The review I wrote for the last book I read by this author (“The Step Daughter’s Lie”) started with the words “holy crap”, and that’s exactly how I feel after reading “The Stalker”. They are also getting the same rating. This is one devious book, filled with deception, suspense, heartbreak and several shocks. The story opens with Lou leaving a coffee shop and finding a note on her car, telling her to go home. Now. When she does, she walks in on her husband having sex with another woman. Then things REALLY get crazy…
To back up a bit, Lou is a former tennis pro who gave up the game because of a crazy stalker. She’s now married to a man named Philip, and they have three children: Flick, and their twins, Jessie and James (yes, for real). With their children all out of the home now, Lou doesn’t hesitate leaving her husband and moving in with her best friend, Iona. That doesn’t stop whoever is leaving her notes, though. It seems like everywhere she goes, she ends up with some kind of threatening or alarming letter under her windshield wipers. Her thoughts immediately turn to Freja, the woman who was in their marital bed with her husband.
Lou didn’t know her name at first, but she soon starts doing some stalking of her own. Her husband’s mistress is a stunning 20-something blonde who works at a cosmetics counter. Why does she want Philip? He’s a good-looking middle-aged man who makes a decent salary as a lawyer, but it’s not like they are rich. His children are only a few years younger than Freja, and he’s a new grandfather. What is this woman doing with her husband, and why would he risk his family for her?
The story is told from the points of view of Lou (both in the past and present), Freja, and one of the twins. The book is obviously about Lou both having a stalker, and stalking Freja, but there is a lot of back story that goes into it. Despite having several facets and not being a short novel, this was a page turner that I didn’t mean to finish in one sitting until it happened - what a fantastic and suspenseful thriller! 4.5 stars, rounded up.
(Thank you to Boldwood Books, Teri Terry and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on October 6, 2025.)