Alter Ego

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Pub Date 17 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 15 Apr 2021

Description

Pounding on the door. My seven-year-old son shaking me awake. My head fuzzy with sleeping pills. The hallway flashing with blue light. This morning my life will change forever.

Alex Kendrew is juggling single parenthood, work and dating; with a wild, impetuous streak that’s hard to keep in check, she struggles to find a balance and feels perpetually guilty for the choices she makes.

In K.A. Masson’s domestic noir thriller, Alter Ego, Alex begins a passionate affair when an old flame gets in touch. But one morning, the police arrest her for his attempted murder. Someone is framing her; can she prove her innocence as the evidence mounts against her?

Pounding on the door. My seven-year-old son shaking me awake. My head fuzzy with sleeping pills. The hallway flashing with blue light. This morning my life will change forever.

Alex Kendrew is...


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ISBN 9781838241612
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Average rating from 25 members


Featured Reviews

This was a good book. Unfortunately it was not amazing and it was predictable in places. I kept waiting for a killer twist but it failed to deliver. Despite all this I stuck with it and was not left too disappointed.

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I really enjoyed this book and read it all in the space of a few hours! It's set in London, and follows the life of a single mother as she juggles motherhood and dating apps. There were some graphic sexual encounters that weren't necessaily imperative to the plot but they also provided an interesting angle for the protaganist. I found the story to be smooth and easy to follow along. I wasn't sure where the plot was going and how it all tied together in between the time jumps but it all made sense in the end. The were a few different plots to follow, between the start of the book and how she ended up arrested but they all linked quite well and made sense. The ending was predictable once you got there, but getting there, I really didn't see that coming!

Definitely worth a read if you enjoy an easily digestible thriller.

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Alter Ego addresses the struggle between trying to be a good mum and playing the dating game, as well as being a domestic thriller. Alex is framed for the attempted murder of her partner and we see the backstory building up to this moment, as she navigates the world of online dating, bringing up her young son, an abusive relationship, and falling in love with Mal.
KA Masson writes characters well, especially flawed and sometimes horrible characters. The twist it the end of who actually attempted the murder was a real surprise. A great book for anyone looking for some escapist domestic noir.

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A domestic noir debut novel that is gritty, realistic and even shocking at times. I was unable to put this book down for any length of time. The characters were believable and well developed, Alex was one I really liked.
The author has skilfully woven the mutiple storylines together with grace so everything comes together perfectly.
I was hooked until the end, totally absorbed in the book and the final twist is one I did not guess, so all in all a thoroughly enjoyable debut novel I would recommend.Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC to write my review.

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Alter Ego by KA Masson
I give this book 4 stars
Single mum Alex Kendrew is juggling a busy life,looking after her young son Ned, working as an independent photographer and attempting online dating.After a series of disasters she rekindles a connection with someone. But then one morning, the police arrest her for his attempted murder. Someone is framing her; can she prove her innocence as the evidence mounts against her?
A brilliant debut novel that l just wanted to keep on reading.The storyline and characters were realistic and believable and l really liked Alex.A great domestic noir with lots of pace and l was left guessing till right near the end.(this has quite detailed sex scenes) A recommended read!
With thanks to Netgalley and the author KM Masson for my opportunity to read and review this book

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A satisfactory thriller. "Alter Ego" by KA Masson starts of with an arrest for attempted murder and then back tracks until we end up at that place and then what unfolds after the arrest.

Masson provides an insight into the dating scene (not particularly pleasant), so really happy when the main character meets someone "normal".

It took a while to work out who the culprit was and then it was a race to the end.

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Scary and thrilling are the words I would use to describe this rollercoaster of a book! Highly recommended!

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I thoroughly enjoyed this domestic thriller, it begins with the lead character, Alex, a single mum, being awoken by the police pounding on her door and subsequently arresting her (in front of her young son) for the attempted murder of her lover.
What follows is an exciting, at times sexually explicit, story of internet dating as a single mum who is also a freelance photographer and who is fighting to prove her innocence.

The story goes back a few years and this adds to the suspense as well as enabling the reader to understand the characters and try to work out what may have happened.
It’s well written, thought provoking and thrilling with a solid storyline that maintained my interest throughout. I must admit, I wasn’t sure when I started reading if it was for me, but, gosh, it’s good!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and congratulations to the author on this excellent read.

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This is an amazing read that gets you straight into the action. With Alex being woken up by her 7 year old son ned because the police are banging on her door.
They have arrived to arrest her for her friend mals murder she has no idea what they are talking about is thus true or not.
We fast forward 4 years to when Alex meets mal and we follow how they grow there friendship. We come back 2 years later to see what is going on in her life and how we get to her being arrested for attempted murder.
Fast forward to the present day and we watch as Alex tries to work out what is going on and if she didn't kill mal then who did.
This book will grip you to the end.

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A domestic noir debut novel that was shocking and realistic throughout. I was glued to my kindle and read it in one day.The characters were believable and fully developed, Alex was one I really liked. The author has managed to expertly spun the multiple storylines together so cleverly they work perfectly. I was immersed until the last paragraph and the final twist, well, you will have to read the book to see!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC to write my review.

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Any book that name checks Matt Johnson’s The The, and in particular Uncertain Smile, has got to have a lot of things going for it, right? In fact, this book, Alter Ego, the debut thriller from English writer K.A. Masson, is peppered with plenty of musical references throughout its taut narrative, with two of the story’s main characters at one point going through their Spotify playlists and cranking out some banging tunes, with no decade being left out. But it was the The The reference that sat with me. I haven’t listened to this band for some time, and when I’m done writing this review, I will queue up Soul Mining and get all nostalgic.


(Image: heyitscarlyrae.com)
Alexandra (Alex) Kendrew is a single mother who lives with her young son Ned in suburban London. Estranged from the boy’s father Sean for some time when the novel begins, Alex trawls dating websites looking for love and someone to settle down with. She’s a freelance photographer who juggles her professional and personal life, and during the course of the story, drops balls on a regular basis. Some of her friends question her lifestyle choices and parenting skills, but Alex knows what she’s doing.

Or does she?

When Alter Ego begins, Alex is arrested for the attempted murder of her boyfriend Mal Russell, who was brutally stabbed the night before in the flat he shares with a friend. Alex has been identified by said friend as the woman who she admitted to the flat and subsequently stabbed Mal. Alex doesn’t believe what’s happened to her. There is no way she could’ve done what she’s accused of. She was at home with Ned. The detectives investigating the case don’t believe her, and lock her up in a cell while they collect enough evidence to charge her. Alex’s arrest happens in the first chapter, so there’s an immediacy to the story already. What the author does next is take us back four years and work us through Alex’s life until the time of her arrest.

Alex hooks up with a couple of men she met online, some better than others, but lands on Mal, who appears to be the man of her dreams. Things go pear-shaped quickly when Ned wanders in and catches them in an private but awkward moment. As Mal still holds a candle for a recent ex, he ghosts Alex shortly afterwards. She is distraught, but manages to pick herself up off the floor when Adrian comes into her life. Then things take a really nasty turn, with Adrian turning out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Not for the first time, Alex is left with a mess to sort out, but desperate to not be alone, she jumps at the chance of salvation when Mal comes back into her life.

I’ll leave it at that for the plot, for fear of giving too much away. I would prefer to leave you in the more than capable hands of K.A. Masson to take it from here. I had to remind myself that Alter Ego is a debut novel, because it reads like Ms. Masson has had a number of novels under her belt already. She is masterful at holding the story together despite having to fill in a lot of blanks over a four year period. The tension rises with each chapter, and I confess to reading the last third of the book in one late night sitting. I had to find out what happened, and I wasn’t disappointed.


K.A. Masson
One proviso, though: Alex as a character may not appeal to those who prefer their main characters whiter than white, with nary a blemish to their name. But for me, it was important to relate to Alex as a woman troubled by her past and fearful of her future. At times she is the author of her own misfortune, making the same mistakes in dating time and again, without really learning from past behaviour. This is a completely human characteristic. We want things to go well for ourselves, and when our friends point out our failures, we can sometimes take this criticism as a personal insult rather than a learning moment. Ms Masson does well by giving us a deep insight into Alex’s thought processes with her tight first person point of view. We see what Alex sees; we feel what she does; and we want her to do better. She could — and this is something to keep in mind — be an unreliable narrator. Not everthing that happens is what it seems; the same applies to the people around her.

Alter Ego is an intelligent psychological thriller with moments of violence that will make you uncomfortable. Domestic violence is a blight on modern society, and the author brings a lot of research into her story. I seriously look forward to what she writes next.

I wish to thank NetGalley and the publishers for supplying me with a copy of Alter Ego in return for an honest review.

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Alter Ego has some of my favorite elements in a thriller—a London setting and a falsely accused protagonist.

Alex Kendrew, a single mother and photographer, is roused from a pill-induced sleep by her young son, Ned. Police lights and sirens pierce her consciousness, and she’s arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of an old flame. As she protests, we are taken back four years in time to see how Alex has arrived at this point.

Though she loves Ned, Alex seeks fulfillment with a romantic partner, especially after Ned’s father, Sean, proved himself unable to handle the responsibility of a relationship or fatherhood. She turns to online dating, meeting a series of men, and having several steamy sexual encounters.

Mal, a financial manager, rises above the rest when Alex has an immediate attraction that develops into a deeper connection. Yet, when their intimate evening is awkwardly interrupted, Mal hurriedly leaves, and Alex is devastated when he doesn’t contact her again.

To cope, she throws herself back into online dating and finally finds a man who can compete with Mal’s memory.

The choices she makes, and the guilt that derives from the struggle to balance motherhood, career, and love, propel her inextricably forward to a confrontation with the police and a battle to prove her innocence despite overwhelming evidence. As she enlists her public defender and goes over every memory of the last four years, the stakes become higher, and a prison sentence may be the least of her worries.

I hadn’t thought much about the domestic noir genre until seeing it on the cover of this book, and I learned that in 2013, Julia Crouch was the first who described it: “In a nutshell, Domestic Noir takes place primarily in homes and workplaces, concerns itself largely (but not exclusively) with the female experience, is based around relationships and takes as its base a broadly feminist view that the domestic sphere is a challenging and sometimes dangerous prospect for its inhabitants.”

As such, Alter Ego spends a great deal of time developing Alex’s relationships and laying the groundwork for her arrest. The narrative really picks up when the story catches up to the prologue, as Alex puzzles out who would want to kill her old boyfriend. I realized fairly early who the antagonist was, but it was interesting to see it play out, and in the final chapters, the tension was nail-biting!

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Full review available at Murder in Common:
https://murderincommon.com/2021/02/21/k-a-masson-alter-ego/

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The story begins with the main character Alex being arrested for the attempted murder of her boyfriend called Mal. The story then goes back to the time they met and the break up due to Mal going back to an old flame. Alex goes back to online dating but things go terribly wrong. That's when this book really becomes a thriller. I really liked this book and would definitely read another book by this author.

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Enjoyed this one. I felt like there was something missing though, something I needed to love it. Well thought out plot and easy to read.

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A great whodunnit, domestic noir type of book.

The beginning and dating part could have been made shorter in my opinion but it was a great insight.

I preferred the whodunnit part of the book and was eager to find out the answers.

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