When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.
When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail—identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand—the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet. (Pub Date: Aug 08 2023)
3.5, rounded up.
This is the second in a series, but it's perfectly readable on its own. I did read the first book back when it was being released, you can even find my review of it, but I didn't remember enough of the story, so for a moment when they gave us the background for Rachel, the podcaster who investigates crimes, for a moment I though they were talking about the first story and that I remembered even less of it. Turns out it wasn't, they did mention it a couple of paragraphs later, but very superficially, in a way that your only spoiler is that Rachel is still alive. So, not only can you understand it all without the feeling of missing out, but you won't get any important information to stop you from reading the other one later, in the "wrong" order.
And that is possible because Rachel will investigate the crime, she'll expose the story on her podcast, but she isn't the main story. Personally, I don't mind it when the character doing the investigation is a part of the plot—and I think Rachel in this second book gets more tangled in it than I remember her doing it in the first—, but I've read people say they prefer when they get less involved. That's probably for the best when you don't want to get involved with the whole series, and just read the books you want to pick, so this is a good choice (although as I said, Rachel ends up getting deeper into things for this second). There's not plot spilling from the first or into the third one that will make you need force you to keep following.
As for the story itself... I think the police is a mess in this one. We're talking about the FBI, and there's a lot that Rachel uncovers that they don't but they should have. Unfortunately, it's not because the police are doing a lousy job because the writer said they are (in some parts they are on purpose though), and that hurt a little my suspended belief. To be honest, I'm not sure why they needed Rachel, they just needed people doing their jobs.
Another flaw, I think, is a part that was maybe supposed to be a red herring, but it takes so much of the book, it made me feel frustrated. I was wondering if maybe there wasn't something bigger behind it, for the book to give it so much focus, and then there wasn't and that was it. I apologize if only by saying this it is easier to know what I mean, and I'll refrain from saying more not to spoil anyone.
That aside, it's a fun read. I mean, it's still heavy, some parts made me sad—I do remember having the same feeling during the first book, though the story there was heavier—, but it kept me intrigued, I couldn't wait to know what was going to happen, even more than finding out what had happened. This is not so much a whodunnit.
I spent so much of this review talking about how you don't need to keep following the series, and yet, here I am, looking forward for book number 3.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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