One of Those Faces is a keep-you-up-all-night chilling debut that twists the narrative sharp like a knife and places you at the mercy of the author to give you the long-anticipated answers, which will not be what you expect.
Harper Mallen is a timid young woman making ends meet as an artist in the bustling streets of Chicago after escaping her abusive childhood. When a gruesome murder takes place near her apartment, she’s disturbed to find that the victim looked eerily similar to her. When she realizes how often she’s stopped by grieving family members who confuse her for other recently murdered victims, she takes it upon herself to find out more, especially when it all starts to feel too convenient to be just coincidences centered around her.
Elle Grawl captures the mundane intricacies of day-to-day living in her protagonist with just enough limelight that we feel like we know who Harper Mallen truly is before she dives into the web of craziness that follows shortly. The pace is that of a slow-burn but it works in this case because of the realistic and grounded approach to the narrative that is much more character-driven and worth your emotional investment. Furthermore, the intimacy with the situations and characters makes it all the more enticing when we suddenly see Harper in a different light that we couldn’t have anticipated, throwing us all in disarray over what will happen on the next page. Just when we think we’ve nailed down a vague idea of how it will go down, Elle Grawl comes along to shatter our delusions in mind-boggling fashion.
Think of One of Those Faces like a rendition of Caroline Kepnes’s YOU but with an even more unnerving psychological element told from the perspective of the stalked instead of the stalker. It exhibits great potential for Elle Grawl and it’s one of the most intense what-the-frack thrillers I’ve read this year.
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Purchase One Of Those Faces
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Barrington Books
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The Book Dragon
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