Looker

by Laura Sims

A hugely compulsive, dark, stylish and intense novel, simmering with Hitchcockian undertones - for readers of LULLABY, EILEEN or THE LEMON GROVE

'This intense, gripping first novel from Laura Sims shoehorns us into a gathering disquiet and sense of dread, heightened at every turn by our sympathetic understanding of her relentlessly unraveling protagonist. The precise, observant writing slips through the skin without ever calling attention to itself'
-Peter Straub, author of A Dark Matter and Interior Darkness

Have you ever wanted to steal someone else's life?

The Professor lives in Brooklyn; her partner Nathan has left her; she can't have a baby. All she's left with is Nathan's old moggy, Cat. Who she doesn't even like.

Then a celebrity actress moves into the area. She's beautiful, with long auburn hair, perfect skin, a lovely smile. She's got children - a baby, even. And a husband who seems to adore her. She leaves discarded household items and toys outside for thrift collection. She leaves her windows open, even at night.

There's no harm, the Professor thinks, in recycling those items. Or looking in through the illuminated glass at that shiny, happy family. Is there?

(P)2019 Headline Publishing Group Limited

• ISBN10: 1501199129
• ISBN13: 9781501199127
• Publish Date: 1 October 2019 (first published 1 January 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Scribner Book Company
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

Ok, just finished this book and I feel so…angry I think that is the word. This book has had me feeling so many emotions, I started with some empathy and then a bit of sympathy, to a bit of denial, to a bit of WTF to the damn right angry and shock!!

The woman known as “The Professor” is struggling big time in life, her husband has left, she can’t have a baby, she has a cat she doesn’t want and her hours have been cut. What then follows is the most unreliable of narrators. Fantasy blurs with reality and you are never quite sure if what you are reading has happened or if it is in her head.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love flawed characters, I love unreliable narrators but I did not like this character. She is completely unstable and there are a lot of things she does that makes you not like her. You are really made not to like her and then there is a line, you don’t cross this line but she did it! She crossed and there is no care on her part and for me that was it. I was angry!

I think as well, some of the hallucinations had me thinking because sometimes I probably do the same. Not to her extent, but I sit and daydream about interactions and situations. However, these take over her life, to a point where she becomes angry and upset over things that haven’t even happened. All the while imagining winning that elusive Oscar with her performance or the actress does that she is watching/stalking.

This is a short book, but it’s an uncomfortable and unnerving read but yet it’s compelling. We are watching the downfall of this woman, slowly she sees her fantasies as a reality. She wants them to be a reality but yet her behaviour is of someone slowly on a breakdown. When it ends, you don’t feel like the story has ended and in her mind, it is an Oscar-winning performance where she would expect an audience to stand up and cheer. Which brings me back to the unreliable because the way the ending played out it is left for you to decide whether this truly shocking ending happened….or was it in her head? She is a person who wants to be recognised but sets such expectations on herself where it doesn’t quite work, -and that is an understatement.

I know I might sound like I don’t like the book, but that’s not true, it gives you a lot of food for thought. It has an abrupt nature and there are no chapters to break it down. It is a rollercoaster without the breaks which makes it hard for me to review without giving anything away. You dislike the characters, the actions of them and yet it’s a sign of the writing where one book can cause so many emotions with you. It creates a talking point, as you say to someone “Have you read this book? you need to because of X, Y and Z happen” This book is perfect for this!

If you want to read and have front row seats with popcorn (you will have to buy this) to witness the performance of someone who life is unravelling In front of your eyes and spiralling out of control, then this is for you!