CHLOE CATES IS MISSING........WHERE'S THE SWEETHEART OF SOCIAL MEDIA??

 Chloe Cates Is Missing by Mandy McHugh (2022)

Suspense novelists arrived at the idea that many people, including myself, have long suspected.......that so-called social media 'influencers', instagrammers, tweeters, and assorted tik-tokkers are in fact deeply narcissistic, greedy sociopaths, addicted to their 15 minutes of unaccomplished infamy to the point of derangement.

               So naturally we've got all the ingredients here of a thriller that kept us in rapt, up-all-night attention until the reveal  of its final  twist (inevitable, ironic but strangely satisfying) 

                The wildly popular teen influencer 'Chloe Cates' is in reality the miserably unhappy Abby Scarborough, dominated, dictated to, cruelly manipulated and micro-managed by her monstrous mother Jennifer.

                  This Momager From Hell operates like a  suburban Lady Macbeth who's single-handedly created the utterly fictitious 'Chloe Cates' persona and universe she lives in, complete with fake friends and carefully staged events.  And then her world turns upside down when her meal ticket Abby-Chloe disappears, the possible victim of a violent abduction. 

                  Jennifer's further rattled and outraged by the Missing Children detective who's taken on the task of investigating the disappearance and bringing  the teen back home........it's Emelina Stone, whose history with Jennifer goes back to a terrible secret they share from their early teen years, when both were mercilessly bullied by their school's resident mean girls.

                   That dark moment in the two women's past continues to torment and haunt Emilina........and sooner or later, you know that somehow it's going to link up in some way with the current events of whatever became of Abby-Chloe. 

                     Twists abound and virtually all the multiple narrators, with one exception, are deceptive and completely unreliable.......and we wouldn't have it any other way, since that's the juicy fun of a read like this one. 

                      It's a fast, riveting spin through a nightmare world of preening pseudo-celebrity where everyone lives or dies by the amounts of 'likes', endorsements and product swag......and overdue just desserts get properly handed out in the final pages. 4 stars. (****)