Synopsis
To achieve greatness he must sacrifice everything.
Discover 2024's most original new thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession. At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he's given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost.
Because Adam subscribes to "the method". It's the secret that the world's greatest actors swear by - digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life. And Adam's greatest trauma is worse than most. Losing his mother when he was just a boy. A forced choice between the success he craved and the girl he loved.
And that night back in drama school, the night of Adam's darkest secret, when everyone knows about the dead body, but nobody suspects the truth.
And then he gets a message: someone knows. And if they tell, everything Adam's worked for will come crashing down.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241658222
- Number of pages: 384
- Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 35 mm
- Weight: 611g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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not for me
Sadly this book wasnt for me. Im sure it was supposed to be pretentious with irritating characters, and maybe the author did it too well as I really lost... READ MORE
A breathtaking thriller that oozes menace
“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 ... READ MORE
Dripping with tension
The Actor is, unsurprisingly, focused on an actor, Adam Sealey. He is the sole narrator in our book, switching from the present, where he is on the verge o... READ MORE
An intense read
"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 a... READ MORE
Lacked punch, real bite
3.5 stars from me. This journey into the actors' method and psyche that fuels that drive wasn't quite as I expected. The cult like devotion and focus was i... READ MORE
A compelling psychological drama
‘To Achieve Greatness, He Must Sacrifice Everything’ - cover tag line.
My thanks to Michael Joseph Penguin Random House U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley o... READ MORE
Dark and theatrical
Simply brilliant. I’ve relished every page of this tense thriller set in the world of acting. Adam, the central character, has just delivered the perform... READ MORE
A slow burner
3.5 rounded down
After a series of issues, Adam Sealey’s acting career and reputation, nosedives.. However, now he has a real shot at achieving his drea... READ MORE
Dark and suspenseful page turner
This is a well plotted psychological thriller which looks at how far an actor can go to get into character for an acting role. I found the exploration of m... READ MORE
Disturbing theatrical psychological thriller
A Woodsman cutting down his hanged wife; a barely adult man cutting down his hanged friend. The latter experience drives the realism of the former, for th... READ MORE
A tense read
I was really looking forward to reading this as I love psychological thrillers & I adore the theatre/films. I thought this book would be an excellent marri... READ MORE
When The Secret History meets Whiplash
This book is like a cross between Donna Tartt’s "The Secret History'' and the 2014 film Whiplash. I haven't been this enthusiastic about a book since I rea... READ MORE
This is as brilliant as everyone says!
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 coul... READ MORE
The Actor
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... READ MORE
Gripping. From Page 1. Loved it
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 th... READ MORE
A Disappointing Read
I found this a very slow read and very difficult to get in to .I didn't really think it was a psychological thriller at all .As the title indicates it is a... READ MORE
Beautifully Written Thriller
Adam Sealey finally has an Oscar within reach. However, will his dark secrets from the past cause this to come crashing down?
This wasn’t anything like ... READ MORE
Raw, intense, powerful and compelling.
In The Actor Chris MacDonald shows how well he understands the actor’s drive for that ultimate performance and his central character, Adam Sealey, devotes ... READ MORE
Dark thriller set in the world of acting
Life appears to be going well for Method actor Adam Sealey, an Oscar frontrunner on the back of another stellar performance in his latest film. However, th... READ MORE
A deep, dark dive into the human psyche
This is a deep, dark dive into the human psyche - brilliantly unpredictable, in turns both fascinating and abjectly horrifying.
To be, or not to be, is... READ MORE
A compulsive read
I found this title a little confusing at first and was not sure it was going to engage me BUT as I tuned in to the time frames and began to understand how ... READ MORE