This is an addictive, dangerous, red flag book for anyone but you can't put it down!!!!!!!!!! The whole time you're reading you're brain is questioning yourself and everyone around you. This book makes you rethink every relationship you've been in

This book starts out as a wild ride and it just gets crazier. This book definitely kept me hooked and I couldn't put it down because I absolutely had to know what happened next. The characters are awful, manipulative but absolutely spot on for the story; great character development. There are touches of drama and some dark humor even with some bits of smut thrown in. All other things aside this book also touches on mental health, addiction/substance abuse and the obsession that society has with celebrities and social media. Everything is tied together in this neat little package.

This is my first book by Goldberg and it certainly won’t be my last. Stalker Stalked follows Lexi, a pharma rep, and her crazy obsessed life with reality tv, alcohol, Monolopin (or as she refers to them my blue havens) and stalking. The book starts off with the breakup between Lexi and her boyfriend and her downward spiral from there. She becomes obsessed with the show Socialites and watches the whole first season 6 times. But her fascination with the star of the show, Magnolia, becomes a bigger issues for her than she realizes. She starts fantasizing their friends, checking her social media religiously, even showing up at filming locations just so she could try and talk to her. But things start to unravel when she realizes she has a stalker of her own.

Between her obsession with Magnolia and her own stalker, Lexi pushes her one true friend away, and has moments recounting how she got to where she is today and why she acts the way she does. She also realizes her addictions are a result of her relationship with her mother.

There were times while reading this book I laughed, and there were times where my stomach was in knots because of Lexi’s stalker. I also didn’t predict what would happen so that’s a bonus

“That’s what a sociopath does. Brings you down and then builds you up. A goddamn rollercoaster.”

✮✮✮✮✮

Lexi is an addict, who is obsessed with reality TV shows. After her boyfriend breaks up with her, she becomes obsessed with the star of new reality TV show Socialites. This isn’t her first obsession or stalking rodeo, she’s used to manipulation. But what happens when the stalker gets stalked? Someone is watching and threatening Lexi. Has she finally met her match?

I love every single book that I’ve read by Lee Matthew Goldberg so far. His writing style is very heavily focused on mental health and psychological thriller tropes, and covers a wide variety of topics including alcoholism, abuse, drug addiction, obsession, sexual fetishes, family relationships and the want and need to feel included.

This novel was a really great read! It kept me engrossed and I couldn’t wait to find out who was stalking the stalker. I mean there were some aspects of the book that were maybe a little messed up, but it’s all an aspect of a really amazing thriller and novel. It kept me turning the pages, and I became really attached to Lexi and her need to find her place in life.

Thank you to All Due Respect, Lee Matthew Goldberg and NetGalley for providing me with a copy!

3.5⭐
I just want to start my review with a major trigger warning. This book has scenes including child abuse, addiction, stalking, and sexual harassment.

Lexi Mazur is a pharma rep that is severely addicted to drugs and watching reality tv. At first, it was REALLY difficult to like her as a character because of her behavior towards others. Probably about halfway through the book I started to empathize with her a little bit more because it was clear she had no idea what she was doing.
As a child, she suffered abuse at the hands of her mother, which mentally traumatized her into her adulthood.

Honestly, this book was nothing I thought it would be. I came into it thinking that it would just be a classic stalker story with lots of suspense, but really, this is a story about addiction. The author did a great job of writing from the perspective of someone severely addicted to pills and alcohol. There were many times I had no idea what was real and what wasn't. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I would say it definitely isn't for readers that struggle to read about addiction. It was heavy and very upsetting at times. It revealed the devastation that follows severe drug addiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"...the knife at my neck ready to end me for good. My stalker with all the power. Even I would've never gone this far." The first chapter end with those lines and who wouldn't want to know what the fuck exactly happens next, right!?

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the arc of this thrilling novel. It doesn't waste time, it jumps and grabs your throat right away and itwas creepy af! I enjoyed this book very much.

Rating this 3.5 stars but rounding up. What a wild ride reading this book was. This book follows Lexi through a string of failed relationships, addiction, and a very strange run in with her most prized obsession, reality TV. From the very beginning, you’re gripped by the story because the entire time you don’t know what was reality, “reality”, or just a straight up hallucination brought upon her intense self-medicating. The book took turns that we’re impossible to expect and ended up exactly the opposite of what I ever thought was going to happen.
If you are really into likable characters, this book isn’t for you. It almost seems like Lexi does everything in her power to be unlikable and whether it’s her internal monologue or her actual interactions, it’s hard to root for her. Her only saving grace is that it’s evident she needs help so you keep flipping the pages to see if it ever happens.

“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.”

Wow what a wild fucking ride this book was! The book is told in first person from the POV of main character Lexi Mazur and takes place in NYC. Yay for books that take place in NY!

This book follows the unreliable narrator Lexi who pops pills like it’s her job, downs them with alcohol and binge watches reality TV like it’s no one’s business. Lexi is rude as fuck and treats her only friend like shit. Honestly, I hated and loved Lexi at the same time because she was just so damn entertaining to watch. But man, I would definitely not be friends with her IRL. This book literally had me laughing out loud at times like when Lexi said “I thought about buying diapers so I wouldn’t even have to get up to go to the bathroom” when discussing how addicted she was to reality tv. I loved the look into Lexi’s abusive past growing up as well as the topics of addiction and stalking. I absolutely loved the messed up ending and was 100% here for it. This was a super easy read with short chapters which are always a bonus in my book.

⚠️This book does have a lot of profanity so if you don’t like swearing or inappropriate language regarding sex, this might not be the book for you.

Stalker Stalked is an fast paced and entertaining thriller that follows Lexi Mazur, a 30 year old pharmaceutical rep with an addiction to alcohol, pills, reality tv and stalking. Following a break up, Lexi becomes enamoured by Magnolia, the seemingly perfect star of a new hit reality show ‘Socialites’, and desperately tries to manufacture a friendship by any means necessary. However, before long, it appears that stalker Lexi may in fact have a stalker of her own - but is it a friend, a neighbour, a complete stranger, or simply a pill-addled delusion? The story moves quickly, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing right up until the final page and leaves you wanting more - I certainly didn’t expect the ending! The mixture of realities; sober Lexi, Monolopin-clouded Lexi, and TV reality, kept me guessing, and questioning everything, which made for an exciting read. The style is conversational, personal, and super accessible, which endeared me to both Lexi and the story even more. I personally feel like the ending leaves room for more, and I’d be happy to step back into Lexi’s world with a follow-up, but it would be equally satisfying as a stand-alone.

I was provided with an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a thriller which includes strong character development that made the read feel more unique than just a normal suspense book.

It deals with subjects like excessive and obsessive behavior. It also dips into the subject of how childhood abuse and neglect morphs into destructive behavior as an adult. It adds the concept of reality tv and the crisis of addiction to prescription drugs being used as distractions for real life mental health issues.

All of this is woven into a thriller as the main character, Lexi, has a history of and continues to stalk people. She also becomes the stalked. Lexi is trying figure out who is stalking her all through a haze of drugs and alcohol. She also becomes inadvertently woven into the world of reality tv.

I thought this was a fantastic read. This felt gritty to me as Lexi is acting in a self destruction manner even though deep down she realizes what’s happening by her and to her are true cries for help.

I don’t really want to give any of the plot away but I will tell you if like complex thrillers then you will really enjoy this one.

Lexi, Lexi, Lexi. What the heck are you doing with your life?

That’s what I kept wanting to scream at Lexi Mazur, who is strung out on “blue heavens” and losing a grip on reality as she is obsessed with the reality TV show Socialites.

Whether it’s the drugs, PTSD, or just her nature, Lexi is impulsive and obsessive. That’s what drove her boyfriend away; actually, it’s how Lexi first stalked him down. But daily, Lexi tunes in to the ladies of the Socialites; she is consumed with them, especially Magnolia. It’s gotten so bad she believes they will be her friends.

Then Lexi becomes suspicious that she is being watched, stalked even. And who would know better than someone who has stalked others, right?

So this one gets a little wild. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 has a tense, creepy feel. Lexi’s behavior is erratic, cringy at times, which leads you to question whether she is being stalked or if this is all her drug-induced paranoia.

Lexi Mazur is a depressed, alcoholic, pill-popper whose only joy has become her reality TV shows, often fantasizing that the people on TV are a part of her world. After her boyfriend Steve leaves her, she fixates on the show Socialites and its star Magnolia Artois, following every facet of the girl’s life on social media in the hopes of befriending and becoming more like her.

But stalking isn’t new to Lexi. She ultimately won over her ex Steve by following and manipulating every minute detail about him so he’d fall for her. In fact, she landed her other ex-boyfriend Jeremy in the same way. Being a pharma rep, she’s used to manipulation to get doctors to buy her drugs, along with the perk of saving pills for herself.

But what happens when the stalker gets stalked?

Recently, Lexi has felt someone watching her: in her apartment in Queens, at her job. At first, she thinks her mind’s playing tricks, but the watcher is behaving just like she would. And soon they begin leaving threatening clues like she starts to do to Magnolia once her obsession grows more dangerous. Is it one of her exes out for revenge? Her only real friend from childhood who she’s always had an unhealthy rivalry? A detective who may have figured her out? The reality star Magnolia trying to turn the tables? Or even someone she might not know?

Lexi learns the only way to beat her stalker is to use her own stalking prowess to outsmart them at their own game. But has she finally met her match?
Wow a seriously good read!

Can reality fiction get so overwhelming on our brain that we are unable to distinguish reality from fiction?

Has internet, instead of closing distances, made people
more lonely?

Is it easier to stalk people, due to social media?

Is it easier to take drugs/ alcohol to numb our senses or is it better to be strong enough to feel our emotions & situation with a sane mind?

This psychological thriller answers many such questions & more.

.
Stalker Stalked 
by 
Lee Matthew Goldberg.
All Due Respect, an imprint of Down & Out Books (17 September 2021).

.
286 pgs
53 chapters.
Genre: #mystery & #thriller
.
𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗹 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲— 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.
―Charles Bukowski.
.
🦋
Do you like observing people? Have you ever been caught in an uncomfortable eye contact?
Or
Have you ever been Stalked? Or do you know someone who was?
Or
An author you have read a lot from?
Or
Do you think internet has made stalking easier?
Or
Do you watch reality TV?
.
.
Lexi Mazur is a depressed, alcoholic, pill-popper whose only joy has become her reality TV shows, often fantasizing that the people on TV are a part of her world. After her boyfriend Steve leaves her, she fixates on the show Socialites and its star Magnolia Artois, following every facet of the girl’s life on social media in the hopes of befriending and becoming more like her.

But stalking isn’t new to Lexi. She ultimately won over her ex Steve by following and manipulating every minute detail about him so he’d fall for her. In fact, she landed her other ex-boyfriend Jeremy in the same way. Being a pharma rep, she’s used to manipulation to get doctors to buy her drugs, along with the perk of saving pills for herself.

But what happens when the stalker gets stalked?

Recently, Lexi has felt someone watching her: in her apartment in Queens, at her job. At first, she thinks her mind’s playing tricks, but the watcher is behaving just like she would. And soon they begin leaving threatening clues like she starts to do to Magnolia once her obsession grows more dangerous. Is it one of her exes out for revenge? Her only real friend from childhood who she’s always had an unhealthy rivalry? A detective who may have figured her out? The reality star Magnolia trying to turn the tables? Or even someone she might not know?

Lexi learns the only way to beat her stalker is to use her own stalking prowess to outsmart them at their own game. But has she finally met her match?
.
.

Lexi Mazur is obsessed with many things. Pills, alcohol, reality tv and oh, stalking people. Stalking is how she was able to get her boyfriends and now she plans to use it to get in with the star of a reality show. As she continues with her plan, she behinds to feel like she’s being watched. Could the stalker have the tables turned on her and become the stalked?
Stalker, Stalked by Lee Matthew Goldberg is an enthralling look at the decline of a woman. We see Lexi at her very worst, immediately and while I never truly warm up to her, the situations that she is in kept me eagerly reading. I was never able to anticipate her next move so I guess I would fail at stalking school!

I did expect something different from the story, and maybe that was why I found it hard going though
I did finish the book.

Lexi is a character that I found it hard to like. Pill popping, alcoholic who is addicted to reality TV.
Fixated on a particular character, wanting to be part of the inner circle and determined to get there and
frustrated beyond belief when she is determinedly left out. The influencers on this show are a very tightly
knit circle, they don't want newcomers barging in.

Lexi is not helped by the fact that she had a horribly abusive childhood. Her relationships have fizzled out
due to her excessive neediness apart from the fact that she herself stalks her partners mainly due to her
insecurities.

This was a tough book to read, but I think realistic as well as it depicts exactly how insecure, spaced out
people may behave.

This book is a helluva wild ride. ‘Stalker Stalked’ follows Lexi Mazur, a 30 year old pharma sales rep in NYC who has some serious issues. She can’t get through life without constantly popping a few Monopolin ( a xanax or valium type drug) every few hours and losing herself in bitchy reality tv shows ( Real Housewives type stuff) . The ‘little blue pills’ along with the alcohol abuse ramp up when her boyfriend Steve leaves her after he finds she has been going through his emails. Post-breakup Lexis is saved by a new truly trashy, over the top bitchy, relative tv show called ‘Socialites’ and especially the character of Magnolia Artois. She starts dedicating all her obsessive, stalker energy into trying to befriend Magnolia and becoming a character on ‘Socialites’.

There’s a lot going on in ‘Stalker Stalked’ . Lexi is a stalker and she’s sure that she is being stalked on top of that there’s the dysfunctional relationship she has with her ‘best friend’; the dysfunctional relationships she’s had with past boyfriends; the dysfunctional ( and abusive) relationship she has with her mother and the dysfunctional relationship she has with trashy reality tv and their stars. Lexi is an incredibly unlikable character - she is shallow and abusive and broken. The other characters that appear in the book are very underdeveloped and one dimensional, so as a reader you’re forced to concentrate on Lexi, which is honestly unpleasant.

I feel like the writing in ‘Stalker, stalked’ lacks some of the subtlety that can be found in books similar to it ( looking at you ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’). A combination of the one dimensional characters, over-the-top scenarios and Lexi’s tell-it-all narration really impacts the writing quality. There is a deeper commentary on reality television culture and shallowness in the West , especially amongst some sections of the population, but I felt like the story didn’t have to go so bizarre whacko to get its point across.

** Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC**

A solid 3.5 - 4 stars
I could not put this book down, mostly because it was so confusing (in a good way!) once I got to the end it mostly made sense. I did not like that she escaped mostly without consequence, and there were points of the story that didn't mesh well together. Lexi was in an altered headspace, and because we followed her there was no clarity on what was real and what was imagined which makes sense for the story. But as a reader this left me with a lot of questions I still have not gotten answers for. And the whole Stalked storyline did not make much sense, and I am still confused about how the Zebra played into a lot of things. I don't buy that Magnolia being as manipulative and scheming as she was would have made it so easy to identify her with the whole furry thing. That was just a bizarre thing, and making Magnolia the villain when Lexi was honestly a worse character than her was not that great a way to end it. I would have liked it more if she faced consequences for her actions, stalking people, and being a genuinely awful person just to end up with a spin-off show and almost no consequences was not a great way to end it. I wanted her to go through more than a month of rehab, and she probably needed more than that.
The writing was captivating and a little confusing but overall I only put the book down when I had things to do around the house. I breezed through it because of the writing style. The later chapters did drag a bit but overall I loved it.

Lexi Mazur is a thirty year old pharmaceutical reprepresentative making good money which allows her to live in New York and also give her access to her drug of choice that she has a horrible addiction to among many other things. Lexi's biggest and time consuming addiction is to reality shows (All reality shows). She spends her life digesting these shows as if they were necessary food for her body. It's all she wants to talk about to anyone who will even listen to her. This problem has caused rifts in all her relationships yet she doesn't understand why people think she has a problem. Another serious issue Lexi has is Stalking her ex-boyfriends and also one particular star of her favorite reality show. Lexi stalks people on the internet, instagram, Facebook and in person believing that they don't see what' she's doing. Eventually Lexi realizes she is also being stalked and instead of being upset she is thrilled that she would be chosen for someone to give her special attention so now she is on a mission to find out who her stalker is while accusing everyone she knows and just about anyone she just meets.or runs into. Will Lexi ever realize that what she has been doing can have serious consequences or will she just go about her merry way hurting.others while she she falls deeper into the abyss of her pills, alcohol and reality shows?

Before I started reading this book, I thought it would be an exciting mystery/thriller and then after I started reading it I thought it would be a terrible mistake partly because I had to get used to the writing. OH, the LANGUAGE! The most profanity I have ever come across in a book. I don't consider myself a prude but this book was somewhat difficult for me because I nor the people in my everyday life don't speak this way but the language was extremely vulgar, crass, degrading, etc., etc. but I'm really glad I gave it a chance and the disgusting language was just another part of Lexi's illness. This story follows a young woman's downward spiral as far outside reality that one could get. It was more of a psychological look at what living a lonely life with television being her best friend and medicating herself with pills and alcohol to achieve a numbing effect whenever uncomfortable thoughts would come into her mind. Eventually, everything starts taking a toll on her work and every aspect of her life as she continuously spirals out of control even when she finds herself with a chance at being on one of her shows, Lexi can't distinguish reality from fiction even when she finally crashes. This is a very raw, darkly comedic, irreverent and not a very pretty look inside addiction.

WARNING: If you are a person who is prim and proper at all times and dislikes over the top profanity or is easily offended by bad language then this book may not be for you.

I want to thank the publisher "All Due Respect" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this book a rating of 3 1/2 RATING AND CAUTIONARY 🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!

This had an interesting premise, of a depressed pharmacy rep who used her sample pills to numb herself from her life. She was obsessed with a Real Housewives-type show, especially one of the characters. Like many people nowadays she used the internet and phones to stalk old boyfriends and pretty much anyone she was interested in. Until she felt herself being stalked.

This started good, but dragged and I found myself skimming instead of reading. It just wasn't for me.

Dark and twisted with a definite creepy vibe throughout.

Reality TV has become all that Lexi Mazur wants to do along with drinking and popping pills. Her boyfriend dumped her and now she spends her time fantasizing about becoming part of that inner circle of Reality TV stars. Her newest obsession is a show called Socialites and the star, Magnolia Artois, who she starts following on social media and showing up at the same places as the star. This isn’t the first time Lexi has ventured into stalking; both of her ex’s didn’t know she stalked them and manipulated them before dating. She works as a pharmaceutical rep and sneaking pills for her own use has become a daily habit. Lately though, Lexi fells as if she is being watched and wonders if the tables have turned and she is now the one being stalked. She must use what she has learned over the years stalking others to beat her own stalker.

I wanted to like Stalker Stalked, I really did, unfortunately I didn’t like any of the characters and the use of foul language was absolutely ridiculous. I know this is a mainstream book and as such isn’t expected to be clean but the over-the-top use of such crass language really bothered me. It doesn’t matter if you are writing for a Christian market or mainstream, you can write a fabulous book without that kind of language. To me it feels as if the author just didn’t want to put forth the effort to write without including that. I have also read many books with language that doesn’t bother me because it is written so well, I am engrossed in the story and the characters have connected with me. The only character I even remotely connected with was Pria, she was abused by her friend and kept trying to help anyway. All the other characters were over the top annoying and irritating. I did read this book in a single day but mainly to be done with it, so I don’t have to be annoyed or wasting time just by reading the words on the page. This is a very harsh review for me, but I was expecting something better and different and was disappointed the whole way through. If you are into Reality TV and following those on social media this might be a great one for you, if not skip it.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.