Publisher's Summary: Julie Patterson is a former Miss Mississippi with a successful husband, two wonderful children, and the lavish life that many can only dream about. Her life becomes even better when her husband receives a long-awaited promotion and the family moves to a neighborhood near Washington DC. Julie quickly makes friends with neighbors, except for the woman who lives behind her, who simply stares without acknowledgment of Julie. After a while, though, the woman, Lynn, warms up to Julie, and the two form a fast friendship.
But this friendship quickly turns strange as Julie learns of Lynn's propensity to lie for attention. She and her family also notice that Lynn has gotten the same car as Julie, has begun to dress like Julie, is getting a pool just like Julie, and is consistently attempting to one-up Julie. At first everyone brushes it off, but when one lie threatens Julie's family, she begins to realize Lynn has some unknown agenda, and Julie is her target. No one else takes it seriously, and many neighbors side with Lynn, even as the situation begins to spiral out of control, until one is found on the stand for attempted murder.
Is Lynn a False Victim, or could Julie be guilty? Is there an end to the madness? Will the story end happily? You'll be on the edge of your seat as you await the answers in this gripping, psychological thriller based on a true story.
First off, I have to say that I won this book through Goodreads First Reads! I would absolutely recommend anyone to read this book!
Author Kathie Truitt wrote False Victim based on a true story. The story is of an appalling event that happened to the author and she uses false names to tell her story.
From the very beginning of the book I was instantly compelled to keep reading. As the story progressed, my emotions took over. As I was gripping the book I kept thinking, “what is this b*tch going to do next?” The things that Lynn does to Julie are more than awful! I had kept questioning myself what I would do in Julie’s situation and I don’t think I could have handled it near as long as she did. I am pretty sure that I would have snapped right from the beginning! Not only did I grow a bitter hate for Lynn, I was angry with the authorities and the laws that were in place that would/could not protect Julie and her family.
I was even thinking, “Either Julie really tries to kill this psycho, or Lynn is going to try and frame Julie for murder.” Neither would have surprised me in the least!
The worst part for me is when it really starts to affect poor little Will! I actually cried for him! Oh, My, Gosh!! And the part when she has to explain to her son that she may be going to prison, that part was a complete tearjerker. OH! It was also a huge eye opener when Julie realizes who Lynn’s biggest victims are and they will never be able to escape!
Anyways, this review is going to be extremely long because I need to vomit out everything that is embedded in my brain about the storyline. I have been dying to tell someone about this book because it is so crazy! So here it is:
The Prologue starts off as; Julie is getting ready to go to court for a charge that would ultimately cause her to go to prison if found guilty.
The Patterson family has to relocate from their hometown of Portman Mississippi, to Woodbridge Virginia to pursue Tom’s career in politics. The house that Julie finds seems to be the perfect fit for their life change.
Julie was concerned that she would not fit in in this new neighborhood. The moment the Patterson family was settled; Julie quickly met and made friends with a lot of her neighbors. There was one neighbor she was unsure about. The house behind the Julie’s up on the hill had a woman that would stand on the balcony and glare at Julie. The woman also had access to see inside Julie’s house from the balcony right through the large sunroom windows. Quite frequently she would notice this woman’s strange behavior.
One day while Julie was talking with a contractor about building a pool, the strange neighbor came running up to Julie to introduce herself. Lynn Hennessy! (Just thinking her name UGH! GRRR!)
Julie and Lynn quickly became close friends. Julie found that she had quite a bit in common with Lynn. They both shared a common tragedy that allowed them to bond in a way no one else could understand.
After spending countless days and nights bonding with Lynn over a period of time, Julie discovers that a lot of the things Lynn has told her were lies. At first Julie was hurt for being lied to, but eventually she gave Lynn the benefit of the doubt and kept up their relationship. Olivia, Julie’s daughter was the first to see something was wrong with Lynn. Lynn starts to dress like Julie, buys the exact same car and even gets the same pool that Julie wanted. When Lynn’s lies start to get out of control, is when Julie decides to distance herself from Lynn. This is when the story really starts to gets horrifying.
***So stop reading my review and start reading this book!***
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