In this glittering new psychological suspense novel from internationally bestselling author Pip Drysdale, a writer’s own thriller is brought chillingly to life when a stalker begins to reenact the events from her book.

Sometimes when your dreams come true, so do your nightmares…

When Zoe Ann Weiss moves to LA to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist, she welcomes the fault lines, the Santa Ana winds, and the magic hour light. Her whole future is wide open—until Zach, the bartender and aspiring actor she’s falling for, ghosts her, and her debut novel, a thriller, bombs.

Three years pass. Zach’s star rises—he’s on Netflix, on billboards, in every magazine—while hers falls. Now she’s working in a flower shop, still calling herself a writer while staring at a blinking cursor every night. But then she delivers flowers in one of LA’s most exclusive neighborhoods and…he’s there. Zach Hamilton. And it’s like no time has passed at all—the two pick up right where they left off.

It feels like fate, a love story for the ages—the kind of love you write about. Suddenly, Zoe’s writer’s block disappears. When photos of Zach and Zoe are leaked, her name ends up in the press and her novel goes viral online. Which all sounds fine in theory: at least now she’ll sell some books. Except the problem with everyone knowing her name is that everyone knows her name.

Including Zach’s stalker. A stalker who wants Zoe gone. A stalker who has read Zoe’s novel. A stalker who is now re-enacting everything that happened in that book, step by step, against her…

Review:

Edgy, addictive, and twisty!

The Close-Up is a sharp, atmospheric tale that takes you into the life of Zoe Ann Weiss, a struggling author who, after reconnecting with a man who is now a Hollywood movie star, finds herself the victim of a deviant stalker with a penchant for reenacting all of the gruesomest scenes from her first and only published novel.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are troubled, tormented, and consumed. And the plot is an engrossing, eerie tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, obsession, fame, depravity, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Close-Up is a sinister, suspenseful, tortuous tale by Drysdale that does a wonderful job of highlighting just how easily people can be emotionally and psychologically exploited while at the same time reminding us just how vulnerable and susceptible technology and social media truly makes us.

This novel is available in paperback now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.