The Standout

By: Laurel Osterkamp

Many thanks to Author Marketing Experts for the gifted copy of this book and the stop on the book tour!

About the Book

The darker the spotlight, the longer the shadows. That’s the tension pulsing through THE STANDOUT, Laurel Osterkamp’s twisty and emotionally driven psychological thriller.

Robin Bricker enters a ballet-themed fashion competition hoping to launch her career, but an anonymous threat derails everything. A slanderous website, strange messages, and backstabbing co-contestants push her toward unraveling. Her brother Ted and the mysterious Zelda try to help, but secrets and paranoia are closing in. Robin must dig through the chaos to find the truth—even if that means questioning her own memories.

My Review

This was such a fun book to read. It really reminded me a lot of project runway, and the Jim character reminded me a lot of Tim Gunn. Anytime he spoke in the book, that’s whose voice I heard. Using that as the backdrop for a thriller was really brilliant. I’ve watched that show, so it made it really easy for me to picture what was happening and put myself in Robin’s shoes. It allowed me to focus on the notes, the website, and all of the other things that were happening to Robbin.

There are quite a few twisty twists in here that I didn’t see coming at all. That was also part of the fun in reading this book. I like to try to figure out the twists, like who is behind everything that is happening to Robin, but it’s always better when you cannot figure it all out! And in this one, I definitely did not figure it all out.

I enjoyed how the author gave us a few different points of view that quickly meshed together so that we get the complete story. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I ended up really liking how this was done.

This was my second book by this author. My first one was a romance and that was a 4 star read as well. Definitely check out this author, she writes something for everyone!

About the Author

@laurel_osterkamp is known for her emotionally rich, genre-blending stories that explore identity, resilience, and reinvention. A former high school teacher with an MFA in writing, she’s the author of BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FURIES and THE SIDE PROJECT, as well as the award-winning THE NEXT BREATH. Laurel lives in Minneapolis, where she writes full-time and balances family life with her love for books and running. Check out her website: laurellit.com.