Jenna has a stalker. After several months of living in fear, the man she has seen taking pictures of her is brought into the emergency room where Jenna is his doctor. This man has made her life a living hell and the police do not seem to be doing anything to find him. Jenna decides to take an offensive approach to ridding herself of her stalker. This is a page turner that keeps your attention. My only complaint is that Jenna, an intelligent educated physician, doesn’t see a need to seek therapy. If a patient visited the ER with her stressors and symptoms a doctor would surely refer her to a therapist. It’s disappointing that mental health continues to be portrayed as less important than physical health.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jenna is balancing a career, raising two children, and her marriage when she is terrorized by a stalker. The outcome is shocking and there are multiple plot twists in this novel.

This was an amazing book! I couldn’t put it down. It was fast paced and full of suspense. Absolutely loved it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jenna, an emergency room doctor, has had a stalker for close to a year. The police are no closer to capturing him. Jenna and her entire family are suffering from the stress the stalker brings. One day, a young man is brought into the ER after being hit by a bus. When Jenna realizes its her stalker she is faced with a choice. Treat him and he lives or “accidentally” miss something that could cause him to die.
This book was full of twists and I didn’t see the ending coming at all!

A truly original story! We’ve all read a good stalker book, but this was takes it to a whole other level. Jenna is running from a stalker who seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. At times I felt her character made the easier decision that wasn’t the most realistic one, then reminding myself that it’s a story, I realized her every moved fit the story perfectly. The twists and turns were great and definitely mysterious!

Thanks Netgalley, Lauren North and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC!

Oo y’all just by seeing the cover and the title I knew this was going to be a good one!! I loved the characters and the way this was laid out. Such a good storyline!!

This one wasn't my favorite. My main issue with this story was the plot. I felt that for the majority of the book, nothing was really happening. I am not sure if the repetitive action of Jenna being paranoid about her stalker was to build suspense for the reader, but it just didn't work for me. I was super disappointed with the ending and overall did not enjoy this novel.

At the background I can hear Choo choo sound of disappointment train as I shaking my head from side and side and screaming: “ Noooo!”

Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of stalker stories and gripping page turners about their cat and mouse game: basic plot lines like sometimes the hunter finds himself turned into a prey. The book’s promising premise attracted my attention but....

We have one of the most unlikable heroine and a story goes nowhere because till the second half of the book nothing happens. No surprise, no action, no twist! Nothing! Nada! Zero! And the ending was illogical, nonsense and haphazard.

Let’s take a look at the plot line:

Jenna is our not so lovely protagonist, a doctor, living with her two children, who has been stalking by an unknown person who leaves gifts in front of her house door and sending emails to inform her that he’s following each step she takes and later she meets her stalker in person as her patient who was hit by a bus. So she decides to find the truth and the hidden agenda of her stalker to take the matters in her own hands.

When you read those parts: you think something earth shattering, exciting, action packed will happen but no: we’re unfortunately stuck in Jenna’s head, reading her nonstop bickering thoughts and hating her more at each chapter.

Overall: The author’s debut novel “Perfect Son” was promising and brilliant so I expected more from her. I’m rounding up 2.5 stars to 3 for my love to the stalker stories but I’m still disappointed about the character and the unsatisfied conclusion of the story.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I wish I could enjoy it more.

I was looking forward to this stalker story, but was left disappointed. The main character Jenna was annoying and always making stupid decisions. Her sections were very slow moving and boring. What kept me reading were Sophie's sections and the revelation of her childhood with her brother. However, the ending was lame and brought the whole novel down, resulting in a 2 star rating.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: One Step Behind is a mystery/thriller novel written by Lauren North, a British author who has previously written the psychological suspense novel “The Perfect Son.” It’s set to be released by Berkley Publishing group on September 1, 2020. The tagline for this novel reads, “A woman pushed to the breaking point by a stalker develops an obsession of her own in this shocking new novel.”

PLOT RUNDOWN/BASICS:
Jenna is a wife and mother of two who has been living a nightmare for the past year - she's being stalked by an unknown assailant. She, her husband Stuart, and their children Beth (9) and Archie (6) live several streets away from the coast in a small town in England, where Jenna works as a doctor in the A&E department (Accident and Emergency, or the same as an ER, in the United States) at the local hospital. Jenna’s stalker leaves her little “gifts” on her doorstep each night, like burned dolls with scrubs on and melted faces...and he watches her and her family from behind trees, in the shadow of buildings, and in dark parking lots at night, whispering Jenna’s name.

Jenna and Stuart have rearranged their entire lives to accommodate this threatening stranger. Jenna drives her kids the few blocks to school to avoid a confrontation, after being followed on the walk there. She keeps a detailed diary of each incident for the police, making regular reports; her detective, DS Church, has even provided Jenna with clear evidence bags to use when she finds her stalker’s offerings each morning, in an attempt to preserve physical evidence that’s never there. Stuart installs A CCTV camera at their front door, which has proven fruitless at catching a glimpse of this mysterious figure; the suspect’s face and figure are hidden completely by a strategically placed umbrella, and eventually the camera is even disabled.

Jenna and her family are desperate to escape their constant anxiety and fear, but when the threats start to escalate, things seem like they’re falling apart. And then, one day, a young man is rushed into the ER with life-threatening injuries...and in the same clothes, and with the same umbrella, as Jenna’s stalker. Her terror is quickly replaced by a rush of adrenaline - the man who’s terrorized her for a year is off the streets, and better yet, she knows his identity. Her focus becomes single-minded: to find out why this man chose her as his victim, and why he’s been torturing her for months.

Jenna meets her stalker’s sister Sophie, who has ties to Jenna’s circle of friends and appears to be running from a controlling relationship of her own...while harboring the secret of why Jenna is possibly the victim. But as Jenna chases these new leads, her life continues to fall apart. Her insomnia becomes even worse, and the more she uncovers, the more confused she becomes. Then, the taunting emails start coming again...and gifts begin reappearing on her steps. Who IS this mysterious man in the hospital bed, and what is his story? Is he really the person torturing her, or is it someone closer to home? And how well does Jenna know the people she works with, parents with...even lives with?

MY THOUGHTS: This was my first read by North, and I really enjoyed this thriller. From a psychological point of view (which, not coincidentally, is North’s educational background), it was fascinating to see all of the ways in which Jenna was changed by her experience as a stalking victim. When the power seemingly shifted in her favor, it caused her to question not only her family and friends, but also her own moral compass. She had to make some difficult decisions, and she is forced to question whether she is becoming as obsessive and destructive as her stalker in her quest for answers.

Another reason I’ve given this book as many stars as I have is because North plotted the book brilliantly, and I couldn’t predict the twist. I've read many, MANY mystery/thrillers, and I can typically see a plot twist (and guess a murderer's identity) within the first 30-50 pages (I see you, Ruth Ware...JT Ellison...BJ Paris...the list goes on). However, in this novel, I was completely surprised by the ending, even as it tied up the entire story neatly and didn't leave any unanswered questions. This is honestly NO easy feat, and I loved it - any thriller where I don’t guess the ending makes me a happy reader.

North did a very good job of adding red herrings and complex storylines; no one was completely a victim or villain, and everyone had a complex emotional backstory. The back and forth between Jenna and Sophie’s present, and Sophie and Matthew’s past, was enough to keep the reader moving along and wondering what was coming next. I truly enjoyed the book and the suspense; I read it in 2 days, and I’ll definitely be picking up whatever North writes next.

Although this is an easy enough read, it's one of those books where no ones acts logically. Like, you install a camera at your door, but your stalker evades it with an umbrella. Uh, install more cameras? I just get frustrated with these characters.

And then the resolution was pretty unsatisfying.

Thank you to Berkley, though, for providing this copy for review.

A classy thriller that kept me guessing until the very end! It was fast paced and I didn't want to (and didn't end up) put it down!

This book started out with the mystery of who was stalking Jenna. It propelled you to keep reading to find out. Then the accident happens and from there it went downhill for me. I was quite disappointed in the who's and why's of her stalker. It just fell flat...and the suspense went out the window. The writing was very good and it keeps you interested enough to get to the end.

Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Lauren North and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved the story as told by Jenna and Sophie. I thought I'd figured out what was going on about halfway through, but I was wrong! This was a great quick read and I cannot wait to recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I'm a pretty tough thriller and mystery critic as we all know. One Step Behind is definitely a book that I should have left behind on the shelf not to read.

One Step Behind is about a mom with two children that has been stalked for awhile. The stalker has been leaving her little gifts in front of her house and has been sending her emails and following her every move. Jenna is a doctor and one day her stalker ends up in the hospital due to being hit by a bus and none other than Jenna is the doctor on staff treating her stalker.

The police seem not to be doing anything for Jenna and Jenna decides to take the matters into her own hands becoming a stalker herself trying to figure out who this mysterious person is and why.

Alright... Jenna was pretty annoying and I wasn't fond of any characters in this book. Jenna came across as whiny and just a little bit of a hot mess.

It took way to long for something to happen in this book and the majority of the novel was us following Jenna in trying to figure out her stalker with nothing going on!!! The final reveal at the end was just pretty lame to be honest and was completely disappointing after all that. Another thriller that left me disappointed.

Overall, 2.5/5 stars.

Huge thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 9/1/20
Published to GR; 6/20/20