Clickbait by L. C. North

 

TV reality show Living With The Lancasters has been running for seventeen years. During a tribute section, they show a twenty-year-old home video which reignites interest in a missing person case, a missing person who was last seen alive at their home.

If you are going to read this book then cancel any plans you may have because you won't want to put it down, Clickbait by L. C. North is the equivalent of those TV series you binge-watch. The author uses a variety of different media, as she did with her previous novel The Ugly Truth, to get the reader's attention and then keep you gripped. This is one of those books where you'll keep saying to yourself, "Just one more page" and before you know it you've finished the book.

Clickbait focuses on the rise, and fall, of a "real life" family, the Lancaster's. Mum, Lynn, and her adult children Taylor, Locke and India. For the past seventeen years, they've been the stars of their own reality TV series, very much in the same vein as The Osbournes, Keeping Up With The Kardashians and even Made In Chelsea. The family has always been used to living in the public eye as Ed, the father, was a premiership footballer. Shortly after his unexpected death Lynn Lancaster got the idea for the reality TV series.

It is during a tribute episode to their father that the children show an old family video from before the days of the TV series. Eagle-eyed viewers spot someone in the background of one of the shots, Bradley Wilcox, a teen who went missing after attending a party at the Lancaster's home. The family has always maintained that Bradley left the party in a taxi with a group of footballers, but the new video clearly shows this to be a lie.

Investigative journalist Tom Isaac takes up the missing person case, he's got a vested interest as he knows the family and this gives him access that other journalists don't have. In keeping with the reality TV theme, Tom posts all his findings via his YouTube channel, asking his followers what they think. By chipping away at the story and interviews with the family the facade of Living With The Lancasters drops and we see a family, particularly Lynn, who will lie, manipulate and fabricate to get what they want, at any cost.

There are twists galore and you know not to believe what anyone is saying, not a single person can be trusted. Even with all this in mind the conclusion is still a shock and left me feeling indignant.

Clickbait by L. C. North will be published on 11th April 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for a review copy.

Author Details

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.