The Ugly Truth by L C North BLOG TOUR #TheUglyTruth @Lauren_C_North @TransworldBooks @RandomTTours #BookReview

 

Melanie Lange has disappeared.

Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.

Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.

The media will say whichever gets them the most views.

But whose side are you on?
#SaveMelanie
#HelpPeter

Told via interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a shocking and addictive thriller about fame, power and the truth behind the headlines.

The Ugly Truth by L C North was published in hardback by Bantam Press / Penguin on 16 March 2023. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

I flew through this book in a day! I particularly enjoyed the structure of the novel, it's told in various formats including snippets from Twitter, extracts from an interview with the lead character's father and parts of a Netflix documentary. Some of the chapters are just a few lines long, whilst others are longer. For me, this style really works, it encourages the reader to continue to read and gives various views of one theme. 

Mellie Lange entered the public eye with a bang when she was just fifteen years old. The daughter of a well known businessman, she attended the opening of his latest hotel dressed to kill. The photographs taken that night were all over the press and Mellie's life was never her own again. 

When the story begins, Mellie has not not been seen in public for months. Her father, Peter Lange, officially says that she's receiving therapeutic treatment. However, her best friend Nell and her ex husband both believe that Mellie is being held captive by her father. There's no way that she would leave her two small sons for so long, she adores those boys and whilst she may have made mistakes in the past, Mellie has always been a great mother. 

The reader learns about Mellie's life, from the night of 'that' party, through her rise to fame, her relationships, her business ventures, her marriage and then motherhood. We are also privy to the shocking behaviour of the press, and not only the mainstream media. Ordinary, everyday people on Twitter feel obliged to pass comment on Mellie; about her figure, her looks, her money .... and it's often cruel and heartless. 

As a reader, it can be difficult to know if your are in the #SaveMelanie or #HelpPeter camp. Who is telling the truth?  Is Peter really as controlling as Mellie and Nell say, or is Mellie herself the manipulator?  It's clever and there are things said by all of the characters that raise question upon question. 

A frightening look at how the media can control the public's thoughts. Especially relevant these days, after the recent 'Free Britney' campaign, and of course, the absolute train wreck that is the Harry and Megan situation here in the UK. 

North really does understand people and social issues and this is such a fabulous read. I was totally hooked from the first page and am still reeling from the explosive ending. Highly recommended. 

L.C. North studied psychology at university before pursuing a career in Public Relations. 

Her first book club thriller - The Ugly Truth - combines her love of psychology and her fascination with the celebrities in the public eye. 

L.C. North is currently working on her second novel, and when she's not writing, she co-hosts the crime thriller podcast, In Suspense. 

L.C. North lives on the Suffolk borders with her family. 

L.C. North is the pen name of Lauren North. 

Readers can follow her on Twitter @Lauren_C_North and Facebook @LaurenNorthAuthor.

Clickbait by L C North BLOG TOUR #Clickbait @Lauren_C_North @TransworldBooks @RandomTTours #BookReview

 

'We're not famous anymore. We're notorious.'

For over a decade, the Lancasters were celebrity royalty, with millions tuning in every week to watch their reality show, Living with the Lancasters.

But then an old video emerges of one of their legendary parties. Suddenly, they're in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons: witnesses swore they'd seen missing teenager Bradley Wilcox leaving the Lancaster family home on the night of the party, but the video tells a different story

Now true crime investigator and YouTuber Tom Isaac is on the case. He's determined to find out what really happened to Bradley - he just needs to read between the Lancasters' lies . . .

Because when the cameras are always rolling, it won't be long until someone cracks.

Clickbait by L C North was published on 11 April 2024 by Bantam. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

I really enjoy how L C North structures her thriller novels, just like her previous novel The Ugly Truth (published March 2023), this one is written in a mixed media style. With snippets from YouTube episode, transcripts from the police, along with Twitter/X posts and a podcast it makes for an interesting and easy read. I think, due to the amount of time we spend online these days, flitting from platform to platform, this style is really accessible, it makes it feel more real, more up to date and also adds mystery as we read comments from people not connected to the story, but who have plenty to say. 

Living With The Lancasters has been a huge YouTube hit series for many years. In the style of the Kardashians and the Osbournes TV shows, this one follows the life of Lynn Lancaster and her three children. Lynn's late husband was a well known footballer turned agent and after his sudden death, she created the programme to showcase her children's talents ..... and to give them a push into fame. 

When Locke Lancaster shares a video taken at his father's last birthday party as a tribute to his memory, their world begins to crumble around them. This party was famous for the wrong reasons, a young man, Bradley Wilcox,  went missing after the party, never to be seen or heard from again. Locke's video proves that the story given at the time was not the truth. 

Bradley's sister, Cassie, has never believed what was reported that night. She doesn't believe that Bradley would run away and has spent the last twenty years trying to find the truth. She teams up with Tom Isaac, a true crime investigator on YouTube and they are determined to uncover the truth. 

L C North has a real gift for getting into the mindset of people and in Clickbait we learn all about the Lancasters real life. Peel away the glamour and the edited programme and you will find a family who are really not what they appear to be. As Cassie and Tom delve deeper, another sudden death occurs, one that will find a family member held in custody and the others in hiding. 

The addition of comments from the public on Tom's videos is really clever and puts niggles of doubt into the reader's mind. Who can resist a conspiracy theory?  Let's face it, we all read them and despite how crazy they may sound, we do wonder a little. 

It's a complex tale, with characters that the reader will really dislike, and a mystery at the heart of it that seems stranger and stranger, the more that is revealed. I'm not sure that I actually like Tom to be honest, but he's certainly a character who could go on to have his own series, there's something of a fame hunter in him too, making him not that different to the people he's investigating.

It's a roller coaster of a read, fast paced and filled with revelations that I didn't expect. Recommended by me. 

L.C. North studied psychology at university before pursuing a career in Public Relations. 

Her book club thrillers - The Ugly Truth and Clickbait - combine her love of psychology and her fascination with the celebrities in the public eye. 

When she's not writing, she co-hosts the crime thriller podcast, In Suspense. 

She lives on the Suffolk borders with her family.

L.C. North is the pen name of Lauren North. 

Readers can follow her on Twitter @Lauren_C_North and Facebook @LaurenNorthAuthor.