"The pages all but turn themselves as the story unfolds in taut chapters alternating between Rosa's journal entries and Jar's frantic quest. Monroe adds more voices in the book's second half, keeping the guess-who's-crazy/guilty ball in the air until the all-consuming reveal. Pacing is crisp and the plot is credible, but it's the cast of expertly crafted, psychologically ambiguous characters that rivets."-Publisher Weekly, starred review
"Monroe's debut thriller is a paranoiac's dream with plenty of twists. [A]n exciting read that combines the thrill of a spy novel and the intimacy of a coming-of-age tale. Fast-paced, satisfying, and, ultimately, life-affirming."-Kirkus Reviews
"A beautifully written thriller with well-drawn characters and a twisting, gripping plot that will keep you guessing until the very last page."
-J.P. Delaney, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before
"Readers will easily fall into step with sensitive, quick-witted Jar, and Monroe's journalism experience lends realistic detail to the back-channel investigation. Smart, well written, and tangled in unpredictable twists-a top-notch psychological thriller."-Booklist
"Intelligent writing, original and disturbing ideas and a tightly coiled and crafted plot."-Daily Mail
"A cleverly constructed, beautifully paced and utterly gripping novel that delivers both thrills and a heart-tugging love story in equal measures."-Irish independent
"Find Me is a marvelously suspenseful book that keeps you turning pages well past midnight. You'll be riveted on what its very sympathetic narrator goes through to find the love of his life. She supposedly committed suicide five years ago. But what about all the signs that she's still alive? You'll keep guessing until the final mind-bending twist." -Alice LaPlante, New York Times bestselling author of Coming of Age at the End of Days and Turn of Mind
"Intricately woven and heart-stoppingly believable, this has bestseller written all over it." -Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go
"Find Me is gripping, pointing you toward the worst possibility on every page in this deeply sinister, drip-drip kind of way. And yet there is a lot of true love in there too, creating an endearing balance. This is an intricate story that will stay with you as you read about government, science, and all open-ended missing person cases." -Caroline Kepnes, author of Hidden Bodies and You
"The most ingenious thriller you will read this year. I couldn't put it down." -M. J. Arlidge, Sunday Times bestselling author of Eeny meeny
"This intricate puzzle of a thriller takes us into the far reaches of the Dark Web and the depths of the human heart. Simultaneously romantic and horrifying, this is a treat for everyone who loved le Carre's The Constant Gardener."-Lucie Whitehouse, author of Before We Met and Keep You Close
"Beautifully written and expertly plotted, J.S. Monroe's Find Me had me hooked within the first chapter and Would. Not. Let. Me. Go. This is a captivating, utterly chilling read, the kind of thriller that will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime, and leave you wide awake long after you're done. First class." -Owen Laukkanen, author of The Stolen Ones and The Watcher in the Wall
10/15/2016
The author of five spy thrillers, beginning with the John Creasey Memorial Dagger short-listed The Riot Act, Jon Stock takes on a different name to write a different kind of book. Jarlath "Jar" Costello is told that he's suffering from postbereavement hallucinations when he declares that he keeps seeing girlfriend Rosa, who supposedly committed suicide. Then he gets hold of her diary, which drags him down into a smoke-and-mirrors underworld he never knew Rosa inhabited. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
2016-12-06
Monroe's debut thriller is a paranoiac's dream with plenty of twists. It's been five years since Rosa Sandhoe, the love of Dubliner Jarlath "Jar" Costello's life, supposedly jumped off a bridge to her death. Her body was never found, and Jar, who frequently "sees" Rosa, has convinced himself that she's still alive. He finds a sympathetic ear in his best friend, Carl, but Carl is sure that Jar, in his enduring grief, is just seeing things and recommends that he see a psychologist specializing in "post-bereavement hallucination." When Rosa's aunt Amy finds what she believes is Rosa's diary, written while she stayed with Amy and her troubled husband, Martin, she gives Jar the hard drive, but it's encrypted, so Carl finds someone who can decode it. Entries are sent to Jar as they are recovered, out of order, and that's how they're presented within the novel, interspersed with Jar's investigation. The diary entries are revelatory, and Jar becomes increasingly convinced that Rosa was recruited for a disturbing government project, perhaps because of her deceased father's work. Rosa's diary entries reveal a young woman conflicted about her place in the world: she's not quite sure of how she fits into student life at Cambridge, and her intense love for Jar has her at odds with her nearly unbearable grief after her father's death. When Jar's efforts attract the attention of the police, he's sure he's getting closer to a horrible truth about Rosa, and for him there's no turning back, but what if the truth is closer to home than he ever could have imagined? Jar's labyrinthine search is intimately entwined with Rosa's story of self-discovery, making for an exciting read that combines the thrill of a spy novel and the intimacy of a coming-of-age tale. Fast-paced, satisfying, and, ultimately, life-affirming.