This was an amazing debut by Angela Clarke, cleverly utilising the modern day obsession with social media. I loved the acronyms at the start of each chapter, some I knew like OMG and BTW and others I had never heard of such as FOMO (fear of missing out). The chapters are quite short and the fast pace of the book means that it falls into the never ending loop of 'just one more chapter'.

Freddie is a journalist who thinks in headlines. Everything that happens to her causes a headline to jump into her head, especially when she gets caught up in the #Murderer case. As she gets more involved in the investigation, the headline thoughts stop as she sheds her journalist skin and becomes a social-media advisor to the police. It was fascinating to see Freddie evolve from a headline grabbing journalist to a compassionate human being.

When she meets up with her old friend, Nasreen, who is now a police officer, there is the added intrigue of what happened when they were younger to make them lose touch with each other. It was excellent how the social media theme ran throughout the book, as I know all too well about the dangers of Facebook comments being taken the wrong way.

I had no idea who the #Murderer was and, at one time or another, my suspicions fell on almost everybody in the book as I looked at people close to Freddie for any hint or clue that they may have left. It was a complete surprise when the #Murderer was revealed and I applaud Angela Clarke for successfully throwing me off the scent.

This is a fast-paced modern social media murder tale that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. An absolutely cracking debut from Angela Clarke and I look forward to reading more from her.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Avon, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This was a slower story than I was expecting. Oddly it took longer to get into and longer to read than I expected initially. The details were great and I enjoyed the style of writing and chapters had good break points for me (very episodic and good places to reach each time). The book reads ok for its technology and references but I did feel it would get out of date very quickly and seem a bit odd in a couple of years as it relies on a very specific period in time. I found the main character a bit hard to relate to and her affected personality a bit cliched (especially in the beginning) but otherwise it was a good read. As "find the killer" goes it was a version that actually improved as it went on and a few good options were left breadcrumbs which I liked. Worth the read if you want a very topical approach to an old idea. I think this would transfer very well to a mini series on television. ( )

Fast-paced, exciting read. A scary look into today's technology and social media, with a strong plot and interesting characters. Good read. ( )

begint goed maar glijd af naar slecht ( )

This book did something that I honestly did not think was even possible for me. When I started the book, I wasn't connecting with it at all. I was having such a problem with it that I seriously considered not finishing it about a third of the way through. The story just wasn't clicking for me. I decided to read a bit more....and the impossible happened....I couldn't put it down. I can't remember this happening to me before this book. I ended up liking the story quite a bit in the end.

I made the decision to read this story because the idea of it just really appealed to me. A murderer that spends their time online. Wow. I spend way too much time online so the idea behind this book is actually quite scary to be honest. We all know that the internet can be a dangerous place and this story sounded like it could be pulled for the headlines someday soon.

Freddie is a struggling journalist trying to jump start her career. When she runs into her childhood friend, Nasreen, who is now with the police, she hopes that she might have found her big break. Freddie is much more savvy with technology than any of the members of the police force and soon finds herself working to help catch a killer as a social media consultant. The stakes are high and she soon realizes that the most important thing is to catch the killer before it is too late.

Once the mystery really gained momentum in the book, I was hooked. All of the Twitter clues paired with regular police work really keep things interesting. I think that the way the police were divided over the importance of social media in this case was really well portrayed. The group of police were really interesting characters together. The frustration they all felt when things went poorly was intense and I thought that the author did a great job of showing their layers and complexity.

I do have to say that I didn't like Freddie in a lot of ways. I think that may be why the first part of the book was so hard for me to get into. She makes a lot of really bad decisions and doesn't always work well with the rest of the team. I disliked her less by the end of the book but I wouldn't say that I ever grew to like her. The relationship between Nasreen and Freddie was hard to figure out. The build up as to what happened in their past was intense. I really expected a lot of fireworks when the truth was revealed. The reality was a small firework that didn't have a lot of long lasting effects. Once it was out in the open, it wasn't really as much of an issue as I had expected.

I would recommend this book to others. I think that my inability to connect with the story at the beginning was really more me than the book. This is the first book by Angela Clark that I have had a chance to read and I look forward to see what else she comes up with in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from HarperCollins UK, Avon via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life. http://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/ ( )