Review: 'The Follower' by Nicholas Bowling

Twins, mountains, weird behavior and cults... what else could I possibly want from The Follower? I was sucked in by the blurb straight away and then the cover was just a lovely bonus on top! Did The Follower deliver everything I hoped for? Kinda. Was it a fun reading experience? Sure! Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 7/20/2021
Publisher: Titan Books

When her twin brother goes missing in Northern California, Vivian Owens follows his trail to the town of Mount Hookey, home to the followers of Telos: a mountain-worshipping cult that offers spiritual fulfilment to those who seek it.
 
While trying to navigate the town’s bizarre inhabitants and the seductive preaching of the initiates of Telos, Vivian will have to confront
questions about herself, her family, and everything she thinks she knows about the world. She quickly realises that her search is about far more than her missing brother – it is a quest for the secret of happiness itself.
 
To that end, there is only one question she needs to answer: what is really at the top of Mount Hookey?

The line between someone with your wellbeing in mind and someone who wants your money is thin in the wellness industry. As I mentioned in my review for The Hive, there is a big desire out there to convince you to spend as much money as possible in order to be happy, healthy, and beautiful. And because we all do want those things we are easy to exploit. In The Follower Bowling takes a closer look at these selfhelp/wellness/religious groups that sell lectures and retreats meant to help you reach enlightenment, whatever that might mean for that particular group. Borrowing elements from Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and whatever else is of interest, it can be hard to tell what exactly these groups are hoping to achieve, aside from your credit card details. Is it obvious that I'm skeptical? I love books that explore this, both in fiction and non-fiction, so that aspect of The Follower was right up my alley, even if the novel wasn't quite as sharp in its depiction or analysis as I would have hoped. That Bowling doesn't answer the question for us, doesn't draw a clear line between "it's all real" and "it's all fake", however, was exactly what I had hoped for.

Vivian is looking for her brother, Jesse, and literally everything has already gone wrong before she even makes it to Mount Hookey, the last place he reported back from. She has had everything stolen, phone, money, passport, and is now adrift in this odd world of crystals, robes, and dowsing rods as she tries to figure out where her brother has gone and how he became sucked into Telos. Telos itself is a Greek word, meaning 'end' or 'purpose' and that is what the Telos followers in The Follower look for: the reason for it all. Has Jesse found it? Will Vivian have to find it in order to find him? From this premise, Bowling's The Follower spins a tale that moves between critiquing the self-help industry to a thriller that moves at breakneck speed. At its heart is the relationship between Vivian and Jesse, something which did land despite the fact we don't really know Jesse. There were some scenes, like the incident with the foal, that shake the reader out of complacency and might strike some as a step too far, while others, the descriptions of the Telos worshippers, that almost felt too tame for me. The Follower has a strong ambiance, rooted in the presence of the mountain, the dingy light in motel rooms, and the humming of believers. It doesn't always move beyond that, which is a shame.

This is my first read by Nicholas Bowling, although his Witch Born has been calling my name for a while! So many aspects of The Follower were thought out and planned well, while some perhaps needed a little extra push. I saw the big twist coming from the beginning, due to a number of very (perhaps unintentionally) heavy hints, which didn't take away my enjoyment but did mean I wanted Vivian to catch up with me. I wasn't as in the moment with her, because of that, as I would have liked. Vivian is oddly detached in this novel, consistently getting hurt, completely disconnected from the "normal" world, veering between belief and skepticism. The characters around her feel a little pastiche, the Cop, the Gullible Housewife, the Distracted Mother, the Teen Rebel. Again, while this didn't necessarily stop the enjoyment of reading The Follower, it did limit it to a certain extent. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Witch Born and Bowling's future books, even if The Follower didn't hit every note for me. 

I give this novel...

3 Universes!

The Follower is an intriguing novel with a fascinating premise. While not everything worked out perfectly for me, I was gripped until the end.