Distracted from distraction by distraction
T.S. Eliot
Title: My Face
Author: Kevin Landt
Publisher: Ripland Publishing LLC, 2020
ISBN: 1735298107, 9781735298108
In a world driven by technology and social media, this novella touches on the dirty truth of Catfishing. Catfishing is a scam where someone creates a false identity to deceive, harm, or just toy with another person. To share some statistics on Catfishing- 53% of Americans admit to falsifying their online profiles, 73% use photos of someone else rather than real pictures of themselves, and 24% pretend to be the opposite gender when creating their fake identity.
LA hotshot Sebastian Shafer, in his desperation for a job, brings into existence the beautiful and enchanting Angela Fox. On being announced as the Hottest User of the month, Angela Fox garners way more attention than anticipated. Everyone wants to meet her and know her; they want her at their parties, openings, and plays; however, the only problem is that she doesn’t exist. It all seems game and fun until a young stage playwright is found dead. Multiple people find themselves sucked into a web of deceit, lies, narcissism, and revenge.
The best and worst quality of the book is that it is a novella. While it is fast-paced, action-packed with quick twists in the plots, the story leaves you craving for more. Writing a thriller as a novella is no small feat; one needs to make sacrifices in character and plot development.
I didn’t want to put the book down. The author has squeezed as many twists as he can, and as a reader, that keeps you hooked. He has provided brief background stories for all the characters and linked them together in an intricate web. Imagine a line of dominoes placed one after the other. As soon as one of them falls, every other domino behind it topples as well.
However, I wish the author had made this into a novel. I wish he had allowed the characters to tell their stories and develop in that process. The plot and storyline were so well-thought-out that I wanted to read more about it. The ending came too soon, and several questions remained unanswered. The story would have made a great novel. The most intriguing part of a thriller is exploring the motives of the characters, and that piece was short and unfulfilling for me.
It is a great novella. And if one likes fast-paced thrillers, I definitely would recommend this one. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.
I received a free copy from Reedsy Discovery for my honest review.