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When things seem to be at their worst, sometimes all it takes is one little thing—a brief encounter or an unexpected change in plans—to turn everything around. But in The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale, that one change that seems to make everything better ends up making things so much worse.
The story finds novelist Zoe Ann Weiss painfully close to rock-bottom. When she moved to Los Angeles after selling her first book, she was full of hope—until the book failed. Three years later, Zoe is working at a flower shop and unable to come up with an idea for the follow-up novel that’s long overdue. When she reconnects with Zach, a bartender who ghosted her before going on to become a movie star, she thinks her life could be turning around. But then their budding relationship shows up in the press, and Zoe’s story takes a dark turn.
What seemed like an exciting change for Zoe—a glamorous love story that inspires her to sit down and write again—turns terrifying when questionable photos on celebrity gossip channels attract the attention of someone who’s set on scaring Zoe away from Zach. Zoe finds herself panicked and constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for the next threat, as a stalker begins reenacting scenes from Zoe’s first novel—which just happened to be about a woman whose stalker terrorizes her before finally killing her.
With each new horrifying event, the suspense builds—and Zoe isn’t sure where to turn. The police don’t seem able to help. She’s afraid to talk to her friends for fear of breaking the non-disclosure agreement that she was forced to sign. And Zach’s security guy, Carlos, seems like he could be more of a threat than a protector.
As Zoe’s story takes one twist after another, readers won’t know what’s real and what’s all just a part of Zoe’s active (and increasingly paranoid) imagination. It makes for a fascinating read—one that’s not easy to put down at the end of the day. And when it comes together in the end, it all feels a little bit messy, but it’s a fitting ending for a dishy Hollywood thriller.
With its constant twists and turns and surprises—mixed with plenty of Hollywood glitz and glamour and gossip—The Close-Up makes for a captivating read. It’s dark and eerie—and it’s sure to keep you guessing through one unexpected revelation after another.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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