Dare County Library Book Club Information and Resource Center

LOOK CLOSER by David Ellis

Simon and Vicky couldn’t seem more normal: a wealthy Chicago couple, he a respected law professor, she an advocate for domestic violence victims. A stable, if unexciting marriage. But one thing’s for sure: absolutely nothing is what it seems. The pair are far from normal, and one of them just may be a killer. 

When the body of a beautiful socialite is found hanging in a mansion in a nearby suburb, Simon and Vicky’s secrets begin to unravel. A secret whirlwind affair. A twenty-million-dollar trust fund about to come due. A decades-long grudge and obsession with revenge. These are just a few of the lies that make up the complex web... and they will have devastating consequences. And while both Vicky and Simon are liars, just who exactly is conning who? Part Gone Girl and part Strangers on a Train, Look Closer is a wild rollercoaster of a read that will have you questioning everything you think you know.

1. Much of Look Closer is told from the first-person, primarily from Vicky and Simon’s perspectives. How did reading in the first-person make you feel about our narrators? Did the first-person voices make them more trustworthy, or more unreliable?
2. Discuss the multiple meanings of the title Look Closer.
3. The novel incorporates different forms of communication, including texts and journal entries. How did the use of these formats impact your reading experience?
4. Discuss the way that different characters use disguises, physical and otherwise, taking a particular look at the importance of Halloween in the novel. Which disguises proved most successful?
5. Is there a clear villain in Look Closer? If so, who do you think it is, and why? Did your ideas about who was a villain change as you read?
6. Is there a clear hero or heroes in Look Closer? If so, who do you think it is, and why? Did your ideas about who was a hero change as you read?
7. Were you surprised by the ending of the novel? If so, what were your predictions while reading, and how did the final twists differ from expectations?
8. Simon is a law professor, but he has a unique idea of justice, comparing his actions to those of a soldier in war. What moral codes do each of the characters live by? How are they similar or different?
9. If you had to summarize the prevailing motivation or emotion in the book, what would it be? Revenge?  Justice?  Greed?  Guilt?