC and my expectations were very high! It’s been several years since I’ve read this author and I’ve loved her previous work. I enjoyed this one, but not as much as I’d hoped. But I understand why her fans are drawn to her suspenseful stories, filled with romance and thrills.

I try to stay away from romantic show more thrillers, but Ms. Spindler is one of the few author’s that I’ll read, even though I’ll have to plod through the wretched romance! The whole “love at first sight” isn’t my thing!!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Erica Spindler for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

My Rating: 3.5 ⭐️’s (rounding down)
Published: January 28th 2020 by St. Martin's Press
Pages: 320

Recommend: Yes, if you don’t mind the “love at first sight” element.

#TheLookAlike #NetGalley #RomanticThriller show less

Sienna Scott's life was changed forever the night she stumbled over the body of a fellow college student who had been stabbed to death. Combine that trauma with coping with her mother's mental illness, she spends ten years in London with her grandmother before returning to her hometown. Timing is everything and the cold case is reopened by the local cops, leading to some interesting moments. This is a quick read that I solved very quickly, but it was still a fun read to see how I was correct.

The story starts at 12:06 A.M. in Tranquility Bluffs, Wisconsin when Sienna Scott trips over a murder. That was the high point of the story. This is a murder mystery with not particularly interesting nor sympathetic characters. Billed as a psychological thriller there is heavy weight placed on the psychology of paranoia but the thriller portion was lightweight. The author’s attempt at misdirection was not effective and so much of story was simplicity personified. If you like lots of hand wringing, bad choices with the resulting destruction of relationships, troublesome behavior, and people who don’t exactly lie but don’t come clean either this is the book for you.

This was a book that I had no trouble putting down and had to push show more myself to finish. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy. show less