Book review: Exhilarating thriller exposes the harsh reality of stalking

Author Sam Blake has clearly done her homework in this impossible-to-put-down read

Sam Blake: Author makes it clear her aim is to expose the harsh reality of stalking. Picture: Alice Rose Jordan

• Your Every Move
• Sam Blake
• Corvus

Renowned crime author Sam Blake is back once again with another spectacular thriller, and this time she takes her loyal readership to the streets of London. Your Every Move is an exhilarating read featuring a strong cast of characters that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up with fright — yet it is impossible to put down.

Rosie Kinsella, an estate agent from Cork, has just moved away from the glamorous city of Paris in an effort to preserve her mental and physical wellbeing after a serial killer is caught haunting the city and the women within it (a clever nod to Blake’s 2025 release, The Killing Sense).

Rosie appears to land firmly on her feet, settling into a spacious new apartment and a luxurious new job selling high-end English properties to wealthy clients. She also grows close to her co-workers, and her popular Instagram page is doing better than ever.

But good things never last. One day, Rosie begins receiving strange text messages from a mysterious number. They soon spiral out of control, and her phone starts blowing up at all hours of the night with voice messages, emails, and threatening photos.

Her stalker, a man known only as Michael, takes a morbid interest in her and appears to believe they are in a relationship.

When Rosie is eventually sent terrifying candid photos of herself on the way to work, in cafés, and later outside her apartment, she has no choice but to come clean and tell her co-workers.

“This Michael dude was starting to seriously impact her life. Constantly looking behind her, her nerves on edge, she was sleeping so lightly that she woke every time there was a sound outside, and it was starting to drag her down.”

The final straw comes when Michael insinuates that he has access to her apartment, sending chilling pictures taken just inside her front door. Rosie goes to the police to file an official report, but soon she begins to doubt and grow suspicious of every passerby in London. Who can she really trust?

In an effort not to normalise the alarming nature of what is happening to her, Rosie starts sharing posts on her Instagram account, holding nothing back as she tells her audience the truth of what she is facing.

Perhaps even more unnerving than Michael’s persistent harassment is her comment section, which is filled with women who have experienced similar incidents of stalking. Rosie is determined not to back down or hide behind closed doors because of Michael, but is she putting herself in harm’s way?

“Stalking is something that can happen for all sorts of reasons, none of which are about the person being stalked, but all of which are about the person who is doing the stalking.”

Your Every Move features short, digestible chapters told from a variety of perspectives, compelling you to keep reading long after darkness has fallen and it is well past your bedtime. In typical Sam Blake fashion, there are also plenty of plot twists to look forward to, and no shortage of jaw-dropping moments.

The author makes it clear that her aim is to expose the harsh reality of stalking and its devastating effects on victims, by weaving elements of real-life case studies throughout the novel, many of which will be familiar to readers. But she accomplishes it all with the utmost care and sensitivity, and proves, once again, that she is a sincere writer who does her homework.