Fast paced thriller! Family dysfunction and mental illness. The author was a master of weaving a spider web and totally throwing me off the scent of the killer...just when I really thought I figured it out. Have never read this author before, but definitely will again.

Sienna stumbles across a dead body, and has a sinking feeling that it was suppose to be her. She is tormented so much, and rightfully so, she leaves for London for 10 years, leaving her step brother to care for her Mom. She returns ready to care for her mom and restart her life, only to have the unsold murder case be reopened.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone!


**** Will leave review on Amazon and B&N on pub day.

In this psychological thriller we follow the relationship between Sienna Scott and her mentally ill mother Evelyn. Years ago a college resident wearing the same coat as Sienna is brutally murdered, due to her injuries the police say it was done by someone the victim knew. Ever sense that night Sienna has been shook up and her mother has been claiming Sienna was the killer's intended target. Living with her grandmother in England, Sienna has been away from the darkness caused by that night and her mother's intense delusions. Now she is back and the case is reopened. Finally she will find out if her mother is right and if she really was the target that night so many years ago.

I found the beginning of the story difficult to get into. It wasn't boring, it just wasn't captivating at first. However, once I was drawn in, I was completely sucked in until it was over. It was definitely thrilling and the mystery aspect of it was really good. At one point I thought I knew who had done what, but then I started second guessing myself. I was going around in circles trying to figure out who the killer was. I was kept guessing until the reveal at the end. I thought the writing was really good. Spindler was just amazing at making you see only what she wants you to see.

The characters were fine. I thought they were fleshed out well. They seemed like just normal, average everyday people I didn't think they were spectacular or anything, but they were done well for the purpose of the book.

Overall, I think was a great read. I'm really glad I took the time to read it. I absolutely loved the way I was pulled in and able to get lost in the story. If you like thrillers where you're constantly second-guessing who you should trust than you'll probably enjoy this book.

This started really good, was a little ok in the middle and then pucks up at the end. All in all a good solid suspense story, I think the writing was quite good at making many characters look suspicious but it also could be a little unrealistic at times.

But then looks can be disceiving, can't they?

The Look-Alike hones in on a mother/daughter relationship that has suffered from deep wounds throughout the years. Sienna Scott has a very similar reflection in the mirror to that of her mother, Viv. But that's where the similarity dies on the branch.

Sienna has lived in London for the last ten years as a successful chef. She left her midwestern town of Tranquility Bluffs, Wisconsin at the insistence of her father. You see, while attending college Sienna had come upon the bloodied dead body of one of her fellow students late one night. She'd taken a short-cut behind some of the buildings to get back to her dorm. Traumatized, London was the next destination for her.

Mom Viv has suffered from multiple delusional episodes throughout the years especially after the death of Sienna's father. Viv, with a history of not taking her medications, feels that she is being spied upon at all hours. Sienna's half-brother, Brad, has tried to care for her. It's been a hit and miss situation.

But Sienna decides to move back to her home town. She's even got her eye on buying a local restaurant. Normal living sounds about right. Doesn't seem to be in the cards for Sienna after all. And we'll soon become aware that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree as Sienna starts to become paranoid herself. Is she becoming her mother after all?

I kicked this one up from a 3.5 stars to 4 stars. While the story started off well, it soon became a bit predictable. Coincidences occur left and right and eyebrows just automatically go up. Returning home after ten years from big-time London to a small town in Wisconsin was a smidge of a stretch. But the writing is well done and the interest factor still sails in this one. I'd like to see Erica Spindler take on a more complex and quirky main character in the next one. A few trap doors here and there and a nice left hook would be just the right combo next time.

I received a copy of The Look-Alike through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Erica Spindler for the opportunity.

This story, the characters and the setting didn't come across as real to me. The twist at the end was good but I really had a hard time suspending my disbelief. Characterization and pacing needed a bit mire work.

The Look-Alike was such a roller coaster ride of emotions and suspicion. Sienna was a character that was easily relatable, having just returned after being in London with her grandmother for 10 years. Her mother suffers from paranoid delusions and has problems with consistently taking her medicine, which makes her extremely unstable and prone to epic meltdowns. Unfortunately this has given her quite the reputation in the small town where she lives. Sienna has been unfairly judged through the same lens that people view her mother through.

Erica Spindler kept me reading faster and faster in an attempt to find out whodunit, among other details. She carefully and expertly unspools the story of what happens after Sienna returns, throwing out just enough clues to make the reader feel they know what's coming, but I never really did figure it out.

If you like a well-plotted, edge of your seat thriller filled with great characters and a lot of suspense, pick this one up and be prepared to not want to put it down until you finish.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for approving my request for an ARC. The thoughts in this review are my own.

well this is a very very emotional story touching many sensible topics. but in a way that creates an instant connection with the charakters.
a big recommandation for all who like tense stories without gory details. personally i loved the mother-daughter relationship!
thank you very much #netgalley and #ericaspindler and the publisher for this arc

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Genre:
Thriller

Two girls wearing the same kind of coat. One is murdered. The other one (Sienna) is alive and her paranoid mother makes her believe that she was the one who was meant to be killed instead. After a couple of years, the murder case is reopened for investigation and new things start to happen.

In the synopsis, it says "a thrilling psychological drama". This definitely did not feel psychological to me. Yes, it felt more like a linear kind of drama! Yes, I wanted to know what was going to happen but in no way this felt thrilling to me.

To be honest and fair here I did not figure who the murderer was. Simply, because my unconscious mind was not much engaged or interested in the linear story. The main character felt a little dull for me to care for her misery or situation. I can't say much about the other characters as they were not better than the protagonist. I have not read books for Erica Spindler before so I am not able to compare it to her other writings but I have to say that the writing was straight forward. It was OK.

The Look-Alike is a decent murder case mystery if you will get into it thinking of it as a mystery book. Add the phrase "Psychological Thriller" and it will tank for you! I am going with 3.0 stars out of 5.0.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC copy of the book and this is my honest and unbiased review.

The book is expected to release: January 28th, 2020.

My first time reading a novel written by this author and loved it.
Could not put this book down, every time I wanted to put this novel down for the night, another twist at the end of the chapter
Fast paced, captivating story. Erica Spindler keeps you guessing till the very end.
Thank you St Martin’s Press for inviting me to read this novel.
Highly recommend this novel.

This had all the elements I love in a thriller. It moves at a fast pace, has likable characters and keeps you guessing about who really may not be what they seem.

While in college, Sienna Scott stumbled upon a young woman who had just been murdered. Both women just happen to be wearing the same color of coat and gloves, so she begins to wonder if she was the one that the murderer meant to kill.

The story moves back and forth between the year the murder was committed to the present day, when a police officer reopens the case to see if he can solve the crime before he retires.

Added to the mix is Sienna’s mother, who suffers from a mental disorder that causes her to think people are out to get her. Between Sienna, her family and a new friend living across the street, they all try and put the pieces of the puzzle together, which culminates in a suspenseful and satisfying ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

The Look Alike is a very well written suspense. Well crafted plot and characters. I recommend this book. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

I always enjoy Erica Spindler's books and I think this is one of her best. The mystery is drawn out with plenty of clues - and red herrings. I did suspect the person eventually revealed as the killer - but to be fair, I suspected a few of the others along the way! The characters were well done and the story moved along at a good pace encouraging the reader to keep turning the pages!

The ending was shocking and brutal; the epilogue with a happy ending perhaps too good to be realistic. Overall, though, it was an excellent mystery and a perfect antidote for a rainy day.

The story starts at 12:06 A.M. in Tranquility Bluffs, Wisconsin when Sienna Scott trips over a murder. That was the high point of the story. This is a murder mystery with not particularly interesting nor sympathetic characters. Billed as a psychological thriller there is heavy weight placed on the psychology of paranoia but the thriller portion was lightweight. The author’s attempt at misdirection was not effective and so much of story was simplicity personified. If you like lots of hand wringing, bad choices with the resulting destruction of relationships, troublesome behavior, and people who don’t exactly lie but don’t come clean either this is the book for you.

This was a book that I had no trouble putting down and had to push myself to finish. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy.

In this twisty psychological drama Sienna finds herself at the scene of a brutal murder at her campus. Add that to the discovery (and possibly too coincidental?) that she is wearing the same same coat as the victim. And that the victim was walking the same path that Sienna herself took every week at the same time. Was it coincidence, or was she the intended victim?

Ten years later Sienna returns to Tranquility Falls to start her life over and care for her widowed Mom—not an easy task since her Mom suffers from psychotic delusions. But in this book maybe nothing is as it seems, and Erica keeps you guessing with twist after twist until the end.

I read this twisty tale in record time, and plan to add Justice for Sara to my list for a future read. I recommend this book of twists, turns, and dark secrets.

Sienna’s mom has had persecutory delusions her whole life so naturally she’s wary of any paranoid thoughts she might have. But when she stumbles upon the body of a fellow college student with an eerily similar jacket along the same shortcut she always takes home from the library, Sienna can’t help but think that many the killer got the wrong girl. Ten years later, she returns to the small town she grew up in just as they’ve reopened the investigation and starts feeling like someone’s out to get her.

I found Sienna likeable which always makes these stories easier. I did get a bit annoyed with the frequent misplaced blame and the nonchalant way they dealt with the mom but overall this was a fast paced mystery. I wouldn’t call it a thriller because of the limited pool of suspects but there’s a clue in the beginning that I noticed but had dismissed as something I had missed but turned out to be the key to the whole mystery. It’s not easy to completely fool me like that so I’ll say this book is sufficiently suspenseful.

What I disliked... the romance is an annoying and unrealistic distraction and makes Sienna seem incredibly immature and infantile and the ending wrapped up a bit too neatly for my taste.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I was not familiar with Erica Spindler's work before this book but this book grabbed me and kept me up all night trying to figure out who the killer was. Was it a family member, a stranger or a new friend. I won't tell you because you need to jump on this roller coaster for yourself! Lots of family drama and hidden agendas! Be prepared to stay up all night!

Interesting concept but not a delivery I loved. Sienna wishes she had had a typical childhood. Her early days were filled with making sure her mother knew where she was and that she was okay. Because her mom her has a personality disorder called Paranoid Personality Disorder. She believes there are "bad guys" out there that want to hurt her daughter and she will do anything to stop them.

So imagine everyone's surprise when Sienna actually stumbles on a murder scene, the first one to arrive really, and finds the young woman is wearing the same winter jacket she is. Were the "bad guys" her mom is always worried about really trying to kill her? She's shipped off and doesn't return for 10 years. Now she's back.

The psychological aftermath of her mother and her relationship was interesting. I like that her mother was actually diagnosed and we got to see some of the effects of living with her and her disorder. I found it odd that so many men in the village were throwing themselves at Sienna (was she the only single one in town?) and I didn't really love the tug of war and the ultimate outcome of the mystery. All in all, it was okay but I didn't love it.

The Look-Alike
by Erica Spindler

Hardcover, 320 pages
Expected publication: January 28th 2020 by St. Martin's Press




Goodreads synopsis:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Other Girl and Justice for Sara comes a thrilling psychological drama about a woman who believes she escaped a brutal murder years ago—but does anyone else believe her?

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?

***

5 Stars

From the title, this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I guess I figured it would be a crazy lookalike woman kills someone or stalks the main character kinda in a single white female fashion. That wasn’t what was offered up in the text. What I got was better. It was basically about a gal who is coming home after ten years to deal with the fallout of a decade old murder she witnessed and how it affected her then and now.

There is a lot of flash-backing going on in this book. When I finally realized it was jumping back and forth in time, I was able to easily see the transitions between then and now.

Sienna stumbled across a dead body of a girl who was wearing the same exact coat as she. In the beginning she believes that maybe the murderer may have been after her since she always takes that cut through at midnight after her last class. The whodunit in this was excellent. I kept waffling back and forth like Sienna did wondering who could have been the guilty party and why.

Just an excellent read. I don’t want to give too much away since it is the discovery of all the clues that makes this so awesome. If you are looking for a mystery that is not run of the mill and one that you can really dig your teeth into, read this!

If you love a good mystery thriller, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

#TheLookAlike #NetGalley
An original voice with a killer twist you won't see coming.
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?
This is the first book by this author that I've read and this author's writing style is brilliant.
Characters, narration, scenes and dialogues were perfect.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for giving me an advance copy of this awesome book.
Highly recommended.

This was a pleasantly surprising book. There are a lot of factors at play in it: an unsolved murder, a mother with a mental illness, a girl who very well could have been murdered instead of the girl that was. A guy across the street who is handsome but keeping secrets; mysterious vans creeping by at all hours, and hangup phone calls. All of this and more combined led to a great read that I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish. 4 stars, and I will definitely be reading more by this author!