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50 Book Challenge #5: The Follower

By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

The Follower by Jason Starr. (Amazon, B&N, Powell's) This one had some promise, but didn't live up to it. It's about a young woman dating in New York City, and this guy who gets obsessed with her. Ideally, it would have been Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Patricia Highsmith. With Ellis, all those pop culture references tell us something about the characters; with Highsmith, the obsessions are understandable because even the bad guys are genuine. Here, it's hard to care about anyone in the novel. The protagonist is vapid and spineless, her paramours are interchangeable, the seen-it-all cop we've seen before, and we get no motive for the stalker. In fact, his picture is so empty it's as if Starr is saving the details for a prequel.

There is some amusing satire of post-college singlehood in the big city, so maybe I'm a little beyond the target audience. I guess if you think Looking for Mr. Goodbar is too dated and you're not old enough for In the Cut, The Follower might be your style. Overall, though, I'd say it's skippable.

(Previous 50 Book Challenge reviews)

Full post as published by Begging the Question on March 03, 2008 (boomark / email).