Watch For Me By Martin Bodenham

‘Watch For Me’ is the latest book by Martin Bodenham.

Tom Harper, a Vancouver Island realtor, has the client from hell, Ali Page, a beautiful and intelligent young lawyer returning from the mainland to take up a job with an island law firm. Trouble is there’s always something wrong with the properties Tom shows her, always a reason not to commit. Finally, after they find a condo she likes, he receives a text thanking him for his help. Ali signs off: I’m sad we won’t get to spend more time together. Ali’s words seem strangely out of character. The texts keep coming, increasingly incoherent and disturbing. Tom cannot understand why a woman not much older than his teenage daughter is suddenly obsessed with him. When he rejects Ali’s unsolicited advances, Tom soon discovers the sinister depths to which a delusional mind will sink to obtain what it wants.

This book gripped me and frustrated from the first page, so much so that I couldn’t put it down until I reached the final page. So, I had to say goodbye to my planned early night!

The story is primarily seen through the narrative of Tom Harper, a successful realtor who’s been given the unhappy task of trying to find a house for the daughter of their family friend. Ali is a peculiar character, non-communicative whilst house hunting, but once Tom finds her an apartment, her obsession begins, calling, texting, stalking, threatening and completely disrupting his marriage, family and career.

There’s no other word to describe this book other than mad! Ali is the most disillusioned and determined character that I have ever read in a book or seen in a film. She’s clueless to Tom’s refusals and decides that if she can’t have him then no one can and is always changing her story to keep everyone on side and in doubt.

Right from the start, I was completely sympathetic to Tom and how each day, a new threat or disaster happened. I loved how through the suspense was regularly building and I found myself also like Tom, on edge and anxious throughout the day.

Martin has cleverly crafted a thriller that really pulled me into the late night. The characters are a complex mix with their obsessive and deceitful traits that really made for thrilling reading. The story is also seen through Ali’s narrative in parts, as she sets her plans in place oblivious to the hurt she’s causing. It’s fascinating to see the stalker angle from a male perspective and how Tom is treated, as an older man people including the police and society people are convinced he’s lying.

A gripping and thrilling psychological book that hooks the reader from the dramatic first line, ‘Watch For Me’ is a fantastic spin on the traditional stalker plot with an unhinged leading lady and a sympathetic man.

You can buy ‘Watch For Me’ from Amazon.