The Actor

LoveReading Says

If you love hard-hitting psychological thrillers that make you think, keep you guessing and shake things up, look no further than Chris MacDonald’s The Actor. Set in the acting world, it’s an unsettling story of ambition, hubris and dark obsession. Of guilt, cover-ups and redemption. Above all, it’s a skilfully plotted, slow-burn story that ramps up Hollywood style, with a suitably show-stopping finale.

In his twenties, Adam enjoyed two Oscar nominations. The lauded intensity of his performances came largely courtesy of the tutelage of his brutal mentor at a London drama school, where students were forced to harness, exploit and unleash their deepest, most intense life experiences in accordance with method acting practices.

Partway along his career, a tragic incident sees Adam in rehab: “I was in exile, a method actor who’d taken things too far, an embarrassment to the industry. I wasn’t sure I’d act again.” But when the part of a lifetime comes along, Adam feels compelled to return to acting. As he receives his third Oscar nomination, the truth behind the tragedy threatens to be revealed as we discover Adam’s childhood traumas, and his controversial mentor is implicated in the disappearance of a female student.

Spiky and grittily stylish, thriller fans won’t forget this electrifying story in a hurry.

Joanne Owen

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