#BlogTour ‘Are You Watching?’ by Vincent Ralph

About the book…

A page-turning new YA thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’ and ‘One Of Us Is Lying’.

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.

She was the first of his victims but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the killer once and for all.

The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

Thanks so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the blogtour invite and Penguin Children for the gifted review copy of the book, ‘Are You Watching?’ by Vincent Ralph

As part of a special promotion, the ebook is available FOR FREE on Kindle Unlimited( a month free trial is available) or a frankly LUDICROUS 99p!!

Link to buy is at the bottom of the page, but frankly that is ‘money can’t buy’ value.

This is labelled as a Y.A read, the protagonist is 17 year old Jess, but I think it is suitable for adults to read as well. There is a lot to engage with and mature plotlines. Jess’ mother has been murdered when she was seven , and the killer never caught. The nature of trauma, grief and loss is explored in detail throughout.

Without her father”s knowledge, she applies for, and is accepted onto, a ‘Big Brother’ style television show where she and 4 other teens will compete to be filled for a full 3 months.

This means she has a narrow window to generate enough interest in her life, by wearing head and body cams to record her movements, to win the extra time.

The time will be crucial for her to try and link herself in the minds of the public and refocus attention on the killer who took her mother’s life-and just as surely, took her father’s, as he has never recovered from the loss.

Since the first murder he, ‘The Magpie Man’, has taken another 13 lives and has proven to be unstoppable. Will Jess manage to bring the killer out from hiding, and if so, will she be prepared to deal with the consequences?

My biggest issue with so many YA writers, especially male ones, si that they tend to write female protagonists as they think girls would act/talk/think. Not having the lived experience of a teen is understandable, but on many occasions they end up as parodies of gender stereotypes. With Jess, Vincent has truly captured the nuances and character so well, he really excels at making her a believable, and sympathetic character.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Jess is selfish, and headstrong, playing taunting games with a serial killer is never a great idea, but as the book progresses, she really comes into her own as a strong young woman who is trying to rescue her father whilst he still has time to live a life.

Jess lost both parents on the day her mother was murdered, her father has given up on life and the love she feels for her dad is achingly transparent. By being in the public eye, she is reminding others that her mother was a living, breathing person before she was cruelly snatched away.

What she does not expect, and struggles to deal with, is the attention she gets from the viewers , including text messages, being followed and articles about her mother appearing in places that very few people have access to…

Maybe The Magpie Man has always been a little closer than she ever realised? Suddenly, suspects are at every turn and reality begins to blur the line between wish fulfiment and viewing figures for a tv show…

This is a 5 star read, a mystery, I loved Jess and enjoyed ‘seeing’ a sense of growth and determination which escalates through short, sharp chapters which read like diary entries and helps create a sense of pace which I loved.

A whodunnit, a whydunnit and a gripping thriller, I recommend this unreservedly!

About the author…

Vincent Ralph has been writing in one form or another since his teens and always dreamed of being a novelist.

He owes his love of books to his mother, who encouraged his imagination from an early age and made sure there were new stories to read. Vincent has lived in London, Cornwall and Chester but he now lives in his home county of Kent with his wife, son and two cats.

Twitter @VincentRalph1 @PenguinRandomHouse @annecater

Link to buy-https://www.amazon.co.uk/Are-You-Watching-Vincent-Ralph-ebook/dp/B07WNL6KSB/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1578849019&sr=8-1