Find Me by J. S. Monroe – book review

I’m a sucker for a good thriller, one full of false leads and an intricate plot that keeps me turning pages. So, is that what I got from Find Me by J.S. Monroe?

Rosa committed suicide five years ago. But is she really gone? Because her boyfriend gets a cryptic email – apparently from Rosa.

Five years ago, Rosa walked to the end of the pier in the dead of night. She looked into the swirling water, and jumped. She was a brilliant young Cambridge student who had just lost her father. Her death was tragic, but not unexpected. Was that what really happened? The coroner says it was. But Rosa’s boyfriend Jar can’t let go. He sees Rosa everywhere – a face on the train; a figure on the cliff. He is obsessed with proving that she is still alive. And then he gets an email. Find me, Jar. Find me, before they do… Is Rosa really dead? And, if she is, who is playing games with the ones she left behind?

Cleverly laden with tension and doubt, J.S. Monroe sets up one premise, only to knock it down and lead readers down an entirely different path. Or is that what he wants readers to think? Yes, Find Me is full of the aforementioned false starts, casting suspicion here, there and everywhere as it becomes evident that not is all as it reads. Ultimately, the reveal is even more chilling than expected, with ethics and morality coming under the spotlight. An added twist that plays with your head is the focus on writing fiction that’s attributed to a number of characters, as well as the mention of post-bereavement hallucinations. What is real and what is not? That’s what you, and Jar, have to figure out out.

Available from good bookstores (RRP $32.99). My copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.

Monique Mulligan
For more of Monique Mulligan’s writing on books, check out Write Note Reviews

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