The Body Double

A Novel

By: Emily Beyda

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

A dark, glittering debut novel echoing Hitchcock's Vertigo, The Body Double is the suspenseful story of a young woman who is recruited by a stranger to give up her old life and identity to impersonate a reclusive Hollywood star.

A strange man discovers our nameless narrator selling popcorn at a decrepit small-town movie theater and offers her an odd and lucrative position: she will forget her job, her acquaintances, even her name, and move to Los Angeles, where she will become the body double of the famous and troubled celebrity Rosanna Feld. A nervous breakdown has forced Rosanna out of the public eye, and she needs a look-alike to take her place in the tabloid media circus of Hollywood. Overseen by Max, who hired her for the job, our narrator spends her days locked up in a small apartment in the hills watching hidden camera footage of Rosanna, wearing Rosanna's clothes, eating the food Rosanna likes, practicing her mannerisms, learning to become Rosanna in every way. But as she makes her public debut as Rosanna, dining at elegant restaurants, shopping in stylish boutiques, and finally risking a dinner party with Rosanna's true inner circle, alarming questions begin to arise. What really caused Rosanna's mental collapse? Will she ever return? And is Max truly her ally, or something more sinister? The Body Double is a fabulously plotted noir about fame, beauty, and the darkness of Hollywood.

Not worth it

I kept listening hoping the ending would make this book worth reading it. it didnt.

Long and Boring

Was waiting for something to happen and it never did. Many hours of my life wasted.

Don’t Waste Your Time

This book had so much potential but never reached it. It spent so long talking about boring non important details that you get lost in the information. All for the ending to come jumbled and misunderstood. I had to read an online synopsis to understand what actually happened.

Way too long

This book could have been condensed into 5 chapters. I kept waiting for something to happen, and fast forwarded through a lot of it.
I was very disappointed when something actually happened in the very last chapter.

Pass!

Writing was basic while leaning toward exhausting. If you must, listen to chapters 1 & 2 and then the last chapter. That will at least give you back 9 hours of your life.