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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Review: Friend Me by John Faubion


Friend Me by John Faubion
Howard Books / 2014
Find on: Amazon, Goodreads

About the book:
When a lonely wife and her frustrated husband each secretly pursue companionship online, neither dreams that a real woman is behind their virtual creations, threatening their marriage---and their lives.

Scott and Rachel's marriage is on the brink of disaster. Scott, a businessman with a high-pressure job, just wants Rachel to understand him and accept his flaws. Rachel is a lonely housewife, desperate for attention and friendship. So she decides to create a virtual friend online, unaware that Scott is doing the exact same thing. As Rachel desperately tries to re-create a friendship with a friend who has passed, Scott becomes unfaithful and is torn between the love for his wife and the perfection of his cyber-girlfriend. But neither realizes that there's a much larger problem looming . . .

Behind both of their online creations is Melissa, a woman who is brilliant---and totally insane. Masquerading as both friend and lover, Melissa programmed a search parameter into the virtual friend software to find her perfect man, but along the way she forgot to specify his marriage status. And Scott is her ideal match. Now Melissa is determined to have it all---Scott, his family, and Rachel's life.

As Melissa grows bolder and her online manipulations transition into the real world, Scott and Rachel figure out they are being played. Now it's a race against time as Scott and Rachel fight to save their marriage, and their lives, before it's too late.

In today's digital age, the Internet presents all kinds of opportunities to test our personal boundaries, and this exciting and suspenseful story raises important questions about the ethics of virtual relationships. Friend Me will open your eyes to a new---and terrifying---moral dimensions and how they play out in the real world.

My rating:
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My thoughts:

When I heard about Friend Me last year, I knew it was a book I was going to want to read. I love suspense novels, and this one sounded unique and creepy!

The book starts out from Melissa's (the villain) perspective. I didn't know what to think of her at first because, to be honest, she didn't seem all that bad. But things certainly changed as the story continued!! She did so many crazy and evil things!

Scott was another character I had mixed feelings about. Scott at one point in the story thought "What could go wrong?" and my answer -- "so much! Don't take that first step!" Some of the things he did made me cringe, but in the end he redeemed himself and I liked his character.

I felt really sorry for Rachel. I was especially sad for her when she found out certain things. Her feelings were very real and believable.

The suspense in Friend Me was really good. It wasn't constant suspense, but there were several scenes that had me "on the edge of my seat".

I didn't care for the scenes between Scott and "Alicia". They were just uncomfortable to read, but they did add a believability to the story. The ending was also a bit rushed to me. It seemed like everything happened/got resolved too quickly (at least to me).

Overall, Friend Me was a really good debut novel! I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it to mature readers who enjoy suspense books.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*



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