Even though we get a lot of flashbacks and memories from the main character’s past, I feel like I don’t know him at all. To me, he’s just a shadow, I know it’s shape but it’s only that. Those flashbacks don’t really add up to the story as well and seems like they’re just there to fill the void in which the actual content should be.

The writing is confusing, sometimes I had to read over and over the same line because it seemed like mumble jumble. By 70% of the book, the pace changes and it’s like an idea just turned in the author’s head and she had to write it as quickly as possible. It becomes a sickeningly bad copy of Misery by Stephen King and she even jokes about it. Not to mention that the pages are filled with tons of unnecessary references, which is so tiresome for such a short book. Unfortunately this book is a waste, since most of it is just filling and no content. The story didn’t add anything to me as a reader and I couldn’t care less the whole time. Last but not least it’s important to mention the lack of care with the female characters, as all women are con artists, gold digging, soul sucking bitches. I believe the author’s main goal was to make a critic, but it felt distasteful and her portrayal of woman did not help at all.

4 Stars!

My first Laura Lippman adventure and I can't wait to check out another!!!

I could not wait to pick up Dream Girl with it's Misery-esque premise. I love the unreliable narrator, Gerry and learning about his life through the flashbacks. Gerry's a man in his 60's, who ends up temporarily bed ridden after an accident. One of the characters in his books begins to call him and leave him mysterious letters. Is it the drugs? Or, is someone messing with him?

This book was very hard to put down! I wanted to give this 5 stars, but I felt as thought the ending was a tad but rushed and the twist didn't hit as hard as it should have, due to this.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Faber and Faber Ltd, and Laura Lippman for providing me with an ARC.

3 Mixed Feeling Stars
* * * Spoiler Free-A Quick Review
Life takes funny turns, doesn't it... Not too long ago, I saw that Misery, the movie was available for streaming. Knowing I knew I loved the book and the movie was one of the few that did Stephen King justice, I dug in and watched it again. Needless to say, James Caan and Kathy Bates rocked my world with their acting and bringing this classic to life.

I mention all of the above because when I saw the blurb for Dream Girl and the author forthrightly, gave a nod to King and his book, I clicked to see what she did.

The overall premise is of this well-acclaimed author being gaslighted after his falling and needing serious nursing care. He has all sorts of personal issues causing him to not realize what is real or fiction, he is a captive with all of this happening to him.

This is written well. I was able to figure out part of the big reveal early on, however, there was still more to discover. The themes brought to this are current, none of the characters all that inviting yet it is the talent of the author that keeps you going.

Not a Tess Monaghan mystery (although she makes a brief cameo), or any typical Laura Lippman book, Dream Girl is a psychological thriller with shades of Hitchcock, Stephen King, and classic Noir. Gerry Andersen is a successful author who is bedridden following an accident in his Baltimore apartment. His mother recently passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Gerry starts to worry he has inherited this degenerative brain disease that causes dementia when he starts to see and hear things that apparently aren't there: a letter, phone calls, a middle-of-the-night visitor, all apparently from the woman his bestselling book was based on, except she is a completely fictional character. Is it dementia, or are the drugs he's taking giving him hallucinations? When he wakes up one morning to a dead body on the floor, things go from bad to worse. The book moves a little slowly at first, but by the halfway mark I couldn't put it down. A relatively quick read that keeps throwing surprises at you, right up to the end.

Last year I read Sunburn by Ms. Lippman and it captivated me. So when I saw that she had a new book coming out, I was so excited to be approved for an eARC.

As the synopsis states, this read "echoed" Misery by Stephen King, which I also read years ago.

The story alternated between multiple time frames within the story that it was a bit confusing. Also, I found that the mindset of the main character Gerry was also perplexing. Was he awake, was it a dream or was it dementia that was hinted at?

I have to be honest, I was thinking that I might give up on this book on multiple occasions, but at one point, when I was 1/2 way through, I figured I would just try to finish it. After refinishing it, I did check out reviews of the book and it appeared that there were some people that loved it, and others, like me, felt as it was just OK.

Even though this book was a midline read for me, that doesn't mean I won't read other books by this author in the future.

Posted to GR: 06/06/21 Post to blog: 06/25/21

This book...it's unlike anything I have read recently, and I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Laura Lippman says it is her first horror book, and horror is not a genre I enjoy. However, it is not the book itself, the writing, or the story development that I disliked. It's the main character.

Gerry Andersen is a novel writer with daddy issues. He is one of those high-brow writers, who considers popular fiction a lower artform and yet he longs to be a bestselling author. At sixty-one years of age, he has a distinguished career as well as a lucrative one when his mother is diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal form of dementia that kills more quickly than Alzheimer's. He sells his New York apartment, moves to Baltimore to care for her, and after her death he suffers a fall in his penthouse apartment. Bedridden, he is at the mercy of two caregivers, a personal assistant and a night nurse. And from there the story gets stranger than the devil at a tent revival

He receives disturbing phone calls that don't show up on caller ID. A woman insists she know the truth about his most famous book, a truth that doesn't exist. A mysterious intruder whispers to him in the dark, but no one comes in or out of his building. Then the body of his ex-girlfriend shows up on his floor, a letter opener protruding from her eye. In a haze of oxycodone and Ambien, he tries to piece together how she died. As he sifts through memories of his life, references to books and movies, literary phrases and devices and the discomfiting noises in his home, he comes to realize the people who are supposed to be helping him want far more than a paycheck. As he slides more into the realms of madness and the haze of medication he begins to fear his story will have an ending he neither expected or wanted.

Gerry Andersen is a d*ck. There is no other word for it. I absolutely hated this man. He is a literary snob, a typical rich academic liberal who thinks because he votes blue he is enlightened. He worships Obama and feels classic white liberal guilt for questioning cancel culture and political correctness while seething that he can't be as sexist as he was in his youth. As if someone who thinks and writes shouldn't question the narrative or rebel against it, just resent it. He sits in his penthouse, longing wistfully for healthcare for all while using his money to solve problems. He talks about what a good person he is, and yet he treats women as if they are invisible if he isn't attracted to them sexually. He says isn't a cheater and yet sleeps with women other than his wives. and excuses it by saying "She started it!" Even his internal dialogue is annoying, full of literary references to books most people are not familiar with and French phrases.

Ms. Lippmann says that Gerry Andersen is, essentially, her, but I'm not sure if she realized what a caricature he is. This man is just a snotty writer who thinks he is better than everyone else and nothing is ever his fault. Was this on purpose? Are we supposed to hate him? Pity him? Feel sympathy because he ticks off the left's boxes and still ends up with a dead body on his floor? I realize I am not the most sophisticated or cosmopolitan of readers, but this man made me want to chew nails and spit tacks.

There are a lot of obscure literary terms in this book, as well as references to books and writers one does not encounter in non-literary fiction. This works for the character, who is a book snob, but not so much for the reader. A few of these terms and references are good. They encourage you to look up words and works and learn something new or add a title to your TBR list. Too many can be a distraction if you are constantly Googling or pressing the definition button on your e-reader. Many people who read popular fiction did major in English, but most did not. This is a supposed to be a novel, not a research project.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with the writing itself. The story is seamless, the growing sense of unease and terror steady and intense. The ending is not a total surprise, but there are enough surprises to give the reader a jolt. The other characters are real, and terrifying, in the sense that what happened to Gerry could happen to anyone who is helpless and at the mercy of a less than scrupulous caregiver. I wouldn't go so far as to call it horror, because there was no otherworldly evil or blood and gore. The murders are crimes, not gratuitous or ritualistic. I would call this a work of suspense, as a personal preference.

I found one fact-based error. The Reader's Digest vocabulary building article Gerry remembered is called It Pays To Increase Your Word Power, not Build Your Word Power. Anyone of Gerry's generation will notice this, as Reader's Digest was ubiquitous in the mid twentieth century and very popular with budding word enthusiasts.

This is an interesting book, a compelling one. Even though I absolutely wanted to smack Gerry upside his blonde head I couldn't stop reading it. I still can't decide if it is genius or pathos, but maybe that is what the author intended. To make the reader question what was happening, if it was in some way what Gerry deserved, and keep reflecting on it after the story ends.

Author Gerry Andersen has no choice but to sell his NYC home and move back to Baltimore to care for his sick mother in her final months. When his mother dies within days of his home's closing, Gerry feels trapped - he never really wanted to move back home, but it would be too much hassle to try to sell his new penthouse apartment and return to New York at this point. When Gerry falls down the stairs and is bedridden by his injury, he realizes that he's really stuck in Baltimore for the foreseeable future.

And that's when the mysterious phone calls begin. The woman claims to be the inspiration for the main character of his most famous novel, Dream Girl... except there was no one that the book was based on. Gerry is worried that he is losing his mind... is he showing the early signs of dementia, just like his mother? Gerry is about to realize that this is only the beginning of his nightmare...

I adore Laura Lippman and was thrilled to get my hands on an ARC of her newest book. Having gone to college in and then moving to the Baltimore metro area later on, I always love reading her descriptions of places I have visited in the city. I felt for Gerry and was dying to know who was behind the phone calls - and found myself surprised with the direction the story took. Lippman always weaves a tangled web and I love taking the journey with her characters.

It’s difficult to categorise this brilliant novel. The cover of the book promises a generic psychological thriller, but this novel has got so much to say about 21st century culture that you could also class it as a literary novel. Laura Lippman describes it as a horror story, and says it is loosely based on Stephen King’s Misery. However, I found the ‘horrific’ events completely farcical and darkly humorous, mainly because the victim is so unsympathetic. Who is the victim in a scenario in which a wealthy, misogynist, narcissistic author is held hostage by his poorly paid, unappreciated female assistants? Is this Misery, but rewritten for the ‘Me too’ generation?

Firstly, the plot: a successful author, Gerry Andersen, has an accident and finds himself bed bound and at the mercy of two women, his personal assistant and his night nurse, both of whom Gerry disparages as incapable of exciting his interest, either sexually or intellectually. Gerry believes that his nurse, despite only being 29, just isn’t in his league, and he foolishly lets her know this when she proposes a relationship. According to ‘the rules’, thinks Gerry, as a 61-year old famous author, he is still desirable and can have his choice of any woman. The rules are unfair to women, he thinks, but he ‘didn’t make the rules. The rules made him’.

Gerry is used to being in control of his life, discarding women and any distractions ruthlessly in pursuit of writing success. But whilst he lies helplessly in bed, he starts getting phone calls from a woman called Aubrey in the middle of the night. But Aubrey is a fictional character - isn’t she? Didn’t Gerry invent her in his bestselling novel, Dream Girl? When Gerry’s assistant and carer insist that the phone calls are a figment of his imagination, Gerry begins to wonder whether the strong pain killers he has to take are playing with his mind.

So this is a brilliant psychological thriller which compels the reader to turn the pages quickly to find out what happens to Gerry. But on another level, Laura Lippman gives us a fascinating psychological portrait of the kind of man who could have single-handedly triggered the ‘Me too’ movement. Gerry’s thoughts reveal him to be a vain, tight-fisted, sexist dinosaur who sees his sexual conquests as the well-deserved reward for his success. He deludes himself that he has been a faithful husband to his three wives, saying that his infidelities didn’t count as other women were demanding his sexual attention. He describes himself creepily as ‘A connoisseur of beautiful women - isn’t every straight man?’ Gerry is aware that some of the things he did ‘would not pass muster today, but in the times that he did them they were socially acceptable’. In his creative writing classes, Gerry only paid attention to the ‘knockout’ females, and the men: this will prove to be his undoing. The reader might well feel that Gerry deserves what’s coming to him.

However, Gerry is a complex character who sometimes wins the reader’s sympathy despite his lack of self-awareness regarding his treatment of women. He has had a traumatic childhood which is movingly described, and he cares for his mother until she dies. Gerry also voices opinions about living in the 21st century that anyone over the age of 50 will sympathise with. He finds social media utterly confusing. When the fictional Aubrey ‘tags’ him on Twitter, describing his body in insulting detail, he feels as if he’s living in a science fiction film ‘in which everything jumps to warp speed’.

Gerry is extremely well read, and I enjoyed all his references to culture and literature. His thoughts about One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest don’t sound like those of a male chauvinist: he feels that someone should rewrite the novel from the point of view of Nurse Ratched, who must have been frightened by her angry male patients. He also sounds like feminist when he ponders that the film industry ‘has an endless appetite for beautiful young women, like a volcano, requiring sacrifice after sacrifice’. Perhaps these are the thoughts of Laura Lippman, rather than Gerry?

And there’s a fourth strand. This is a novel about the process of writing a novel. Where do novelists get their inspiration from? Is Gerry lying when he says that Aubrey is a product of his imagination, and not based on a real woman? Is a misogynistic male author capable of creating such a plausible woman?

Finally, there’s a meta fictional cameo appearance by Tess Monaghan, Laura Lippman’s fictional detective, who sees through Gerry immediately. So this is a multi-layered, complex novel which works as a thriller but is also full of cultural and literary references, from Moby Dick to Breaking Bad, from cancel culture to Twitter. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read and loved the ending - which would definitely meet with the approval of the ‘Me too’ movement. Definitely 5 stars!

Thank you to Faber and Faber and NetGalley for an e-copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Author Gerry Andersen is confined to his bed after an accident. As he is recovering, he begins to receive letters and calls from a person claiming to be a fictional character from his novel.

My favorite thing about this book is that it takes place in Baltimore, which is really why I wanted to read it. I went to college in Towson, which is mentioned many times in the story. It was a lot of fun reading landmarks and areas I know mentioned. The story itself was overly complex. I don’t like stories that end up feeling like a puzzle in the end. It was difficult for me to really make sense of everything that happened; sometimes simple is better. The main character was annoying and constantly pointing out issues with modern society, which in itself I found a bit problematic. For example, him complaining how men aren’t allowed to use the word “actually” anymore. It was frustrating reading his inner thoughts for sure.

“Uhappy is such a big word. Once said aloud, it can never be taken back. He has tried so hard never to say it out loud over the past twenty years. He is too aware of the good things in his life- the career, the money, the freedom. How can he possibly be unhappy?”

Dream Girl is out 7/1.

I've been wanting to read Laura Lipmman's books for a while. When I saw this book on netgalley, I wanted to give it a chance. Dream Girl was a great thriller. It was fast paced and full of twists. I couldn't stop reading it. The ending was great too. Overall, this was an amazing thriller for me and a great introduction to Laura Lippman. I'll definitely read her other books too.

A slow moving thriller with an intriguing plot

Oof! It took me until at least 30% to get into this story, it was quite slow, and Gerry the main character was really unlikeable! He was a selfish, smug, sexist arse, who couldn't possibly think of anyone who would wish him harm, despite leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him! A privileged and unreliable narrator, Gerry was vile, and it wasn't nice being stuck in his head.

There are a lot of time jumps over several decades, which took some getting used to, and the writing had a weird, dreamlike quality to it, which was purposeful, since Gerry was often asleep, or on medication. The time jumps could be quite jarring, and the flashbacks slowed the story down for me, I didn't quite see the purpose, since they didn't really flesh out Gerry's character, or make me sympathise with him?

If you stick with Dream Girl though, it definitely picks up, and provides shocks and twists, and I did like the ending, it felt...satisfying! The women from Gerry's life were way more interesting than the man himself, I didn't really care about him🤷‍♀️

I did enjoy parts of this book, particularly in the second half, and it did have the potential to be quite creepy, but ultimately it wasn't the horror it set out to be.

This is a difficult novel for me to review. I both liked and disliked it. I get that the author intentionally wrote the characters to be unlikable, but it was difficult to get past just how appalling they were. There was much to enjoy, but I’m truly sorry to say it fell flat for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the opportunity to read this book before its July 1 publication date.

I am a big fan of this author and I have enjoyed so many of her backlist books recently. I do have to say I loved the mention of Tess Monaghan in this! This was somewhat different from her other books yes still is a mystery but it has a more unique flair to it. I loved the twists and will keep reading all her books!

Laura Lippman is a very talented writer and I have enjoyed many of her books. Dream Girl was good, but I would not say it is my favorite of hers. I did really enjoy the literary references and the authors style in writing this novel.

Gerry is the author of a famous novel, Dream Girl. After Gerry has an accident that leaves him bed-ridden he starts to receive phone calls and letters from Aubrey. The only problem is, Aubrey is the FICTIONAL character from his famous novel. Is Gerry delirious from the trauma of his fall + the symptoms of his medication? Or is something more sinister at play? Is Dream Girl really a work of fiction?

Gerry Anderson is a successful novelist whose most well known book is “ Dream Girl” and there has always been speculation on who the character was based on despite the authors’ insistence she is a creation of his mind. Gerry recently sold his apartment in NYC and returned to Baltimore to help his mother. She died shortly after his arrival leaving him at loose ends and too much time to think. He has an accident that leaves him bedridden and with the need for round the clock care. The night nurse may slack off on some of her duties but is insistent that he take every dose of pain and sleep medication which leaves him disoriented. He starts receiving calls and letters from someone who claims to be Aubrey, the character from his book but how can someone who never existed call and why don’t the calls show up on caller ID? To stave off fears that he will develop dementia like his mother, Gerry spends his days thinking back on his past, the women he married, the one woman he didn’t and the casual encounters that he had. After an upsetting run in with one of his exes he wakes up with a dead woman on the floor and no idea of what happened. Did he really kill her? Is he following his mother’s footsteps and losing his memory? Gerry doesn’t have any enemies does he?
I love this author and this departure from her normal style was enjoyable. Gerry reminds me of the type of man far too many of us know, he thinks of himself as a “ good guy” but in truth he is self- centered and misogynistic. I honestly did not see the ending of this coming and I would recommend not reading the comparison to other books until after you read it. The authors note says if we want to figure out the “ real” Gerry Anderson than check out her jacket photo which is not available on the uncorrected proof but I am looking forward to trying to figuring it out. There was a cameo by Tess Monaghan for fans of Lippman ’ other works. Another strong entry from one of the best authors out there. Thank you to #netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This is due for publication on July 21,2021.

Gerry Andersen, novelist, lies in a hospital bed after being injured in a freak accident. He is utterly dependent on two women, a young assistant and a night nurse whose competency he questions. Gerry is also beginning to question his own competency. As he moves in and out of dreamlike memories and seemingly random appearances of a persistent ex-girlfriend at his bedside, he fears he may be losing his grip on reality. Is Gerry the victim of a cruel prank or is he actually losing his mind? This is a slow moving story which I found hard to get into. It was not easy to care about any of the characters either. Good writing but more action is needed in this story. A brief visit by Detective Tess Monaghan from Lippman's series was interesting. Also enjoyed the many mentions from movie and books. Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd. for a free copy for an honest review.

Laura Lippman’s books are always good and very different. This book does not disappoint. The characters are well defined and unique. The ending was very…..ummm….different and unexpected. I had to read the last chapter over again just to make sure I read it correctly! Be prepared to be surprised. Good book. Highly addictive, and recommended.

I enjoyed Dream Girl quite a bit. Read it quickly, in about 2 days. It's a thriller without too many thrills, but it's an easy read that kept me engaged. I was left wanting "more" with the ending and perhaps "more" throughout the whole book.... more thrill, more character development, more plot.... but again, I definitely liked it and am glad I read it.

I’m a big Laura Lippman fan. And Dream Girl immediately drew me in. Gerry Andersen is bed bound, the result of a fall down his stairs. So, when he starts getting letters, tweets and calls from a character in his wildly popular novel, he initially puts it down to his pain meds.
Now as a Baltimore girl, who knows exactly what it means to go to Gilman, who knows Grauls, Locust Point, even Windy Valli and the ponies, reading Lippman always feels like a trip home. I even got a chuckle that Lippman has Tess Monaghan make an appearance. Gerry and I are also of a similar age. So, despite the fact he’s a bit of an a**hole, I could relate to him. And I did enjoy his thoughts on writing and the comparisons of books to movies. Yet, at times, he felt much older than his 61 years. I would have expected his total cluelessness to be more appropriate for a man in his 70s.
But my problem here was that it took forever for something meaningful to happen. It needed more oomph! to the story. Once things start to move, it does become more enjoyable. There is definitely a sort of Misery vibe to this story, which Lippman admits to in her author’s notes. And I was really curious to see how Gerry would be able to get himself out of his predicament.
I will always be a huge Laura Lippman fan, but this isn’t one of her best.
My thanks to netgalley and Faber & Faber for an advance copy of this book.

This is my 8th Laura Lippman, Her stories have been hit or miss for me ~ some I loved and others ~ didn’t work for me.

This story starts when Gerry Andersen the successful author of “Dream Girl” is bedridden and recuperating in his beautiful Baltimore apartment from an injury.
He gets a phone call ~ actually he gets many phone calls but this one is from Aubrey.
She states they need to talk about ‘her’ story and what happened between them.
She then states “I think it is time the world knows I’m a real person”!
He states… “There is no Aubrey”!
She says ~ “Well! Not by that name but I always knew I was Aubrey the girl in “Dream Girl”!

Hmm the plot thickens!
Yep this got my attention.

Oops!! Wait a minute! I hung in there but this turned out not to be a WOW read for me.
I secretly was hoping it would be ~at least my comments are better than ~ it didn’t work for me.
I did enjoy reading Ms. Lippman’s ‘Acknowledgements’.

Believe it or not ~ I haven’t given up on this author and will try another.
Note: I was born in August,, we Leos are known to carry a grudge and ‘never forget’ ~ sometimes forever!!
Hmmm pressure is on!

Want to thank NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd. for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for my honest professional opinion.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 1, 2021