I love Laura Lippman, and was super excited to get a copy of Dream Girl from William Morrow / Custom House and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. It is compared to Stephen King’s Misery and Lippman herself has referred to it as her first horror novel. 

I’m a fan of psychological suspense/thrillers, but not a big fan of horror. Also, the protagonist is a man, and one I didn’t particularly care about or for. He is an author named Gerry Anderson who has had several novels published, with his biggest success being Dream Girl, the one that everyone has fun trying to figure out the identity of the inspiration for the protagonist. Gerry is seriously injured in a freak accident, and has to be totally cared for by his assistant in the daytime and a really dim-witted nurse at night. 

Gerry gets a phone call, ostensibly from the Dream Girl herself…who could it be? One of his ex-wives? (yes, plural) Lots of strange phone calls and letters, plot twists, and surprises. I have mixed feelings about it. Again, I love Ms. Lippman, but really didn’t care for Gerry Anderson. I’m being harsh and rounding down to three stars, although many people will LOVE it, as evidenced by many glowing reviews.