Review: Crisp and interesting story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 17, 2013
Cyberstalker is a Young Adult, Teen Fiction Thriller by Jens Hildebrand. The story deals with the problems encountered by teenagers who are not careful about the information that they put up on a social networking site, and how the misuse of the information can cause total havoc in their lives and the lives of the people close to them. Lilly Walker is a normal teenager, who has many friends and likes to keep her social reputation high by making new friends on MyWorld, a social networking site. One day she gets a friend request from a boy who she does not know personally but, she accepts it thinking the more friends the better. What happens to her life from this point on is chronicled in the story.The author has been working in a school crisis and intervention team for years and that shows in his writing. The practical experience of the author in dealing with such cases is displayed all throughout this book with intelligent nudges about how to deal with such a situation if you faced it in real life.The story is very fast paced and does not lag anywhere, in action or pace. The language is very easily understood and the message conveyed is very clear. The need for recognition and popularity amongst teenagers comes across strongly and also the fact that everyone has to face the consequences of their actions. Teenagers talk more easily to their friends than family and trust their friends more than parents. The generation gap between parents and children that is slowly widening is also addressed and the need to bridge this gap is clearly identified.The story is crisp, interesting and teenagers will identify with it easily. The perils of online dating and the naivety of teenage romance are very clearly displayed in the story. All in all, the book makes for an exciting and informative read.