The Image Of You by Adele Parks @adeleparks @headlinepg @publicitybooks #TheImageOfYou

Can you ever trust someone you meet online?

Anna and Zoe are twins. Identical in appearance, utterly different in personality, they share a bond so close that nothing - or no one - can rip them apart.

Until Anna meets charismatic Nick.

Anna is trusting, romantic and hopeful; she thinks Nick is perfect.
Zoe is daring, dangerous and extreme; she thinks Nick is a liar.

Zoe has seen Anna betrayed by men before. She'll stop at nothing to discover if Nick is as good as he seems.

Lies may hurt. But honesty can kill.

The Image of You by Adele Parks is published by Headline Review in paperback on 22 February 2018, my thanks to the publishers who sent my copy for review.

It's been a long time since I read anything by Adele Parks and I was a little surprised to find that she's moved into the psychological thriller genre. The Image of You is most certainly domestic noir; it's a study in sibling relationships, in rivalry and love, with a twist.

Anna is the quiet unassuming twin, living in the UK and dreaming of finding her ideal man. Creating an online profile on a dating website is not something that she's all that comfortable with, and when her twin sister Zoe insists that she must be a little imaginative in her profile, Anna is uneasy.

Zoe and Anna are twins, and whilst they may look alike, their personalities, character and lifestyles are the complete opposite. Anna runs everything past Zoe, even though she knows that Zoe's opinions and influences are not always the best.

When Anna meets Nick, she falls completely and utterly head over heels in love. He is everything that she ever dreamed of. Handsome, rich, successful and kind, just the type of guy that she needs in her life. Zoe, on the other hand, is suspicious. She doesn't believe that anyone can be as perfect as Nick and is determined to protect her sister, and make sure that she isn't hurt.

When Zoe and Nick finally meet, the story takes a dark and uneasy turn. Zoe's manipulative behaviour, and Nick's weaknesses slowly and surely take their toll and the reader is left wondering just what the hell is going on.

Adele Parks has written a clever and well thought out story that starts out as a domestic drama and turns into an intense and dramatic tale of mental illness, bereavement and dishonestly. There are secrets and lies along with shocks and twists that keep the reader gripped. Her character creation is excellent, with Anna and Zoe being especially well done. The female characters certainly take the edge in this one.

Whilst I'll admit that I did guess the twist in The Image of You, before the reveal, it wasn't an issue as I was eager to find out how the author would present it to the reader. I wasn't disappointed, and the actual detail was extremely well done, and not what I expected at all.

With an intriguing hook, this is a gripping and quite compelling story that explores the intensity of relationships and the effect of grief.

Adele Parks worked in advertising until she published her first novel in 2000. Since then, her many Sunday Times bestsellers have been translated into twenty-six different languages. Adele spent her adult life in Italy, Botswana and London until 2005 when she moved to Guildford, where she now lives with her husband and son. Adele believes reading is a basic human right, so she works closely with The Reading Agency as an Ambassador for Reading Ahead, a programme designed to encourage adult literacy.

Find out more at www.adeleparks.com
Find her Author page on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @adeleparks