How dangerous can it be to send a message on Facebook to the wrong person?

Becca has it all; she is blond and beautiful, has a fantastic figure and a boyfriend who is gorgeous as well as romantic. And she constantly posts gushing updates about what they are up to on Facebook. But at the office Christmas cocktail party she falls down the stairs and cracks her skull and face on the marble floor. She is in a coma for months and when she recovers, she takes the compensation pay-out from work, disappears and wipes out all traces of herself online.

Lizzie is one of her co-workers, not as blond and not as beautiful but since Becca’s accident Lizzie has undergone a transformation thanks to a very nasty comment that she overheard someone say. One evening she is on Tinder and comes across Becca’s old boyfriend and he swipes right on her. They chat and arrange to go on a date. She also looks to see if she can find Becca online but finds no trace, just an article on the BBC London website about the accident at the party. So, she takes Becca’s photo from the BBC and does a reverse image search and bingo – she finds that Becca is now Becca Bridges, married, has a baby daughter and an Interior Design business. She has had a bit much to drink by now and it’s late and when she sends a Facebook message to her friend, Flora, about going on a date with James and finding Becca and Becca’s baby that looks like Gollum she sends the message to the wrong person – she sends it to Becca. That’s when things go spiralling out of control.

If you feel there is something “off” about someone like they are wearing a disguise all the time should you follow your gut instinct and know to treat them with caution! How do you know when someone is lying? Can you believe everything that people post about their lives online? Should you be putting your entire life out there for everyone to see? Social media has made us all much more vulnerable to stalking and having our identities stolen. And there are a lot of psychopaths out there who are capable of things that I have never even dreamed of! The book has an ending that I never in my wildest dreams imagined and the ending is scary, to say the least. A recommended read that will make you think about what you are putting out into the social media.

Saphira

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Full of surprises, a roller coaster of a story, twisting and turning, keeping me guessing right until the end.
Two girls, very similar in so many ways....in more ways than we realise at the beginning....
A fast, exciting story, I was on the edge of my seat, and when I got near the end I put it down, so I’d have it to look forward to the following day! The very best kind of book. I loved it.

Intriguing with twists & turns. I'm not sure whether the author cheated a bit with the major twist or if I just missed the clues.

It's been a while since I read a psychological thriller that really grabbed me, but Friends Like These certainly did. The frantic start instantly sucked me in, and I loved the way the author changed the pace of the story, telling it from multiple points of view, and interspersing the action with the emergency call, police interview transcript, flashbacks, and social media posts.

Although I had niggling suspicions about the reliability of each of the narrators that we hear from in the book, it still kept me guessing, and it wasn't until I was a significant way through the book that I worked out what was going on - this is unusual for me because normally when reading books like this, I try my best to think ahead and guess what is going to happen (I am the same with crime dramas on TV). It always makes me smile when I find a book that I can't guess too early in, and that I have sudden, "Oh, now I get it!" moment with.

I would thoroughly recommend this book for thriller fans.

One of my favorite thrillers I read this year. More than a 5 star, completely original, scary, tense, thrilling, and chilling. Loved, loved, loved, loved. Who needs any friends, with these type of friends.
Will let Chapter Chatter Pub know how absolutely amazing it was.

Fast paced roller coaster of a ride. Once I'd started this I was gripped and couldn't put it down. Beware of social media where nothing is real and nightmares are created. Enjoyed the way it was written from each characters point of view and it kept me me guessing.
Really good read and I shall be looking out for more by this author.

Friends Like These really reminded me of the film Single White Female.
Lizzie works for a company where Becca used to work up until three years ago, when she suffered a terrible accident. After a huge payout, Becca disappeared without a trace.
Lizzie is no longer the shrinking violet she used to be. She is now skinny and blonde, and gunning for Becca's handsome ex-boyfriend. The part of the book told from Lizzie’s point of view reveals no love lost for Becca. For Lizzie, Becca was unkind and selfish. Becca didn't deserve her perfect life. When Becca has her accident, it is karmic retribution. Now Becca has moved on.
When we first meet Becca she confirms Lizzie's view of her. She is both deluded and vindictive. But in this deliciously suspenseful thriller nothing is that straightforward.

This novel is set in a modern, social media dominated reality, the characters are credible, their motivations believable. However, I didn’t really enjoy reading it - both main characters are deeply unlikeable and the cast of side characters doesn’t come off much better. There’s a sense of foreboding from the start, and as the story gets more unpleasant, the tension builds well towards the finale. I can’t fault the writing nor the plotting, I just didn’t want anything to do with any of these people and couldn’t wait to finish the book to move on to something more enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am in two minds about this book. I was quite enjoying it but I feel the ending was a let down it seemed quite weak when compared to the first half of the book I am not sure it was really that believable too mnay holes and potential for the truth to come out (I really hope police are a little more thorough in the investigations). That said it was an easy and interesting read so I will still give it 4stars

Whilst this was gripping and definitely a page turner, the plot was incredibly predictable and in some parts, didn't make an awful lot of sense. The characters lacked depth and felt rather simple which sadly made the book feel rather empty.

Alderson is clearly very good at capturing her readers and setting up the perfect thriller but unfortunately, this one fell rather flat.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton, Mulholland Books and the author, Sarah Alderson, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Friends Like These in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I thought the storyline was well written. The characters draw you in to a rollercoaster plot and with remarkable settings, I stayed up into the early hours just to finish.
Well worth a read for fans of the genre.

This was a book in three parts for me - the first a tad confusing before settling down into an enjoyable narrative. However, the final part with the highly contrived 'twist' was a disappointing finale and I am sure that more could have been made of the story's potential.

A fast paced, easily read suspense/thriller, I can recommend for the fans of Kathryn Croft as this reminded me of her work. There were some unrealistic moments in this book but overall it is a satisfactory book in this genre and I would recommend this to people who like domestic suspense told multiple point of views.

A fast paced thriller, the story is told by the two main characters which gives it an interesting perspective. Throw in the social media side and it is quite different from the norm. The characters well well drawn although none of them were very likeable. An enjoyable read With lots of twists that I didn’t see coming.

Friends like These by author Sarah Alderson is an awesome suspense thriller! It holds all aspects of a domestic thriller as well, loaded with unexpected turns and twists. A book you won't want to miss.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of Friends Like These in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

The story began with a frantic woman on the phone to 999. She was locked in the bathroom and explained another woman outside the door was going to kill her.

Lizzy worked as an accountant for a glamorous PR company. One day she checked her tinder and was surprised to see a picture of James. Years earlier he used to be engaged to Becca who also worked for the company. At a works Christmas party Becca fell down some stairs and smashed her face open. Becca never returned to work but Lizzy knew she had received two million pounds in compensation.

That night she decided to see what Becca was doing and checked she was not seeing James. Becca had changed her name and was happily married with a baby and her own successful interior design business. Partly jealous Lizzy messaged her friend Flora on Facebook with a bitchy.remark about the baby. However she sent the message to Becca and not Flora.

The next day Lizzy was suspended from her job for possible fraud and the web site she used for her accounting business was flooded with bad reviews. When Flora suggested Lizzy apologises she decided to go to her home and confront her.

I was engrossed with this book from start to finish. In a way it is a cautionary tale about using social media. I've read before about people sending private email and accidentally sending it to their who distribution list.

The story was told from the POV of Lizzie and Becca. Lizzie and Becca`s characters were interesting and I was intrigued how they had changed their lives. Lizzie had been over weight but became glamorous after losing weight and having a nose job. Becca had been orphaned and cared for by her aunt. At sixteen she moved to London to seek her fortune.

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. The plot was fast paced with plenty of twists along the way. I don't want to send any spoilers but I was shocked how wrong I was so about Lizzie and Becca. The final chapters were quite chilling when one of the characters reinvented themselves again.

A clever story told from the perspectives of Lizzie and Becca, with a twist I didn't see coming. Well worth a read.

This was a juicy thriller that made me turn the pages. It was quite exciting after we entered the real story and the case.
I loved the tension, and the first half trying to figure out what was going on. The second half became a bit predictable as there were too few characters that made the case simple.

All in all, if you're looking for a quick, entertaining thriller without any trigger warnings, this is a good option. But, it's not the most imaginative, creative and solid plot. Still, the very end surprised me a bit.

Thanks a lot to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fast-paced story set against the insta-perfect, Tinder-ready facades that are now so commonplace.

The characters are all pretty unlikeable and while I thought I had it sussed our early on, a twist near the end did surprise me.

An easy read but fairly two-dimensional in terms of characters, place and plot. Echoes of Single White Female, which was referenced within.

The acknowledgments say that the author only had six weeks to write the book. I do wonder if given more time there could have been a bit more meat on the bones?

Lizzie has always envied her ex-colleague Becca. From her gym-honed figure, and covetable wardrobe, to her hot lawyer boyfriend, Becca isn't shy about flaunting her perfect life on social media. When chance brings Becca back into Lizzie's life, it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems.