Watch Me by Jody Gerhman @StMartinsPress

Author : Jody Gerhman
Title : Watch Me
Pages : 320
Publisher : St. Martin’s Press
Publication date : January 23, 2018

Kate Youngblood is disappearing. Muddling through her late 30s as a creative writing professor at Blackwood college, she’s dangerously close to never being noticed again. The follow-up novel to her successful debut tanked. Her husband left her for a woman ten years younger. She’s always been bright, beautiful, independent and a little wild, but now her glow is starting to vanish. She’s heading into an age where her eyes are less blue, her charm worn out, and soon no one will ever truly look at her, want to know her, again.

Except one.

Sam Grist is Kate’s most promising student. An unflinching writer with razor-sharp clarity who gravitates towards dark themes and twisted plots, his raw talent is something Kate wants to nurture into literary success. But he’s not there solely to be the best writer. He’s been watching her. Wanting her. Working his way to her for years.

As Sam slowly makes his way into Kate’s life, they enter a deadly web of dangerous lies and forbidden desire. But how far will his fixation go? And how far will she allow it?

One word : creepy.

Kate feels like she’s disappearing. Her marriage hit the rocks, her best friend had a baby and is always busy and her career as a writer is going nowhere fast. And then Sam comes along and notices her, pays her the attention she’s been missing for so long.

Now, there are stalkers. And then there is Sam. Who takes things to a completely different level. Sam has been watching Kate for years and has mapped out their entire lives together. He seems to know everything about her and knows exactly which buttons to push to make his way into her life.

As far as the characters go, Kate utterly confused me and I couldn’t figure her out at all. Sam, on the other hand, is someone you can’t help feeling for, which is all kinds of weird. There was an intriguing backstory to his life that may have given more answers but unfortunately, I felt that wasn’t explored as much as it could have been done. Still, the chapters written from his perspective were incredibly gripping, albeit it sometimes slightly repetitive, and give a fascinating insight into how his stalker mind works.

After reading this, I may just walk the streets and continuously look over my shoulder to make sure nobody is watching me. There’s such a threatening and terrifying vibe throughout this story and as a woman, it’s sadly too easy to imagine being in this situation. This is a deeply unsettling story and a slightly different approach to the stalker genre so if that’s your thing, this may the book for you.

My thanks to Meghan at St. Martin’s Press for my review copy.

Watch Me is out now!

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