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Editorial Content for Eye of the Beholder

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Christine M. Irvin

After penning books for celebrities, Maddy Wight gets what she believes will be the break of a lifetime. Dr. Angela Reynolds, a world-renowned cosmetic surgeon, has hired Maddy to ghostwrite her memoir. Not only will Angela pay Maddy a large sum of money for her troubles, Maddy finally will get the recognition she craves and so rightly deserves as her name will appear on the book’s cover as a co-author.

"Emma Bamford keeps the action moving with plenty of twists and turns that will keep readers wondering what will happen next."

Even though it sounds like a dream come true, the job comes with its own challenges. Angela is difficult to work with, and Maddy will be staying at a remote estate in the Scottish Highlands whiles she works on the book, which has a very tight deadline. To make matters even more interesting, she will be sharing the house with Angela’s business partner, Scott.

As Maddy gets to work, she runs into problems: Angela won’t answer basic questions about her background (which normally would be included in a memoir), Scott is sometimes friendly but at other times quite standoffish, and she finds a young girl wandering around the estate who shouldn’t be there.

These issues, along with others, make her writing less productive than it should be, causing her to doubt the process and her involvement in it. More events take place that propel the storyline in unexpected directions, leading to a conclusion that is quite unpredictable.

Emma Bamford keeps the action moving with plenty of twists and turns that will keep readers wondering what will happen next. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER has it all: love, heartbreak, friendship, second chances, deceit, betrayal, coverups and mental illness. We also are given insider knowledge about the beauty industry, including technical information about cosmetic procedures, and a look inside the world of publishing, especially as it relates to ghostwriting. Enjoy!

Teaser

Maddy Wight is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of world-renowned cosmetic surgeon Dr. Angela Reynolds. She travels to Angela’s remote estate in the Scottish Highlands to hunker down and learn everything she can. Sharing the estate is Angela’s enigmatic business partner, Scott, whose mercurial moods change as quickly as the conditions on the darkening moors outside --- and Maddy finds herself drawn ever closer to him. Returning to London once the book is finished, Maddy is excited for their future together. But her dreams are shattered at the book launch when Angela learns that Scott has leapt to his death from the Scottish cliffs. Which is why Maddy is completely blindsided months later when she sees Scott entering the Tube station just in front of her. It can’t be him, can it?

Promo

Maddy Wight is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of world-renowned cosmetic surgeon Dr. Angela Reynolds. She travels to Angela’s remote estate in the Scottish Highlands to hunker down and learn everything she can. Sharing the estate is Angela’s enigmatic business partner, Scott, whose mercurial moods change as quickly as the conditions on the darkening moors outside --- and Maddy finds herself drawn ever closer to him. Returning to London once the book is finished, Maddy is excited for their future together. But her dreams are shattered at the book launch when Angela learns that Scott has leapt to his death from the Scottish cliffs. Which is why Maddy is completely blindsided months later when she sees Scott entering the Tube station just in front of her. It can’t be him, can it?

About the Book

“Highly recommended for fans of Vertigo and readers who enjoy the intricately plotted novels of Ruth Ware, Sarah Pearse, and Riley Sager” (Booklist), this atmospheric and sinister novel follows a ghostwriter searching for answers when her lover reappears after his mysterious death.

When Maddy Wight is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of world-renowned cosmetic surgeon Dr. Angela Reynolds, she thinks it might just be her chance to get her career back on track. She travels to Angela’s remote estate in the Scottish Highlands to hunker down and learn everything she can. But the deeper she digs, the more elusive the doctor becomes. Is there more hidden beneath the surface of the kaleidoscopic beauty industry than Angela wants to reveal?

Sharing the estate is Angela’s enigmatic business partner, Scott, whose mercurial moods change as quickly as the conditions on the darkening moors outside. Confined to the glass-walled house, Maddy can’t shake the feeling of being watched. As objects go missing, handprints appear on the windows and a stranger lurks in the grounds, she finds herself drawn ever closer to Scott. Returning to London once the book is finished, Maddy is excited for their future together. But her dreams are shattered at the book launch when Angela learns that Scott has leapt to his death from the Scottish cliffs.

Which is why, months later and lost in a fog of grief, Maddy is completely blindsided when she sees Scott entering the Tube station just in front of her. It can’t be him, can it? After all, Scott is dead...or is he?

Audiobook available, read by Jane Collingwood