Angela Clarke - Follow Me - The bestselling crime novel terrifying everyone this year

ANGELA CLARKE

The Social Media Murders

Copyright

Published by Avon

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

The News Building

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2015

Copyright © Angela Clarke 2015

Angela Clarke asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008165437

Ebook Edition © December 2015 ISBN: 9780008160838

Version: 2017-01-10

‘ Follow Me doesn’t just throw in token references to the internet – its gripping plot hinges on modern technology at every breathless turn. Smart, snappy and addictive: Angela Clarke is #killingit’

Holly Williams, The Independent on Sunday.

‘Clarke turns social media into a terrifyingly dark place. You won’t look at your accounts the same way again. I was hooked and couldn’t stop turning the pages. With a memorable and unique protagonist, Clarke explores the phenomenon of (social media) celebrity while tapping into your fears.’

Rebecca Bradley, author of Shallow Waters

‘Smart, fast paced, fresh and frightening. Follow Me is a gripping debut.’

Rowan Coleman, author of The Memory Book

‘In Follow Me , Clarke creates a completely compelling world, and a complex heroine. Freddie is refreshing and fascinating – a credible addition to the crime canon and a great alternative for anyone who has grown frustrated with the male dominated world of the whodunnit. Follow Me is literally gripping – the tension levels were forcing me to clutch the book so hard that my hands hurt!’

Daisy Buchanan, Grazia

‘ Follow Me is a well written, taut, absolutely fascinating and scarily good crime novel that is too true to life…It will certainly make you look at social media and Twitter in particular with the utmost scepticism and horror. Outstanding! Clearly the start of a wonderful series, superbly written. I definitely want more.’

Ayo Onatade, Shots magazine

‘Original, inventive & gripping’

Danny Smith, West Herts Drivetime

‘We’ve been waiting for a novel that shows just how creepy and scary social media actually is and this is it. Angela Clarke knows exactly which buttons to press. #creepedmeout’

Tania Carver, author of the Brennan and Esposito series

‘A fascinating murder mystery and a dark, ironic commentary on modern social media. Very about today.’

Paul Finch, author of Stalkers

‘Pacey, gripping, and so up-to-the-minute you better read it quick!’

Claire McGowan, author of The Fall, The Lost and The Dead Ground

‘Angela Clarke brings dazzling wit and a sharp sense of contemporary life to a fast-paced serial killer novel with serious style.’

Jane Casey, author of the Maeve Kerrigan series

‘Fast-paced, tense and playfully witty…A chillingly satirical take on a classic mystery formula. #ReadIt’

Graeme Cameron, author of Normal

For the authentically badass Amy Jones

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for FOLLOW ME by Angela Clarke

Dedication

Chapter 1 FML – Fuck My Life

Chapter 2 YOLO – You Only Live Once

Chapter 3 #FF – Follow Friday

Chapter 4 BFF – Best Friends Forever

Chapter 5 OMG – Oh My God

Chapter 6 DTF – Down to Fuck?

Chapter 7 IDK – I Don’t Know

Chapter 8 FFS – For Fuck’s Sake

Chapter 9 STBY – Sucks To Be You

Chapter 10 FWIW – For What It’s Worth

Chapter 11 FWP – First World Problems

Chapter 12 BTW – By The Way

Chapter 13 SMH – Shake My Head

Chapter 14 NSFW – Not Safe For Work

Chapter 15 ICYMI – In Case You Missed It

Chapter 16 RTFM – Read The Fucking Manual

Chapter 17 IKR – I Know, Right?

Chapter 18 EOT – End Of Thread

Chapter 19 SITD – Still In The Dark

Chapter 20 FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out

Chapter 21 L8R – Later

Chapter 22 IRL – In Real Life

Chapter 23 GR8 – Great

Chapter 24 RT – Retweet

Chapter 25 ISO – In Search Of

Chapter 26 VBD – Very Bad Date

Chapter 27 BTDT – Been There Done That

Chapter 28 MT – Modified Tweet

Chapter 29 C&B – Crash and Burn

Chapter 30 TBC – To Be Continued

Chapter 31 JK – Just Kidding

Chapter 32 TMI – Too Much Information

Chapter 33 B/C – Because Eight years earlier

Chapter 34 WUBU2 – What You Been Up To?

Chapter 35 CU – See You

Chapter 36 TBA – To Be Announced

Chapter 37 AKA – Also Known As

Chapter 38 WTF – What The Fuck?

Chapter 39 DIY – Do It Yourself

Chapter 40 PDA – Public Display of Affection

Chapter 41 WTAF – What The Actual Fuck?

Chapter 42 BRB – Be Right Back

Acknowledgements

Author Q&A

Are You Awake

Little Girl Gone

Further reading

Angela Clarke

About the Publisher

05:35

Saturday 31 October

From where she stood in the doorway of the bedroom of 39 Blackbird Road, London, E14, Freddie could see blood. A lot of blood. The plastic overall she was wearing rustled in time with her clipped, panicked breaths. The blue walls were splattered with red, as if a food fight had taken place with thin, runny Lidl ketchup. But it wasn’t tomato sauce. She could taste it: metallic. It was coating her tongue. Sweat stuck clumps of her thick frizzy hair to her forehead, loosened her glasses on her nose, and opened her pores to the gore. She was absorbing it.

Dread pinpricked her skin. The source was to her right, shielded by the open room door. There was still time to leave. To turn back. To run. She could be home in thirty; pretend none of this had happened. Heavy footsteps fell on the stairs behind her. More people were coming. She had to decide.

Seize the story. It was now or never. Opportunity follows struggle. Fear makes you braver. Despite deriding the inspirational quotes that appear over photos of sunsets and the ocean on Facebook, Freddie was disappointed to discover that when she reached her own life crossroads her brain filled with nothing but clichés.