The Follower

by Kate Doughty, Sara Sheckells (Read by), Sara Sheckells (Contribution by)

Overview

Kate Doughty's The Follower is a spine-tingling YA thriller based on a true story.

Instagram-famous triplets Cecily, Amber, and Rudy—the children of home renovation superstars—are ready for a perfect summer. They've just moved onto the site of their parents' latest renovation project when they begin to receive spine-tingling messages from someone called The Follower. It soon becomes clear that this anonymous threat is more than a simple Internet troll, and they can't wait to shatter the Cole family's perfect veneer and take back what's theirs.

The Follower examines the implications of what it is to be watched in the era of social-media fame—as well as the lies we tell and the lengths we'll go to uphold a perfect image, when our lives depend on it.

"Teens love a mystery, and this one is definitely a page-turner." —School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798874858568
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	07/16/2024
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sara Sheckells is an Earphones Award recipient for ensemble narration. She is also featured among AudioFile magazine's Voices to Know. Performing both fiction and nonfiction works, Sara has voiced over 110 audiobooks.

A lifelong New Englander, Sara came to narration as an avid listener and longtime pupil of dramatic arts and vocal performance. Her audiobook work has been described as "emotionally connected" and "engaging."

Sara was a radio host and performed as a costumed tour guide before launching a long-term career in academia. She loves dogs, coffee, and anything witchy. Sara lives north of Boston with her "wicked smaaht" family.

Editorial Reviews

"Hits all the marks for readers who love this subgenre."

Booklist

"Hits all the marks for readers who love this subgenre."—Booklist

"Teens love a mystery, and this one is definitely a page-turner." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2020-12-22
It’s a home-renovation–turned–haunted-house nightmare for triplet social media stars and their family.

Seventeen-year-old Cole triplets Cecily, Amber, and Rudy are bona fide influencers. With sponsors, hashtags, and their online fan base the Cole Patrol, they pull in enough money to keep their parents’ high-end property business afloat. Their latest house-flip project comes with a deadly past and earns them a suspicious new Instagram follower, one who seems determined to threaten and even harm them. Doughty’s warnings about social media are obvious, touching on the ways in which people strive for curated perfection, the addiction of online feedback, and even the swift cruelty of cancel culture. The story uses plenty of spooky tropes, familiar to fans of The Haunting of Hill House and complete with a creepy doll. The central mystery of who is tormenting the Cole family keeps the plot moving even if the social media cautionary tale is heavy-handed and at times slows the pace. Untangling the whodunit takes some effort (and the forgiving of some plot holes), and the book ends with potential for a sequel. Amber is a gorgeous, size 18 lesbian who is confident in herself, no weight loss necessary. All major characters are cued as White; there is some diversity in secondary characters.

Checks all the teen thriller boxes. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews