Clickbait

Tom Isaacs’ reputation as a reputable YouTube investigator is spreading. Some of his followers, let’s face it, are a bit on the wrong side of weird but are behind him all the way. Even more so since he accepted Cassie Wilcox’s request to find out what happened to her brother 20 years ago on the night of retired footballer Ed Lancaster’s 40th birthday party.

Cassie’s brother has been missing since that night. His disappearance broke his family; his parents died without answers. But the Lancaster dynasty pleaded ignorance of his whereabouts from day one and soon turned their backs on Cassie, the girl who used to spend so much time with their older daughter.

Tom, intent on uncovering the truth, tugs at the duvet covering the less than wholesome bed the Lancaster’s have made for themselves. However, he may have tugged too hard when one of the clan is found floating in the pool, head down. One disappearance, one death, this clickbait-worthy story is carving a life of its own, and no-one is safe from its knife.

LC North isn’t the first to tease the reader with a thoroughly 21st century style of getting her story across, but she has certainly done her work well. Clickbait is fresh, frugal with irrelevancies, fun, and fast, with much of the appeal of the Royal Family, the Osbornes and the Kardashians including those baying for their downfall. The fictional YouTube series, Living with the Lancasters, is absolutely believable and although the characters are stereotypes, they are fully rounded, messed up, and gritty.

The Lancaster family is one that many people would see as a good reason for finally coming off social media for good. For the gossip-hungry cohorts, their rise and downfall is the stuff of third-hand living.

Lynn, the mother, is a hard-nosed nasty piece of work, who wears hob-nailed Jimmy Choos to ensure she gets her way.
Taylor may work hard, but she is as spoilt and narcissistic as they come.

Locke, her younger brother, would be the couch potato in any other family, and has an almost shoved-outside-the-family complex.

India is the brains, but at Mummy-dear’s insistence, she has thrown in her Cambridge education for modelling.

They each claim to love their mother and their life, whilst having good reasons for their less-than-perfect behaviour.

In terms of the plot, sadly, many of the clues and some of the red-herrings are rather obvious. A little more subtlety and a little less spoon-feeding would have been preferable but that doesn't detract too far from a very enjoyable read.

This talented author provides a dynamic story, with short chapters from Tom’s point of view, interspersed with transcripts, news up-dates from the TV and short sassy comments from fans of Tom and the Lancasters’ YouTube series. This real-time, multi-point of view story works brilliantly and makes for a fast, easy read, with much to satisfy readers of love-to-hate and fans of get-your-comeuppance.