I really enjoyed this book and actually quickly went on to read another Lisa Stone book afterwards. The plot was great and quickly had you hooked. I found some of the writing a little corny if I’m honest. The only way I can explain it is that the writing was almost overly descriptive at times - too much info that wasn’t needed making it a bit cumbersome. Other than that it was a good read and modern in its context, which I liked.

I found this book on NetGalley and was interested in the blurb.
There are quite a spate of crimes and people involved all seem to be linked through a local security firm ran by Derek. He’s a quite man with a bossy mother and he hides away in his room watching his clients. Such a lonely man he sees them as extended family.
Once the police find the link the pressure mounts.
A great story that pulls you along every step of the way.
Dark and adult themes but cleverly written.

Gripping from the very beginning. I enjoyed this author's writing as Cathy Glass but the change to writing as Lisa Stone is amazing. A completely different genre but this book was creepy and should make every reader think seriously about internet security. Loved it !

Gripping !!!!! This book really makes you think about internet security and how it can take over your life. Excellent story. Look forward to more from Lisa..

Stalker is one of those few crime thrillers that will make you want to check up on yourself. While a horror may make you want to check underneath your bed or in the closet, Stalker will make you check and recheck your online security and change your passwords.

Dark twisted and very disturbing. This book will make you think twice about what you share online. Hope there is a sequel to come

Derek Flint has high professional standards, which would be considered a great asset for someone who installs CCTV security systems. His courteous and prompt service differs vastly from his competitors. Sadly, so does his moral compass.

With cringe-worthy contentment Derek dutifully ‘looks out’ for the well-being of his customers by viewing them on their brand new cameras. The problem is that’s not a service they signed up for.

His behaviour is creepily unacceptable and there is no justification for him to take advantage of the people who gave him their trust, especially as his voyeuristic opportunities have escalating consequences for all concerned.

I found myself strangely absorbed by "Stalker" as it delivers a socially rejected oddball and many reasons to test my judgement of the characters throughout. It also got me thinking about the times we may need to invite a specialist into our home who is way more tech savvy and knowledgeable than ourselves, and how vulnerable we are as a result.

Although the plot itself wasn’t overly complex it was a compulsive and quick read nonetheless.

*** Actual Rating 3.5 / 5 ***

I enjoyed this book. It taps into all our fears about online security and how much of our lives can be watched and monitored. Derek runs a security installation business. When several of his customers are broken into, after buying a system from Derek, he becomes the prime suspect. But is he really the culprit or is something else going on? Big Brother is alive and well in this well written crime novel.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

I admit, with the title 'Stalker', this was not what I was actually expecting. That being said, the technological aspect suited me to a T - I love a good technothriller! We all usually assume that stalking means following by physical means but it can be through a computer, with all of the technological advances we have made. like it is here.

So, now we have established that this is cyber stalking, lets talk about everything else. The style and pace of writing is good, character devlopment is also done well - you actually sympathise with Derek Flint and his situation. This is a classic case of 'just because you're a loner, doesn't mean you're a criminal'.

I enjoyed all of the elements of this title and would recommend it to those who appreciate technology based/high tech thrillers. My only slight gripe is that some of it was a little predictable. I do intend to try some of Lisa Stone's other books in the future.

I would like to thank Lisa Stone, Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘Stalker’, by Lisa Stone was not what I expected from the title but it did not disappoint. Derek Flint lives with his mother and is a home security expert, installing CCTV and alarm systems for domestic residents but all is not as it appears on the surface. Derek does not help everybody who requests security and is very particular about who he choses to work with.

Several crimes happen within the vicinity of Derek’s home and all have Derek’s security system installed. DC Beth Mayes becomes suspicious and believes he is involved somehow in theses differing crimes but when the CCTV is viewed it couldn’t be him.

Derek has a bank of screens in his bedroom and begins to believe somebody is watching him as well. A clever story and Derek’s character is well portrayed.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books, UK and Lisa Stone for my ARC of ‘Stalker’ in return for my honest review.

Brilliant Read. Highly recommended.

This is second book of Lisa Stone I have read and I thought this book was so much better than the previous one. I really enjoyed this book I will look out for more books of this author in the future.
We meet Derek Flint who is a loner, that lives with his mother. He also owns Home Security Services which installs CCTV security systems. Derek is very serious about his job and takes pride in what he does. You can say he takes his work home with him. He logs into the cameras at home on his PC and watches his ‘family’ so nothing untoward happens to them. But, then some of his clients are victims of crime and the police thinks he did it, DC Beth Mayes is leading the investigation to find out what is actually going on.
I really enjoyed this story it gripped me from the start. This is an un-putdown-able thriller which flowed easily and I liked the author’s style of writing. Even though Derek was a bit creepy, watching his clients. You kind of felt sorry for him, as he was oblivious to what he was actually doing.
Thank you NetGalley and Avon books for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Derek Flint is a middle-aged loner who lives at home with his Mother.
By day, he installs top notch security systems for clients. By night, he watches those clients on monitors in his bedroom while eating reheated microwave dinners.
When a number of his clients are the victims in a series of crimes, Derek doesn't think much of it - but when it continues, he begins to wonder if he's not the only one watching them. Is someone watching him?

I had no intention of sitting down to read this yesterday, I requested it from NetGalley as I liked the premise and I said I'd read the first chapter. I couldn't put it down, and tore through it in a couple of sittings. Derek is a great main character, the kind that you find yourself rooting for even though he has behaved questionably. I could see this working really well as a TV drama, and I'd recommend it for people who are sick of thrillers about The Girl In The Window/Train/Bus/Lake/Attic/Picture etc.

This book does make you think, and wonder if this sort of thing goes on, especially in this day and age with our every move recorded somewhere.

I felt really sorry for Derek, I know he was a bit odd, and a bit pervy, but he had an awful mother, no friends, and was genuinely a lonely soul. I did get the impression that he honestly only wanted to be important and wanted to belong to a family, and his clients were his family. He didn’t actually do any harm to them, albeit it was creepy.

Saying that however, it was pretty obvious, to me at least, right from the outset what was going on, and who was behind it all, it was just a bit of a shock at how nasty it all got.

I think this sort of crime will be on the increase in the future and it is very hard to track down. Gone are the old days of cops and robbers, crimes of passion, now it’s all cyber space etc.

This was a different crime story and very enjoyable.

A roller coaster read that grabs the reader from the start. The story is fictional however it could be a true life story so easily. This is a well written book about an installer of home security cameras/systems and as I read the book the hairs on my arm rose in horror at his antics and wondering what had happened in his past that. Having said that Derek Flint raised so many different emotions in me, I felt sorry for his home life, detested that stalking but felt sorry that this was all he felt he had for family and pitied him at the end. Lisa Stone has written a great book that has already made me think about the way we treat our home security and all our electronics as well.

I have loved books written by Cathy Glass about her life as a foster carer so when I saw she had written a fiction book under the name Lisa Stone I was keen to read it. I wanted to see if there were any similarities in the books.
Well apart from fantasric writing in all her books that was where the similarities stopped.
The characters in Stalker are believable and well described. The loner in the story Derek Flint had me liking him one minute, hating him the next then feeling sorry for him!!
The technology subject covered in this is also believable and very scary. I really enjoyed Stalker and didn't think Cathy Glass could switch to fiction but how wrong I was. An excellent story and plot and fantastic writing as always. I look forward to reading more by Lisa Stone.

The synopsis sells this story short! I wasn't expecting such a dark twisty book, at points I wanted to put it down because of how dark it got but it's written so well that it's impossible to put it down without knowing what happens next. Satisfying ending and I'm thrilled with this thriller!
This would be a 5/5 story but loses a star for Dereks character. I couldn't tell if he was supposed to be intelligent or a little slow he seems to flicker between the two.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy. 3.5*

Derek is a loner who lives with his Mother. He owns a security installation company and chooses his clients carefully. The clients unwittingly become part of his family as he spends his nights watching them through their cctv. Things start to unravel for Derek when several of his clients become victims of crime.

This was a realistic and tense thriller with creepy undertones. With the stalker becoming the stalked and the portrayal of the Dark Web was interesting and all too real in this present era.

Derek Flint is a sad, friendless man who still lives with his mother and has a small company installing CCTV for customers - is he a criminal? a peeping Tom? someone who just wants to look out for others? This is a definite page turner which is darker than you might expect.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Lisa Stone/Avon Books for a digital copy of this book All opinions expressed are my own.

For anyone who isn't aware by now the wonderful Cathy Glass, who writes the heartbreaking true stories of her time as a foster carer, now also writes under the pen name Lisa Stone. I have to say having now read both of her books in the psychological thrillers genre, she is really making a name for herself and proves that she writes just as well in fiction.

As soon as we meet Derek, we know that something isn't quite right. Someone offering and fitting home security services, you would expect them to be someone you can trust. When all becomes clear of what he gets up to, I was shocked and horrified. If anything it puts me off ever having security cameras in the home!

In a way I did feel quite sorry for him at times as he still lives with an over bearing mother who certainly wears the trousers in their home and constantly nags and chastises him. 

The story flicks between Derek and Beth who is looking into numerous break ins in the area. Like her I was quite baffled how homes and businesses that had just spent money on upgrading or getting brand new security systems were then still getting broke into.

The story gets darker and more gripping the further we get into it until its very much a race against time to solve it. I was pretty much on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it was all going to end and I wasn't disappointed. 

Stalker is a page turner of a read that had me hooked through out. In fact I read it in one afternoon as I didn't want to put it down. Another great read from the new queen of psychological thrillers.

I was supposed to be busy – too busy to read this book, but it would not let me go. Just another page, another chapter … oops, book read and no work done.
The story was enthralling – literally enthralling! It has been quite a while since I was this obsessed with getting to the end of a book. I can’t put my finger on it – the story-line is good: serial (seemingly unconnected) crime events in a small town; realistic police procedures leading to initial incorrect assumptions of guilt; more focussed police work – nothing so far really out of the ordinary.
But then comes the central character, Derek Flint. One of life’s great losers and forgotten men. He fits the profile of many a serial killer / psychopath – no friends, lives with his embittered mother, sits in front of a computer all night … in short, not someone you would ever feel sympathy for – or even remember if you met him. In your first introduction to him, you have him pegged as the evil perpetrator – and just wonder how long the police will take to bring him to justice.
Derek runs a moderately successful Home Security company – by himself, with an occasional poorly paid apprentice – and knows the potential flaws of his clients’ security issues inside out. Who better to plan robberies and arrange abductions? It is all so obvious, that you know (as a seasoned reader of crime novels) you must have the wrong end of the stick. Derek is conscientious, polite, always punctual (clearly a sociopath!) – but actually, genuinely cares about the welfare of his clients, and does everything he possibly can to keep them safe.
And that is where he starts to get a bit creepy. He sees his clients as part of his family, and spends every evening with them all, watching their every move, listening to them talk … via the security cameras and microphones that he has installed in their homes and businesses.
Deep down, he knows what he is doing is wrong, but he justifies it as giving each client that added extra protection that only 24-hour surveillance can bring. And in this current crime wave, that is definitely what they need. However, Derek’s warning emails and texts don’t just stick to crimes against property, he also flexes his moral compass – with some quite unforeseen consequences.
I really liked the character of Derek, and so much wanted him to come clean to the police, and to his clients – before it was too late. He appears more and more to be one of the (really) good guys, but there is always a sneaking suspicion, that the stress he is put under will drive him to the dark side.
Some of the twists you can see coming – but that in no way detracts from the enjoyment of the book. Other twists are clean out of the blue. It is very difficult to review this book in a way that will bring it all the readers that it so deserves. But you just need to start it – and the book will take over from then.
I can recommend this book very, very highly.