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GENRE
Psychological Thriller

UK PUBLICATION
May 2019
BUY THE CLOSER I GET

The Closer I Get
Paul Burston

Tom is a successful author, but he’s struggling to finish his novel. His main distraction is an online admirer, Evie, who simply won’t leave him alone. Evie is smart, well read and unstable; she lives with her father and her social-media friendships are not only her escape, but everything she has.

When she’s hit with a restraining order, her world is turned upside down, and Tom is free to live his life again, to concentrate on writing. But things aren’t really adding up. For Tom is distracted but also addicted to his online relationships, and when they take a darker, more menacing turn, he feels powerless to change things. Because maybe he needs Evie more than he’s letting on.

​A compulsive, disturbingly relevant, twisty and powerful psychological thriller, The Closer I Get is also a searing commentary on the fragility and insincerity of online relationships, and the danger that can lurk just one ‘like’ away…

​Rights Sales

World English Language: Orenda Books

​Praise

"Thrilling, twisty, creepy... Makes you think about putting anything online ever again."
Araminta Hall, author of Our Kind Of Cruelty

"Dark and humorous and very twisty."
Sarah Pinborough, author of Behind Her Eyes

"A thought-provoking social media thriller... The best work of fiction yet from the novelist, journalist and literary salon host."
Attitude

"The Closer I Get is a dark, twisting tale that shines a light on the murkier side of human nature, social media and fame. Kept me hooked to the very last page."
Adam Hamdy, author of Pendulum

"Absurdly gripping... enough to unnerve anyone who has ever spent any time online."
Angela Clarke, author of On My Life

"As perfect a thriller as you'll read all year, with a creeping sense of dread that never lets up."
Caz Frear, author of ​Sweet Little Lies

"Compelling, creepy and completely believable. Bravo."
Melanie McGrath, author of Give Me the Child

"This book will make you rethink your social media obsession. Dangerous from page one, lit by bursts of black humour, ultimately honest about the frailty of ego and the masks we all wear. Terrifically readable."
Sarah Hilary, author of the bestselling Marnie Rome series

"Properly dark and human and twisty. I loved it!"
Lisa Jewell, author of Then She Was Gone

“An absolute stunner of a crime novel with a deliciously twisted ending."
Lisa Hall, author of The Party

"Beautifully written with rich and deliciously flawed characters, tense and compelling from first page to last."
Amanda Jennings, author of The Cliff House

​"A witty and insightful novel, filled with mischief and compassion."
Susie Boyt, author of The Small Hours

"This is an exquisitely constructed novel with two leading characters who are startlingly real; and gloriously murky."
Random Things Through My Letterbox ​blog