Fan Base

Fan Base is a timely work of fiction that could easily become a person’s reality and has undoubtedly occurred many times. Online platforms and the incursion of social media into everyday lives have enriched society but have also jeopardized people’s lives and safety.

Babs, a lawyer, is dealt a harsh blow when she’s fired from the firm where she’s worked for almost two decades. Reeling from her husband Ryan’s death, Babs is not sure what her next steps will be. However, a blast from her past, Austin Lewis, runs into her at a local coffee shop and it seems like it was kismet. Or is it?

I understood Babs’ reluctance and apprehensions about revealing her relationship with Austin to her family. My sympathy was focused on her as she navigated a new but shaky path with Austin, given their very limited past as revealed through brief flashbacks. Babs also becomes the object of unwanted attention and vitriol from some of Austin’s fans. When a private citizen gets involved with a celebrity, that citizen’s life, unwittingly, becomes both fodder and property for the public domain and only whets the appetite for social sharks. Also contributing to the rising tension is Babs’ sister, Margot, who is a member of one of the more active groups on social media clocking each move by Austin.

I wanted the relationship between Babs and Austin to work because it seemed genuine and loving on both sides. I enjoyed watching their burgeoning feelings as they forged a new path. Austin was very protective of Babs and also of her two minor children and his lawyer was on speed dial for each new encroachment. I puzzled over how Babs was able to not work after losing her job, a question that was answered later in the story.

The attacks on Babs were scary and intimidating, but realistic and believable. All the measures Babs took further eroded her privacy, sanctity, and robbed her of her own peace of mind as well as isolated her even more. She eliminated all of her social media footprints, including Goodreads. That part resonated with me since I track all of my reading on Goodreads and that would be a colossal loss for me. What price was Babs willing to pay to keep Austin in her life? Her two children were impacted by all the negativity and attacks as well and I wondered where Babs would draw the line since she had to consider their welfare. Periodically, Austin seemed to forget she was a package deal.

I suspected one perpetrator for the harassment, early on, largely based on the flashbacks from Bab’s past with Austin. I thought the character’s reaction to one event was over the top and could possibly point to a propensity of actions being directed at Babs. I didn’t really grasp why that character had such a dramatic and visceral reaction to the situation. The author successfully deluded me! All the signs and red flags were there but so intrinsically embedded I missed connecting them.

When Babs finally makes her horrific discoveries, the truth is utterly devastating. The magnitude and level of betrayal and trust was astonishing and disturbing. Babs tried to process just how much of her life had actually been “real” and how much of it had been the result of manipulation and machinations of another. Obsession is a sickness that can lead to unsavory behavior as well as harm.

Although the story wrapped up well, I didn’t see the closure occurring for Babs even after she sought it from the one person who had manipulated her life so grandly. I thought the closure she sought only fed into that character’s ego and endless fascination with her.
Fan Base can serve as a testament to anyone in modern society. Be careful who you let into your personal space, remember that nothing online is sacrosanct, and that virtual reality can became the ultimate nightmare.