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This One Time
Much-maligned blogger Jacob Lynch aka Brodie Lomax has been called many things: Professional Douchebag, the King of Fratire, Tabloid Maverick, Mr Misogyny, Revenge Porn Romeo, that Sex-Tape Guy and Assholepreneur. And now he can add ‘Multi-Millionaire’ to that list.
With the renewal of his reality TV show as well as his eight-figure book deal, life is good for New York’s most notorious blogger. But he’s suffering from a serious bout of writer’s block, and the distractions of endless parties, drugs and meaningless sex are not helping. Trapped within his life of excess, he is teetering on the edge, the next stop: rehab. So Jacob flees the city for an isolated hunting lodge in Alaska where he can focus on getting his manuscript done, once and for all.
When the mysterious beautiful Alicia unexpectedly emerges from the icy landscape, he knows he shouldn’t invite her in, but pretty young things have always been his greatest weakness. The next day Jacob wakes up chained to a bed, and that’s when things take a turn for the terrifying.
With the renewal of his reality TV show as well as his eight-figure book deal, life is good for New York’s most notorious blogger. But he’s suffering from a serious bout of writer’s block, and the distractions of endless parties, drugs and meaningless sex are not helping. Trapped within his life of excess, he is teetering on the edge, the next stop: rehab. So Jacob flees the city for an isolated hunting lodge in Alaska where he can focus on getting his manuscript done, once and for all.
When the mysterious beautiful Alicia unexpectedly emerges from the icy landscape, he knows he shouldn’t invite her in, but pretty young things have always been his greatest weakness. The next day Jacob wakes up chained to a bed, and that’s when things take a turn for the terrifying.
403 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 29, 2015
Alex van Tonder has used her advertising experience to create a social media thriller, with multimedia, reality TV and advertising as players in a terrifying game.
Superstar blogger, Jacob Lynch, AKA Brodie Lomax, has 11 million followers and his own reality show. This unlikeable protagonist is also known as Mr Misogyny and that Sex-Tape Guy. His life is a crazy mix of drugs, sex and being seen in all the right places.
He has also just landed an eight-figure book deal. But what happens when the blogger has writer’s block? He flees to an isolated hunting lodge in Alaska to write. When Alicia emerges unexpectedly from the snow, he knows he shouldn’t get involved, but what would his alter ego, Brodie Lomax do? The next day Jacob wakes up chained to a bed. If you think the book sounds like Stephen King’s Misery, it is and it isn’t. There are so many twists in this nightmare that you’re not sure what to believe.
This One Time brings into sharp focus the issues of privacy in the age of the Internet, the effects of social media on society, the power of bloggers, the manipulation by advertisers, mob rule mentality and the pursuit of profit at any price.
I would have given the book a solid 4/5 but I felt as if it could have been trimmed by 50 pages. A good editor could have made it even better than it is. Even so, I highly recommend this debut by an exceptional writer.
3.5/5
Superstar blogger, Jacob Lynch, AKA Brodie Lomax, has 11 million followers and his own reality show. This unlikeable protagonist is also known as Mr Misogyny and that Sex-Tape Guy. His life is a crazy mix of drugs, sex and being seen in all the right places.
He has also just landed an eight-figure book deal. But what happens when the blogger has writer’s block? He flees to an isolated hunting lodge in Alaska to write. When Alicia emerges unexpectedly from the snow, he knows he shouldn’t get involved, but what would his alter ego, Brodie Lomax do? The next day Jacob wakes up chained to a bed. If you think the book sounds like Stephen King’s Misery, it is and it isn’t. There are so many twists in this nightmare that you’re not sure what to believe.
This One Time brings into sharp focus the issues of privacy in the age of the Internet, the effects of social media on society, the power of bloggers, the manipulation by advertisers, mob rule mentality and the pursuit of profit at any price.
I would have given the book a solid 4/5 but I felt as if it could have been trimmed by 50 pages. A good editor could have made it even better than it is. Even so, I highly recommend this debut by an exceptional writer.
3.5/5
May 20, 2015
With words like Professional douchebag, assholepreneur and revenge porn Romeo used to describe our protagonist Jacob Lynch A.K.A Brodie Lomax it should not come as a surprise that our bro Brodie is all of the above and so much more! Picture everything that is dark, twisted and terribly terribly wrong with social media and the fame that comes along with it. Now picture a young good looking drugged up misogynistic man in control of it all. That my friends is Brodie Lomax.
At first I had a hard time getting into the story, mostly because it's being told through Jacob Lynch's perspective and man does his perspective suck! He makes a living out of exploiting women for goodness sake! However, Alex managed to keep me hooked through out the book despite my building hatred towards Brodie and it also helped a lot seeing a different side to him as the book progressed. Glimpses into Jacob's past, before The Age of Brodie made him human and in a way more tolerable.
The relevance of the different characters need for fame and success however is what initially hooked me in the beginning of the novel. Let me tell you some people would do just about anything to get their 15 minutes of fame and with social media making so many people's dreams come true it was fascinating reading a book that basically attacked that part of modern society. It inadvertently made me question whether or not the end really does justify the means and I personally think that if more people were to read this book they would ask themselves the same thing. Hopefully, coming to the same conclusion I had, It damn well does not! Although most of the characters seemed a little one dimensional, in the sense that the bad almost always outweighed the good. Realistically it didn't make sense to me but within the fictional world it emphasized the grey morals, the blurred line between right and wrong that rears its head when ambition is involved and since the novel can be seen as a social commentary of modern society I was able to let this slide, because as we all very well know the views of the morally corrupt usually make for some very entertaining reading material ;)
The second part of the novel is what really got my motor running. After Jacob landed in Alaska things started getting out of control really quickly and I found myself taking several moments after almost every chapter to compose myself. I didn't think it was possible for me to dislike a character more then Brodie, until I was introduced to Alicia that is. Alicia arrives at the hunting lodge soon after Brodie does and even though he was told that he would be alone in the lodge the idiot still manages to invite her in.
Sigh!Men and their judgement...
Okay, so he was under the impression that she was there to keep the lodge in tip top shape for him but damn it. If something seems too good to be true chances are it is! This chick was the main reason why I ended up shouting at the words dancing around on my E-reader for most of the novel. The movie Gone Girl affected me in the same way so if you, like me was completely blown away by that movie then I strongly urge you to pick up this book right now! Basically Alicia is bat shit crazy and Brodie managed to some how ruin her life. Haha, if only the dude ran away when he had his chance.
I loved hating Alicia and the way the whole Alaska trip turned out, I was literally as in the dark about everything as Brodie was until the very end so yes, that plot twist broke me. I mean I hated Brodie but really? did he deserve that? No, no one deserves to have something like that happen to them. Obviously I am not going to spoil anyone so just trust me when I say that this book will have you on the edge of your seat, bed, table wherever and whenever you choose to dive into this. I personally haven't read Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins before but I know some people are calling it the next Gone Girl. However, I'm pretty sure This One Time can give it a run for it's money.
Who should read this?
If you loved Gone Girl and basically any other psychological thriller and if the you, like Alex is attracted to the dark side of the digital world then this book is definitely for you.
July 17, 2015
Notorious “revenge-porn” blogger Jacob Lynch, better known by his pseudonym Brodie Lomax, is in the midst of throwing the internet world on its head with the renewal of his reality TV show, seven-figure book deal, and of course his revenge-porn blog, when he suddenly vanishes out of range of any wi-fi hotspot. An escape to an isolated hunting lodge in the middle of Alaska seems to be the perfect cure for his writer’s block – until the mysterious Alicia shows up. Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned, and when he wakes up chained to a bed, revenge- and grief-stricken Alicia seems more than happy to give him – quite literally – a dose of his own sick medicine.
Alex van Tonder’s debut novel is exciting, unexpected and undeniably crazy – much like her psychotic bride-to-be-on-the-loose, Alicia. I experienced so many conflicting thoughts and emotions that by the time I finally closed the book I had to sit back for a little while and take about five or six deep, deep breaths. Jacob is simultaneously infuriating – I wanted to kill him for about 95% of the novel, or at least give him a serious lecture on basic human decency and how not to destroy other people’s lives – and frustratingly likeable. I was startled that at some points, I actually didn’t want Alicia to mutilate him, and hoped he’d be able to find his way back home somehow. I think that exposes some really good writing – the way in which van Tonder was able to completely expose a “Professional Douchebag” (to use her own words) of a man, and yet still invoke sympathy for him in her readers is quite phenomenal.
I had a little bit of a problem with the way in which men and women were portrayed, but I suppose that can be put down to the novel being from Jacob's perspective. He is the textbook definition of a misogynist. Still, all the women were portrayed as fame-hungry, Instagram-obsessed, sex-crazed, desperate housewives that only needed a little money to be convinced that their leaked sex-tape was not so bad after all. And the men were just as bad: drug-addicted, noncommittal, self-absorbed morons with nothing better to do than follow the instructions of the "internet-cool kids".
But then, in total, terrifying contrast, Alicia is totally bonkers. She is one-hundred-percent, lock-away-in-an-asylum-forever crazy, and for a little while I sat there half-smiling at the book thinking, “Nah, come on… she would never really do tha– OH. WAIT. NOPE, SHE DID. OKAY.” I was so wrapped in shock at her inhumanity that when the plot twist finally crashed the party, I pretty much had an aneurism.
Then, because it’s a mysterious new genre of social-media-crime-thriller-fiction, about fifteen more rapid, expertly timed and executed plot twits threw the whole story on its head again, leading up to an ending I can only explain as ‘throw-the-book-at-the-wall’-worthy. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since – but that’s the way you know it was a damn good book, right?
This One Time is witty, dark and somewhat brilliant. Its bold originality and sharp, fast-paced writing makes for an incredible novel, with enough twists and turns to make its readers feel almost as disoriented as Jacob himself. Highly recommended.
Read more of my blogs and reviews at All Things Amy.
Alex van Tonder’s debut novel is exciting, unexpected and undeniably crazy – much like her psychotic bride-to-be-on-the-loose, Alicia. I experienced so many conflicting thoughts and emotions that by the time I finally closed the book I had to sit back for a little while and take about five or six deep, deep breaths. Jacob is simultaneously infuriating – I wanted to kill him for about 95% of the novel, or at least give him a serious lecture on basic human decency and how not to destroy other people’s lives – and frustratingly likeable. I was startled that at some points, I actually didn’t want Alicia to mutilate him, and hoped he’d be able to find his way back home somehow. I think that exposes some really good writing – the way in which van Tonder was able to completely expose a “Professional Douchebag” (to use her own words) of a man, and yet still invoke sympathy for him in her readers is quite phenomenal.
I had a little bit of a problem with the way in which men and women were portrayed, but I suppose that can be put down to the novel being from Jacob's perspective. He is the textbook definition of a misogynist. Still, all the women were portrayed as fame-hungry, Instagram-obsessed, sex-crazed, desperate housewives that only needed a little money to be convinced that their leaked sex-tape was not so bad after all. And the men were just as bad: drug-addicted, noncommittal, self-absorbed morons with nothing better to do than follow the instructions of the "internet-cool kids".
But then, in total, terrifying contrast, Alicia is totally bonkers. She is one-hundred-percent, lock-away-in-an-asylum-forever crazy, and for a little while I sat there half-smiling at the book thinking, “Nah, come on… she would never really do tha– OH. WAIT. NOPE, SHE DID. OKAY.” I was so wrapped in shock at her inhumanity that when the plot twist finally crashed the party, I pretty much had an aneurism.
Then, because it’s a mysterious new genre of social-media-crime-thriller-fiction, about fifteen more rapid, expertly timed and executed plot twits threw the whole story on its head again, leading up to an ending I can only explain as ‘throw-the-book-at-the-wall’-worthy. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since – but that’s the way you know it was a damn good book, right?
This One Time is witty, dark and somewhat brilliant. Its bold originality and sharp, fast-paced writing makes for an incredible novel, with enough twists and turns to make its readers feel almost as disoriented as Jacob himself. Highly recommended.
Read more of my blogs and reviews at All Things Amy.
August 22, 2016
I struggled with this book. The author is a blogger and this is her first novel - ironically the story is about a blogger. I was disappointed that as a South African author, she chose New York as her setting. The protagonist is a chauvinistic and misogynistic man which, I felt, was not very well developed as a character. He seemed to embody all of the cliches without any depth. Overall the story failed to really get deep. Every time it was headed there, the story would twist off in another direction. I also felt that the story drew on too many other story lines from famous novels and thus lacked originality in many places. Hopefully, her next book will improve on some of these aspects.
January 22, 2019
I found this book absorbing and its premise was lots of fun, but I think it would have packed much more punch if it was only half as long. The plot is just not complex or mysterious enough to keep a reader thrilled for nearly 400 pages. As a result, what could be a biting, schadenfreude-laden romp of a short novel feels drawn-out and watered-down, and this is a shame.
November 24, 2021
Ha lol okay.
The story is a bit silly and I read this book like a guilty pleasure. This One Time was not as good as A Walk At Midnight.
I think TOT was overwritten, and that the melodrama reminded me of teen soapies like Pretty Little Liars.
But with that said, I like Alex van Tonder, and I'll read the pulp she publishes.
The story is a bit silly and I read this book like a guilty pleasure. This One Time was not as good as A Walk At Midnight.
I think TOT was overwritten, and that the melodrama reminded me of teen soapies like Pretty Little Liars.
But with that said, I like Alex van Tonder, and I'll read the pulp she publishes.
March 21, 2021
This One Time by Alex van Tonder is a wonderful escape from reality that will make you want to throw the book across the room, sympathise with a serial killer and confusingly root for a misogynistic pig not to die.
van Tonder’s first book, This One Time, is a goodie. I will admit that the first chapter had me scratching my head in confusion…there was a wolf chomping off someone’s legs in the middle of nowhere. Yes, it’s odd, but delightfully so. It sets the tone for the rest of the book and truly is an escape from reality while still exploring very real issues women face in today’s world.
The protagonist is Jacob aka Brody Lomax, a misogynist and all-round terrible person. He shot to fame because of his slut-shaming, revenge porn posting and painting unrealistic revenge situations against women on his blog. Brody Lomax is the worst man any woman could ever hope to hook up with and it seemed that the majority of American men read and loved the blog, often sending in material for Brody to post – revenge porn images of their ex-girlfriends etc. Yes, it’s incredibly frustrating reading about it and made me want to throw the book against the wall a couple of hundred times.
It came as no surprise that Brody had an alcohol and substance abuse problem. When he landed a huge campaign with a big brand and a book deal about his life and success, it all became a bit overwhelming for him. As if fate, a remote hotel in the middle of nowhere invited him to stay during the winter months to recharge and review. The only catch was, there would be no other guests and no way to leave once snow season started. Brody couldn’t accept fast enough, wanting to use the time to write his book in peace and to get a handle on his addictions.
But, not all was as it seemed. An attractive woman, disguised as a chaperone, showed up to take care of the hotel and see to his needs; and everything goes pear-shaped. Worst case scenario pear-shaped! I’m not going into detail here because it’s great to read and go through it with the characters, but let’s just say a human Pinterest board with real body parts; a talking wolf; an axe, multiple murders and being held against his will whilst lying in his own human waste are involved. Half of me was thrilled that Brody was getting a taste of his own medicine, and the other rooted for him to survive.
I can’t recommend This One Time enough. There were a couple of twists that I did not see coming, which made it just that much better. van Tonder is a great writer and I can’t wait for her to write more. Both her books, This One Time and A Walk at Midnight are both entertaining reads while discussing and focusing on female topics relevant to our times.
van Tonder’s first book, This One Time, is a goodie. I will admit that the first chapter had me scratching my head in confusion…there was a wolf chomping off someone’s legs in the middle of nowhere. Yes, it’s odd, but delightfully so. It sets the tone for the rest of the book and truly is an escape from reality while still exploring very real issues women face in today’s world.
The protagonist is Jacob aka Brody Lomax, a misogynist and all-round terrible person. He shot to fame because of his slut-shaming, revenge porn posting and painting unrealistic revenge situations against women on his blog. Brody Lomax is the worst man any woman could ever hope to hook up with and it seemed that the majority of American men read and loved the blog, often sending in material for Brody to post – revenge porn images of their ex-girlfriends etc. Yes, it’s incredibly frustrating reading about it and made me want to throw the book against the wall a couple of hundred times.
It came as no surprise that Brody had an alcohol and substance abuse problem. When he landed a huge campaign with a big brand and a book deal about his life and success, it all became a bit overwhelming for him. As if fate, a remote hotel in the middle of nowhere invited him to stay during the winter months to recharge and review. The only catch was, there would be no other guests and no way to leave once snow season started. Brody couldn’t accept fast enough, wanting to use the time to write his book in peace and to get a handle on his addictions.
But, not all was as it seemed. An attractive woman, disguised as a chaperone, showed up to take care of the hotel and see to his needs; and everything goes pear-shaped. Worst case scenario pear-shaped! I’m not going into detail here because it’s great to read and go through it with the characters, but let’s just say a human Pinterest board with real body parts; a talking wolf; an axe, multiple murders and being held against his will whilst lying in his own human waste are involved. Half of me was thrilled that Brody was getting a taste of his own medicine, and the other rooted for him to survive.
I can’t recommend This One Time enough. There were a couple of twists that I did not see coming, which made it just that much better. van Tonder is a great writer and I can’t wait for her to write more. Both her books, This One Time and A Walk at Midnight are both entertaining reads while discussing and focusing on female topics relevant to our times.
July 8, 2015
This One Time by Alex van Tonder can be classified as a pseudo-modern thriller that makes Jim Carey’s The Truman Show look like kindergarten recess. The story starts off (excluding the prologue, obviously) where Jacob Lynch aka Brodie Lomax is finally getting ahead in his career as New York’s most successful blogger. A beer brand is looking to collaborate with the star for his own reality TV show, where he can womanise and generally be a douche on cam, for more money than he’s ever dreamed off. Add his signing bonus for a book he’s not been able to write, and voila, he’s a self-made millionaire. But being a misogynist as blatantly as him isn’t everything he’s dreamed of. Alicia, one sick psycho, has a bone to pick with Brodie, and he might not be able to bullshit his way out of it this time.
This One Time is written A-chronologically in places, where Jacob Lynch is transported to and fro in his memories, which makes for intriguing reading. What’s more, This One Time is very now as far as modern horror is concerned, preying on the reader’s fears in regards to the social and moral problems associated with an online presence. Social networking mixed with advertising; commercialism blended with capitalist agendas – these elements creates a relevant thriller/horror novel that’ll keep you turning the pages.
Readers, who are in the mood for a proper mind-fuck as far as psychological thrillers are concerned, will find solace in Alex van Tonder’s This One Time. The writing flows well, the pacing is good, and the plot is downright terrifying.
Review originally posted on:
This One Time is written A-chronologically in places, where Jacob Lynch is transported to and fro in his memories, which makes for intriguing reading. What’s more, This One Time is very now as far as modern horror is concerned, preying on the reader’s fears in regards to the social and moral problems associated with an online presence. Social networking mixed with advertising; commercialism blended with capitalist agendas – these elements creates a relevant thriller/horror novel that’ll keep you turning the pages.
Readers, who are in the mood for a proper mind-fuck as far as psychological thrillers are concerned, will find solace in Alex van Tonder’s This One Time. The writing flows well, the pacing is good, and the plot is downright terrifying.
Review originally posted on:
September 26, 2016
Finally finished this book! It took me a while to get through it, partly because I have it in paperback format, and finding the time to actually sit down and read a book (as opposed to listening to one while getting on with life) has been very hard this year. But also partly because the first 60% of this book has been a bit of a slog.
I won't lie: there was a time when I really, REALLY wanted to hate this book and give it up. At some point I just wanted to scream that yes, I get that Jacob is in pain, but can we please get this show on the road? While the last third is fast-paced and nail-bitey, the first 2 thirds crawl by like a man who had his feet chopped off, bleeding reflection, inner monologue and descriptive prose as far as he goes.
The ending, however, more than makes up for the faults of this book. The pay off (and then some) is definitely worth the pain of the first part, and in some cases I was even forced to go back and revise my bad opinion, as Van Tonder had clearly been setting up certain cliches on purpose as a few well-placed red herrings.
In the end I found that the twist had been well-planned and expertly inserted, giving me enough reason to doubt from the very first few pages, but never enough to actually know what was going on. I would definitely recommend this book simply so that the reader could laugh out loud in disbelief at the horror of the revelation on the very last page.
I won't lie: there was a time when I really, REALLY wanted to hate this book and give it up. At some point I just wanted to scream that yes, I get that Jacob is in pain, but can we please get this show on the road? While the last third is fast-paced and nail-bitey, the first 2 thirds crawl by like a man who had his feet chopped off, bleeding reflection, inner monologue and descriptive prose as far as he goes.
The ending, however, more than makes up for the faults of this book. The pay off (and then some) is definitely worth the pain of the first part, and in some cases I was even forced to go back and revise my bad opinion, as Van Tonder had clearly been setting up certain cliches on purpose as a few well-placed red herrings.
In the end I found that the twist had been well-planned and expertly inserted, giving me enough reason to doubt from the very first few pages, but never enough to actually know what was going on. I would definitely recommend this book simply so that the reader could laugh out loud in disbelief at the horror of the revelation on the very last page.
August 11, 2016
This one time I irritated my husband reading till the wee hours of the morning - and sneaked off to a coffee shop after a meeting to finish a book.
This one time I swear I'm not posting anything on any blog, twitter or Instagram ever again.
This one time I swear I'm not posting anything on any blog, twitter or Instagram ever again.
May 23, 2015
Stephen King for the age of social media - a twisted tour through the depths of modern desperation for fame and affirmation.
January 6, 2016
This book was emotionally exhausting.
Jacob was the most awful guy but I somehow still felt sorry for him, especially after the final reveal.
Jacob was the most awful guy but I somehow still felt sorry for him, especially after the final reveal.
March 28, 2016
World class thriller here, with the ending to end all endings. Say no more. Read.
August 24, 2016
Great read. Started off slow for me and I almost got the ending right. The whole way through it's a up & down of 'do I feel sorry for BL' or 'is he the worst person ever'?
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