Title: The Look-Alike
Author: Erica Spindler
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Pages: 320
Format Read: Ebook
Standalone or series: Standalone
Where I got the book: NetGalley ARC
Date finished reading: January 29, 2020
Goodreads Description: Sienna Scott grew up in the dark shadow of her mother’s paranoid delusions. Now, she’s returned home to confront her past and the unsolved murder that altered the course of her life.
In her mother’s shuttered house, an old fear that has haunted Sienna for years rears its ugly head —that it was she who had been the killer’s target that night. And now, with it, a new fear—that the killer not only intended to remedy his past mistake—he’s already begun. But are these fears any different from the ones that torment her mother?
As the walls close in, the line between truth and lie, reality and delusion disintegrate. Has Sienna’s worst nightmare come true? Or will she unmask a killer and finally prove she may be her mother’s look-alike, but she’s not her clone?
My Review: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I really enjoyed the last thriller I read through NetGalley, so I was looking forward to keeping the momentum going.
This was a very quick read for me. The story flowed by and was a fun read. However, I had a few issues with The Look-Alike that made me far from love it.
First of all, we “maybe” have an unreliable narrator, which makes the main character a bit annoying at time. While Sienna Scott’s mother does suffer from paranoid personality disorder, this does not mean that Sienna herself has it, but every time something her mother says actually happens, Sienna thinks that she is suffering from the same disorder, which gets annoying. This thinking leads Sienna to hesitate in telling others about things that are happening, but then she doesn’t seem to hesitate to tell the stranger across the street that she just met. I guess the thinking is that a stranger may buy her possible delusions as facts more than a friend or relative would?
Second, since I just mentioned “friend”, Sienna does seem to have friends, who call and leave messages, but we really don’t meet any of these friends. Why are these “friends” not more a part of the story? Why does the main character not confide in her “friends” more?
Third, the potential buyers of The Wagon Wheel just happened to not be able to secure funding? Was this just to make the story have a completely happy ending?
Finally, I found that the plot and the mysteries were very predictable. I knew who the new neighbor, Jonathan, was right away. I also figured right from the start who the bad guy was, as he pretty much inserted himself in the Madison Robie murder right from the beginning. There weren’t any of the twists or turns that I normally enjoy in a good thriller.
I still enjoyed the movement of the story, and while the characters were not strong characters, they were still interesting, especially Sienna’s mother. I loved that character. Plus, I found it a bonus that this story takes place in my home state of Wisconsin. Overall, I liked The Look-Alike, but I did not love it.
My Rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ½
The Great Morrison Migration 