Watch Me by Angela Clarke is the second book in the Social Media series that features Sergeant Nasreen Cudmore. A breathtaking and eye-opening thriller that had me on the edge of my seat throughout and was truly addictive, Angela Clarke has done an absolutely superb job with this book.
When the novel first opens we meet Nasreen Cudmore who, at the age of 24, is just eight weeks into her new job with the team that forms the specialised Cyber and e-crime Gremlin task force. Arriving late to the office after a night out with colleagues which ended in her having a one-night stand with Jack Burgone, her new DCI, she’s feeling a bit worse for wear and certainly not prepared for what will turn out to be the biggest day of her career to date. Starting the day with a team meeting to discuss plans for a talk to be delivered to local schools following the suicide of Chloe Strofton whose suicide note was shared via Snapchat, things soon go from bad to worse when each member of the team receives a new notification on Snapchat. It appears to be another suicide note in which it is revealed that they have just 24 hours to save the life of the girl involved.
What follows this somewhat dramatic opening, is a fast-paced investigation that takes place over a 24 hour period. As a book which is told in this way, with each chapter counting down how much time they have left to save the girl’s life who also happens to be DCI Burgone’s younger sister, it is possible to really feel both the character’s tension and desperation. This, in addition to twists and turns galore which made the book completely unpredictable meaning that I genuinely couldn’t figure out who was responsible, created a real page-turner of a book that was impossible to put down.
Having not read Follow Me, the first book in the series, I read Watch Me as a standalone novel. Whilst I did so without too many problems, I would recommend reading the previous book for background information and also to appreciate the characters and discover their histories. Where the characters were concerned whilst I can’t say that I always warmed to them I did think that they all worked well as a team although the way in which the men treated Nasreen did somewhat irk me.
As a book that highlights the very real dangers that exist from society’s obsession with social media, Watch Me is an incredibly gripping novel that is guaranteed to keep you on your toes, get you thinking and put you off Snapchat for life! Having well and truly fallen for Angela Clarke’s writing throughout Watch Me, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into Trust Me, the third book in this series when it’s released later this year.
Giveaway
As part of this awesome blog tour, Angela Clarke has teamed up with a huge number of authors to offer a giveaway of both her own and their books on each day of the blog tour.
Today’s giveaway is for a signed copy of The Damsel Fly by S. J. I. Holliday, the description of which sounds absolutely incredible:
When a teenager is found dead in her bed in a small Scottish town, it doesn't take long for the rumours to start. Is it true that she'd been in a relationship with a teacher? Or is this just a ploy to take the heat off her vicious little sister? When social media frenzy spills into baying mob territory, it's up to DS Davie Gray and potential love interest DC Louise Jennings to get in there before another Banktoun resident meets a tragic end.
To be in with a chance of winning this book all you have to do is retweet my tweet which will be pinned to my Twitter feed on the 31st January 2017. Please note that due to postage, this giveaway is only open to UK residents.
