I found I didnt really connect with the characters in this book. It started out ok but then fell into a slump. The ending wasnt that good either which left me rather disappointed. The plot was what grabbed me in the first place. So disappointing overall !!

Jenna is a doctor working in the A & E department and is married with two young children. She is being stalked by a man who follows her round, sends emails and leaves creepy gifts on her doorstep. One day a man is brought into hospital after being knocked down by a bus and Jenna recognises him as her stalker. However after a brief hiatus the emails start arriving again and more creepy gifts are left by her front door. So if her stalker is in hospital who is leaving the gifts etc.

The book started off really well and you could almost feel Jenna's distress and anxiety as she tried to carry on her life while waiting for the next incident to happen. However once her apparent stalker, Matthew, was in hospital the story seemed to slow down and not a lot really happened apart from Jenna's questionable behaviour as she tried to find out who was now harassing her.

The story was told from the viewpoint of Jenna and also Matthew's sister Sophie.

It wasn't difficult to work out who the culprit was but the question. Is why. The reason given at the end of the book seemed quite lame.

An easy read but not one of the author's best.

This is the second title I have read by Lauren North and I was not disappointed! Throughout I thought I knew what was going on but I was wrong! Lots of twists and turns and the suspense kept me reading well past my bedtime. Great book!

Jenna is an A&E doctor struggling with the long hours she works, and the demands of bringing up her two children, Archie and Beth. She feels cut off from her husband, Stuart, and to top things off she is being stalked. One day Jenna's stalker is admitted to the hospital after being knocked down by a bus and Jenna has a choice - to save his life... or not.

This book has all of the qualities of the perfect psychological thriller. Deftly layered with emotion and suspense it starts off fairly slowly but the tension builds as events unfold. The reader also hears from Sophie, a fitness instructor in a controlling relationship with Nick, the business owner of the fitness company, Elite Personal Training. The story is told from viewpoints of the main character, Jenna, along with Sophie. One Step Behind is an incredibly emotionally charged book, well written and beautifully plotted and so cleverly constructed to help maximise the tension in the natural progression of the story. From the beginning, it is an absorbing and riveting novel as well as being massively addictive.

Highly recommended, this is a taut story of uncertainty, paranoia and dilemma, with a fulfilling, brilliant finish. Lauren North’s writing is just exquisite and I will be looking out for her next offering.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Random House UK, Transworld Publishers/ Corgi via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Jenna is being stalked, with strange, creepy gifts and disturbing emails and frightening glimpses of a man always watching. This book jumped straight in to find Jenna in the midst of a disturbing stalker scenario. This was a vivid, and intense read with excellent characterisation. A twisty, well-plotted book which maintained the tension throughout. At times disturbing and intense this was a book that captured the imagination and kept me turning the pages to the end.

I was really into this and its premise until about halfway through: the idea is great, the delivery is creepy and engaging... but then I lost interest a bit. The main character deliberately doesn't answer her phone at times when it would help her to speak to the person calling her (but clearly for plot reasons it was more convenient for her to ignore the call), and the stalking element became a little slow and repetitive in the second half of the book. Still, it's an easy read and relatively entertaining.

One Step Behind is a cleverly written and plotted psychological thriller which I flew through in a couple of days. It’s going to be a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give anything away.

Firstly the thing I most enjoy about this author is her ability to make her books seen so realistic that the reader feels they are living the situation alongside the characters. This book is no exception and the scenes describing the stalking were very chilling and frightening because of this. I found myself feeling very sorry for Jenna and all that she is experiencing. I found myself feeling quite glad that I haven’t been in the same situation.

The story is told from the point of view of Rachel but also from a mysterious lady called Sophie which I found very intriguing. I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out how she fitted into the story. The writing all seems to point in one direction which made me immediately suspicious that there was more to the story then met the eye.

I thought this was a really fast paced book which had lots of twists that kept me guessing. The tension is slowly increased until it becomes almost unbearable. I found myself turning the pages faster and faster as the book went on as I desperately wanted to find out what would happen. The ending was especially brilliant and I loved the way the storylines merged to make a very satisfying ending.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Transworld for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

This is definitely what I'd describe as a 'menacing' read, there is a sense of it running through it from the beginning to end.

I found this one quite hard to rate in all honesty as even though I found myself compelled to carrying on reading at the same time it didnt grab me completely.

The characters just didn't come to life as I'd hoped and lacked substance. I couldn't connect at all with the main character Jenna and in all honesty found her bland, boring and unrelatable.

The premise was brilliant and I really enjoyed the start of the book, I was sucked in by the creepiness of it BUT it lost momentum and at times the pacing dipped and flowed which meant my attention wandered.

Whilst I didnt see the ending coming it didn't really take me by surprise either.

It's really hard to rate when you're let down by the characters but I'll give this a 2.5* for the creepy storyline and those scary moments and twists.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House UK for the ARC.

This psychological thriller really gets you caught up in the stress that Jenna, a mother of two and an A&E doctor experiences when she is the victim of a stalker. Weird objects are left on her front door and she sees a man hiding behind trees and watching her when she is at the school gates. The police don't seem to be doing anything and Jenna is at her wit's end when her stalker is brought into the hospital having been run over by a bus. Being placed in the position where she has to save the life of her stalker, Jenna at least thinks this will be the end of her torment but is it? The stalking continues and she has to decide if she has made a mistake about her stalkers identity. A great read although I found Jenna's character a bit hysterical and felt little empathy for her.

Lauren's books are always gripping, and this was no exception...I just felt that it petered out a little too easily. Many thanks to the Publishers and NetGalley for making this ARC available.

Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Originality can be sometimes lacking in thrillers, with used up literary tropes featuring in even the most accomplished author's works. Well, Lauren North certain defies, in some style I may add, the tendency to the tried and tested of this increasingly undifferentiated genre. There are books galore featuring stalking as its main theme, but usually this takes the unchanging form of a scared and anxious woman being harassed by a (usually) unidentified male figure - well, until the denouement anyway. 'One Step Behind' smashes this trope to bits when victim and stalker come face-to-face early on the piece. The victim, A&E doctor Jenna Lawson, not only engages with the object of her nightmares, but actually saves his life. Cue the beginning of the fun and games of this addictive novel. Indeed North poses a rather interesting question: what would you do if you were thrust into Jenna's role? I can almost guarantee it will depart considerably from what actually happens in the book. But to say more would be to spoil an enthralling, twisty tale. A compulsive read.

Jenna is a busy woman. She is a doctor in the A&E department, she has 2 children, a husband (in a rocky relationship) and a stalker.

I'm very torn in how to review this story. Although her stalker predicament was creepy as hell, and there were a few curveball thrown in to keep me guessing, I found that all of the characters lacked substance and therefore just didn't come to life for me when reading this story.

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow this was such a great read!
As soon as I read the premises of One Step Behind, I knew this story would be right up my alley.
Jenna Lawson, wife, mother and successful A&E doctor is terrified every day she leaves the house. Afraid what she'll find when opening her front door, her letterbox or e-mail account. Always scanning her surroundings while she feels that she's being watched.
Jenna's stalker is destroying her life turning her into an exhausted, anxious and paranoid mess. Not really knowing who is after her and why Jenna is shocked to the core when she suddenly recognizes her stalker being rolled into A&E ending up on her operating table...

What to say, loved this well crafted story told from 2 different perspectives. Pacing was right, there was lots of tangible tension and I could feel Jenna's despair. I honestly did not figure out what was going on until I was right up the end. Oh and on a side note, there is this character Nick who also genuinely gave me the creeps.

All in all I would definitely recommend this book if you're into psychological thrillers which keep you guessing till the last page.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

One Step Behind is a thriller with a creepy edge that I loved from start to finish.
Jenna is an doctor in a busy A and E hospital, she works long hours and feels cut off from her husband and two children. To top it off she is being stalked, the stalker emails her and leaves creepy dolls heads where she will find them and follows her but never close enough to be caught. Jenna can’t believe it one day at work when her stalker is admitted, he’s been knocked down by a bus and Jenna saves his life.
I don’t want to go into too much of the storyline as it will definitely spoil it but although some of the characters are unlikeable and the story does slow up around the middle of the book, I still enjoyed it and didn’t see the end coming at all!!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The sense of menace is ever present in this book. At no time did I think Jenna was imagining her stalker, but I had all sorts of explanations lined up, and various suspects. I got it wrong! Terrifying but oh so compelling, what a roller coaster. Interesting with the two women's stories running in parallel - we are reading about two victims. One of stalking, an unknown threat, and one of being controlled by her partner, I admit to really rooting for Sophie and wanting her to leave Nick. I genuinely did not see the ending coming. I'm still holding my breath. #netgalley #onestepbehind

This is a hard one to review. I really really liked the start but then the book lost a bit of its momentum. While I had a fair idea of who was up to no good, I didn't really understand why until nearer the end. The pace was a bit choppy which made it hard to keep reading without getting distracted however I would definitely read more of this author because there were really strong parts of the book that I did enjoy.

Jenna is a doctor who is being stalked by a man. He's been following her and leaving creepy gifts outside her house. Then he ends up in her hospital after being hit by a bus. Can she finally get answers?

This was an interesting story with a brilliant premise. It starts out really creepy but it loses that along the way. The plot is steady and builds to a dramatic climax though I had figured who was behind it all though not all their reasons. Jenna is not a good main character though, I found her too self involved and unlikeable. Her actions are so questionable. A good story but not as good as id hoped.

The Review
Jenna has everything: a husband, a family, a career she loves, and a stalker. We quickly fall in to her world where we learn of the torment this mystery figure is putting her through, and the impact it is having on her day to day life. When he turns up in her A&E as a patient, Jenna can’t resist the opportunity to turn the tables, and do some snooping of her own.

Having loved Lauren’s first book, I found myself really struggling with this one, which lacks the things that appealed about The Perfect Son. Firstly, the main character Jenna is just so bland. I understand she’s going through a tough time, and that’s made perfectly clear, but as a reader I wanted to be on her side, not struggle to connect with her at all. There was nothing likable about her, and I find it hard to believe that anyone but the most deranged of souls would pick her to become fixated on.

That made it hard to really get on board with the whole premise of the story (no spoilers), which based on what we were told, just didn’t make any sense at all. Why stalk the world’s most boring individual? Why threaten her children?

None of the other characters really had much going for the them either, which made the whole thing a bit of a labour to get through. I did find the chapters told from a young Sophie’s perspective to be the most interesting, though even she started to get a bit too whingey in the end. It felt like the entire book was nothing more than a moan – but with no real point.

As for the ending, whilst I didn’t entirely see the big reveal coming, it equally didn’t surprise me. Perhaps I was just disinterested, and failed to get on board with any of it, but it didn’t make sense. It all seemed very contrived (yes, I know it’s fiction) and didn’t work for me at all.

The Stars
I didn’t find this remotely gripping and the ending felt flat; however, for the most part it was an easy and pacey read. The alternating chapters work well to hide the lack of interesting action (sorry, I know how catty that sounds but I am too tired to try to be pleasant today … SORRY!), and give the impression of momentum, but ultimately, nothing happens. A two from me.

Jenna is an A&E Doctor, so it goes without saying that she works extremely hard, in addition, her marriage is somewhat strained, and just for the record, her kids resent the amount of time she spends at work, and as if that wasn’t enough, she’s also being stalked!

Her stalker leaves creepy dolls heads on her doorstep, sometimes with melted faces, (signifying what exactly?)she’s naturally terrified to go out, because he follows her constantly, and then there’s the threatening emails. Jenna can’t imagine why he’s doing it - why her?

She eventually gets to put a name to this monster who occupies her every waking thought, when he arrives in A&E after being hit by a bus. It’s thought that someone had pushed him. The local police don’t seem to be taking her claims too seriously, so it’s time for Jenna to take action and discover for herself, exactly what’s going on.

Gosh, where do I start with this one - it’s really difficult to enjoy a book when you don’t like any of the characters, and I really didn’t - I found Jenna particularly irritating, and the others had no redeeming qualities either. The scenario was definitely a frightening one, and there were some heart pounding moments at times, but for me, it was an ok read rather than an exciting one.

This is quite a tense book and for the first couple of chapters I thought it was going to give me a headache, I could hardly breathe. Then the momentum slowed a little and I found it a little easier to take in.
Jenna Lawson is an A&E doctor who has had a stalker for around 12 months. The police are investigating but seem unable to find enough evidence to pin it on anyone. Jenna lives her life on a knife edge, only feeling relaxed at work in the chaos of a busy emergency room. Her children are anxious and stressed and her marriage is becoming strained. Jenna has become mistrustful of everyone around her and seems to be losing her ability to be rational.
After a sequence of events Jenna comes face to face with the man she believes is stalking her. Although she feels a little safer knowing where he is, other things begin to happen that make her suspect he potentially has an accomplice.
Not wanting to spoil this I will say that I found it very hard to like Jenna and found her actions somewhat annoying. Her character did not seem to fit with someone who is calm and collected in an emergency room. I was also really annoyed with the ending of the book. I don't like it when you feel betrayed by the facts presented to you and this book seems to purposely with hold some very key information along the way.
A good tense read, but the ending sort of blew it for me.
Thank you Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.