Stalker Stalked by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Release: September 17th 2021
Format: Paperback
Publisher: All Due Respect
Source: Suzyapproved Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N

Lexi Mazur is a depressed, alcoholic, pill-popper whose only joy has become her reality TV shows, often fantasizing that the people on TV are a part of her world. After her boyfriend Steve leaves her, she fixates on the show Socialites and its star Magnolia Artois, following every facet of the girl’s life on social media in the hopes of befriending and becoming more like her.

But stalking isn’t new to Lexi. She ultimately won over her ex Steve by following and manipulating every minute detail about him so he’d fall for her. In fact, she landed her other ex-boyfriend Jeremy in the same way. Being a pharma rep, she’s used to manipulation to get doctors to buy her drugs, along with the perk of saving pills for herself.

But what happens when the stalker gets stalked?

Recently, Lexi has felt someone watching her: in her apartment in Queens, at her job. At first, she thinks her mind’s playing tricks, but the watcher is behaving just like she would. And soon they begin leaving threatening clues like she starts to do to Magnolia once her obsession grows more dangerous. Is it one of her exes out for revenge? Her only real friend from childhood who she’s always had an unhealthy rivalry? A detective who may have figured her out? The reality star Magnolia trying to turn the tables? Or even someone she might not know?

Lexi learns the only way to beat her stalker is to use her own stalking prowess to outsmart them at their own game. But has she finally met her match?

About the Author:

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of THE ANCESTOR, THE DESIRE CARD, SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR from St. Martin’s Press. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. ORANGE CITY, his first sci-fi novel, is forthcoming in 2021 along with his YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Vol 1. Brooklyn, LitReactor, Necessary Fiction, Fiction Writer’s Review, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG http://www.leematthewgoldberg.com/

His favorite authors are classic writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Emily Bronte, W. Somerset Maugham and Raymond Chandler. For modern authors, he’s been influenced by Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, Denis Johnson, John Irving, and Paul Auster.

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Stalker Stalked Review:

“Stalker Stalked” is a unique psychological thriller that stands out from the rest, and the story intrigued me.

I always love the author’s story-telling style because of how personal he gets with the characters. The leads in his stories are not people you would consider role models because they have a lot of flaws and make mistakes. Yet, you get drawn into their lives because of their actions and wonder how they respond to situations. Lexi is no different in the story. I found her odd yet mysterious as soon as she started stalking Magnolia. Similarly, even Magnolia is sizzling, and you wonder what she does as shock value being part of the socialites.

Moreover, the author also builds the suspense very nicely in some chapters. Certain parts that stood out for me were when the creepy Zebra stalks Lexi or the pretense of someone in the shadows, and the black box left on the doorstep. As the story progresses, it was also interesting to see how Lexi’s relationship with the supporting cast, like Pria and her mother, affects her actions and impacts her relationships.

However, there were a few minor issues with the story. For instance, I felt like I was reading parallel subplots, one focusing on the mysterious entity that unnerves Lexi and the other with her obsession over Magnolia. Also, the story is very creepy in some chapters but feels light-hearted in others.

Nevertheless, I feel like it is a good attempt by the author to try something different in the genre. Overall, “Stalker Stalked” is a very out-of-the-box psychological thriller because of its unique characters, and I liked reading it.