Adam Sealey is on the verge of attaining the prize that all actors aspire to win. An Oscar. His latest film has already won him notice and accolades, worth it even considering what it cost him. You see, he subscribes to what they call" the method" where you reach inside yourself to bring your own personal trauma and experiences to give life to the part you are playing. Dangerous and scary stuff but it is what he was taught many years ago by his former mentor Jonathan Dors who he also worked with during his hopefully Oscar winning performance. But that past, his drama school days, were not without other controversy. But that was all back in the past, as painful as it was at the time. Until the day that Adam receives a message. A threat. Something from his past, something he was trying to forget, something he has worked hard to leave behind. Something he did. His darkest secret. Well... someone knows, and they are about to tell all... As we follow Adam in the present, the near past and the time at drama school, we start to get a feel for the man he is. For what drives him. And at what expense. He is a very complex character and we see how that was built up during his time at drama school. Especially around the manipulation and competition that was there. If that stuff really does go on, to that extreme, it's terribly shocking. And the "method" well, isn't that all a bit intense? And easily taken to extreme, which is it, often. And the secret in the past that is hinted at and guessed at all the way through. One that has been with him since it happened. Affecting him. But at the same time, he also used it to hone his craft. It's hard hitting. No punches were pulled, and often graphic in nature. It shocked me on occasion. and I'm not one easily shocked. As you can imagine, it's character driven and the characters are all delicious and all play their parts very well indeed. It's toxic and compelling and shows the length people can go and the costs to them and others. It's slow burn but it gets under your skin quite quickly. It's a ride you'll want to get off but you're strapped in for the duration...

Gifted in return for an honest review. Everyone I turned, someone was reading this book and all I could see were positive reviews as far as the eye could see. This made me a bit dubious. No book is universally loved, of course it isn't. But this one seems to be. So I went in cautiously, as very often, the big books everyone raves about fall a bit flat for me. But I needn't have worried. This is as brilliant as everyone says. I have never read anything like it. It chips away at you, at the surface, slowly, bit by bit, but very effectively. It wasn't anything like I imagined. I thought it was a thriller, and to begin with, I thought I'd made a mistake, thinking it was more of a literary piece. I thought it would be this straightforward thriller with some sort of crime that someone was trying to escape from. But it's simpler and more complex than that. It is such a brutal study of the human psyche, and is just so powerful. It is a thriller, and a horror, a literary piece, a forensic analysis, a contemporary fiction, a psychological thriller, a romance - it's just got everything thrown in, and boy does it work! Adam isn't a particularly likeable character for me. I found him too arrogant and too...I wanted to say "hoity toity" but wasn't sure if anyone else would know what I meant. Like, because he's a method actor, his talent is worth more than others. But the other part of me feels sorry for him because there's obviously been some trauma in his life that still haunts him and it's hard to go day-to-day with that kind of paranoia. So I was conflicted. In the end, whilst I still felt he was a bit above his station, by learning about what things he went through when he was a child and in education, I could see many different sides to him and on the whole, he is a wonderfully created character. Of course there are a lot of other characters, in his past and present. I won't name them all as we'll be here for hours. But I suppose you've got Nina, his best friend from drama school who has equally gone through some things, and is trying to be friends with Adam the person, as well as Adam the actor, and it's the latter that is causing all the problems. And then Jonathan, his sort of mentor at school. He continues through into the present scenes, and he is just a dream of a character. That's not to say I liked him, because I didn't - I won't go into the whys and whatfores - but he is so juicy, I could imagine he would be the perfect character for an actor to actually get into and explore, as there's so much more underneath the surface with him. The main narrative is linear and in the present, leading up to that year's Oscars (where Adam is nominated), and just after. But unsurprisingly, it's not as simple as that, and chaos ensues. Every other chapter is a flashback of when Adam was at drama school. I thought the present scenes were psychologically brutal enough, but the flashbacks are even....I was going to say 'worse', but that makes it sound bad, which this definitely isn't. But it's harder in the flashback scenes, the characters, the action, the emotions, everything is very fierce. I felt this format was a great way of showing how the past, present and future are all interlinked, and how you can use your memories to impact your current actions, for better or for worse. It is a slow burn, a slow thriller. The very definition of a psychological thriller, which I love. It feels good and enjoyable and you're having fun reading it, but when you think deeply about it, you can feel it really getting under your skin and it becomes this really powerful story to read. It becomes more than a page with some words, those words hold a strength of their own that you're battling with. As well as its main thriller elements, it is a real discovery of human nature, of love, grief, dreams, the extremes you will go to reach them, and what you're willing to sacrifice. It's not the easiest book to read by any stretch of the imagination. It's raw and harsh and sad and powerful and angry, but it has this...it has this aura about it. It's a book where you forget you're reading a book and instead you're living with these people and feeling what they're feeling. It has a power over the reader that you want to escape from but stay in. It's a really beautifully written piece. How to really give justice to this book? I think you get the most out of it by reading it yourself. It's the kind of book that'll grab you, and mean something different to every reader. So I've said my bit, it's now time for you to meet The Actor.

"The Actor" by Chris MacDonald is such an intense read. At the beginning you aren't that bothered whether the main character Adam Sealey is going to win an Oscar but towards the end you have ridden an emotional rollercoaster with him and really care about his wellbeing and outcome. The book cleverly withholds information so that it keeps your interest piqued. It also gives an insight into the involved work and lengths that some actors go to in order to deliver a "real" performance.

Wow. This story leapt out and grabbed me from the opening pages and it wouldn’t let go till I’d torn through the book from cover to cover!! Loved how the author lets you live in both the past and present, longing for each while revelling in the other. There were numerous characters I couldn’t help hate but also be compelled by all at once. And the twisted romances and dalliances all came together to keep the pulse racing. First time I’ve read this author and impressed, ready for the next one!!!!

“I answered and for a moment there was nothing. A click on the end of the line. Static silence. Then a voice I hadn't heard for two decades. A voice that couldn't be on the end of a phone because dead people can't speak. 'How could you?' it said.” Sinister, haunting, addictive and utterly mesmerising, The Actor is a riveting thriller with a bigger Oscar night controversy than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. I was in its thrall from the start, my heart pounding with nerve-shredding chills. It was so tempting to stay up all night and read this in one sitting, but, in the end, sleep got the better of me and I finished it quickly the next day. Adam Sealey has given the performance of a lifetime and finally has the Oscar he’s dreamed of in his reach. All of his hard work and sacrifice looks like it's about to pay off. Because Adam is a student of ‘the method’, an acting approach that means digging into your greatest trauma and pain to breathe life into your character. Adam was taught ‘the method’ at drama school by his controversial mentor Jonathan Dors. And Adam’s greatest trauma is also his darkest secret. A secret that someone is now threatening to expose and bring his world crumbling down. “It felt magnificent…there’s an extraordinary rush in wilful self-destruction. Destroying the sacred self seemed to me the ultimate form of empowerment.” Wow. Just, wow. When I was asked to be one of the first bloggers to read this book I was excited yet totally unprepared for the rollercoaster I was about to ride. Skillfully written, fast-paced, tense and twisty, Chris MacDonald had me in the palm of his hand from the first page until the last. MacDonald goes deep in this book, exploring the darker side of ‘the method’, and asking if it could be damaging to the mental health of those who use it. His examination of the correlation between unresolved trauma, mental illness and ‘the method’ brought to mind how Heath Ledger immersed himself in the role of The Joker, and the discussions that this could have played a part in his untimely death. Told in dual timelines, the story moves between past and present. In the present Adam is trying to find out who knows his secret and is threatening to reveal it, the past tells us the story of Adam’s days at drama school and events leading up to the night that still haunts him, long-held secrets are slowly revealed. My mind was a whirlwind of questions and I had no idea what would happen next as MacDonald pulled the rug from under me again and again. And that ending! I’m still reeling from the jaw-dropping shock of it all. "The ripples of what I did had turned into high-walled waves." The characterisation in this book is nothing short of spectacular. Adam is a fantastic protagonist. Flawed, fractured, tortured and troubled, he’s living a life most of us can’t imagine, yet MacDonald succeeds in making him totally relatable. He’s a lost soul who is looking for acceptance and to make his mark, but as he falls deeper into ‘the method’ he loses his way, turning his back on those who are truly there for him to chase his dream. We see that life has become one long acting role and Adam is either unwilling or unable to be himself, always searching for the right character to inhabit in every situation. It seems like he’s lost who he is in the many characters he’s inhabited during his career. The supporting cast were equally as compelling. Standout characters for me were Jonathan, who was the perfect, elusive villain, and Nina, who was an ideal leading lady. I was really rooting for Nina and Adam and loved their relationship. A breathtaking thriller that oozes menace and foreboding, The Actor is sure to be a huge hit in 2024. Add it to your TBR now!