Book Review: Copycat (Alex Lake) @HarperCollinsCa

Earlier this year, I read Killing Kate, a thriller written by Alex Lake. I really ended up enjoying it so I instantly went to Kindle and downloaded After Anna, another title by the author. Needless to say, when I found out that Copycat, the newest release by Alex Lake, was coming out this month, it went to the top of my TBR pile!

The book was written extremely uniquely, which I loved. Written in parts, the first is told in alternating chapters between Sarah, a doctor who finds out she is being stalked, and the mysterious, unnamed stalker. As Sarah’s life begins to unravel and her sanity is called into question, this section is written in short chapters; very easy to get lost in. Lake does an amazing job at capturing Sarah’s anxiety and increasing paranoia. In fact, I loved the Sarah character and as the novel progresses Sarah finds herself sinking deeper and deeper into her own mind as she questions the motives of her “copycat” and the story is very intense! This section of the novel gave me a similar vibe as The Breakdown by B.A Paris.
The second section of the novel threw me for a bit of a loop; when it begins, it appeared to be going back ten years prior. However, after the first chapter, it went right back to the alternating chapters between Sarah and her stalker in the present.   I felt like the dividing of the novel was random and a little bit confusing. Why bother to separate the writing when there isn’t anything different unfolding?   I also found that the story lagged a bit at this point. It felt a little bit redundant throughout the middle and it was very long.

However, I did end up really enjoying the end of the novel; I was on edge as everything came together found that the conclusion was satisfying. I liked the way that Lake left things a little bit open-ended. I personally appreciate endings like these.

Overall, if you enjoyed The Breakdown by B.A Paris, I think you would like this one. I also think that lovers of suspenseful women’s fiction will be drawn to this story. However, if you are looking for an on the edge of your seat style thriller, this one will probably leave you feeling the need for more.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Edelweiss for a digital copy of this novel; it was my pleasure to provide an honest review.