Book Review of I Follow You by Peter James – Pacy thriller about a depraved mind….
Table of Contents
My Rating – 4 out of 5
Plot Summary – I Follow You
Peter James, is the renowned British author of the Roy Grace series, and this is a Stand-Alone thriller from him. It is a roller coaster ride, for sure! From the first page to last, it takes off at a breakneck speed and never lets up!! When the human mind is subjected to harassment and trauma at a young, impressionable age, the effects are, most times, catastrophic, by the time these kids reach adulthood. The manifestations of the tortured soul oftentimes, take an ugly turn, and the social fallout is devastating.
In this very well written psychological thriller, the main character is an embodiment of that crooked being – which was a result of his early life nurture, or lack thereof. Marcus Valentine, a well renowned and respected Onco-Obstetrician, and a Surgeon with Jersey General Hospital, located in Jersey, Channel Islands, UK. He is successful, happily married with three kids and a loving wife, and a pillar of the affluent social circles. On a routine morning, during his commute to work at the hospital, a near-miss with a female jogger crossing the road ahead of his Porsche, sets his mundane life on a disastrous downward spiral!
Georgina Maclean or Georgie, as she is better known as, is the jogger who Marcus narrowly misses, and one look at her kindles a long-smoldering fire within his mind. During his teenage years, he used to obsess over a girl called Lynette, and his short tryst and subsequent break-up with her, left him feeling completely shortchanged and he had never really stopped thinking about her or moved on from wanting her. Despite the decades that have passed by, medical education, and many positive turns his life has taken since then, his love and desire for Lynette, remain unrequited. In Georgie, he finds such a likeness to Lynette, he initially is convinced it is Lynette.
He obsessively starts stalking her, in a classic stalker manner – following her social media profiles, finding where she lives, which route she takes, her personal life, her likes and dislikes, her background, etc. Even when he realizes she is not Lynette, despite the physical resemblance, he does not give up. Things take a convenient turn, when Georgie and her fiancé, Roger, happen to be on the invitee list for Marcus‘s house party. His happiness knows no bounds, and his already unhealthy interest in Georgie becomes a little apparent. As Marcus ingratiates himself with Georgie’s life, events start taking an ugly turn, overlapping into criminal territory.
Conclusion – Book Review of I Follow You
Peter James’ writing style is so fluid and engrossing that the reader is well invested in the story and the emotional upheavals of the characters seem like your own. A criminal mind is a devious but intelligent one, and people around a carefully masked psychopath are often found gullible to their superficial charm. The backstories of Marcus’s childhood are carefully woven into the narrative, and though the reader might wince at the unfairness he’s been subjected to, you will not condone the resultant behavior as an adult. Such are the psychological twists of a depraved mind…
This is a fantastic, pacy read, from beginning to end and you do feel sated at the end of it, albeit a little breathless! Though such books are not literary masterpieces, I Follow You is a lot of fun to read and leaves you wanting for more!!
