New Book Alert: Double Down by CJ Axlerod; All About Aaron: The Single White Male

 

New Book Alert: Double Down by CJ Axlerod; All About Aaron: The Single White Male

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Okay judging by the subtitle of my review, the plot of CJ Axlerod's Double Down is not the most original thriller. It clearly borrows elements from the films, All About Eve and Single White Female in which a successful beautiful older woman takes an extremely ambitious and unstable woman who bears a strong resemblance to her under her wing. It isn't too long before the young upstart doesn't just want a life like her mentor, she wants to replace her mentor. 

The plot is familiar. But there is still enough suspense in Axlerod's genderbent version (casting men in the roles as the older success story and young upstart) as well as some good characterization and a few twists that make a frequent plot at least interesting.

This book's answer to Bette Davis' Margo Channing is Alex Cole, a noted action film star. Alex has been a success since his teen idol days when he appeared in the soap, Days and Nights. He has a string of successful blockbusters behind him and lives in a palatial house with a loyal staff.

Recently, Alex has been shot at by a mysterious stalker and now is afraid of appearing in public. However, he has many publicity appearances and press junkets to appear in.

Enter Aaron Peterson, assistant manager of a hotel in Naples, Florida and a YouTuber. Aaron has gained fame for his  videos where he does accurate impressions of Alex. Why he's even a dead ringer so Alex's friends suggest that he hire Aaron to impersonate the movie star at public appearances while the real deal remains hidden. Meanwhile, investigations will be made on Alex's mysterious stalker.

Aaron is eager to impersonate his acting hero and Alex sees a vulnerability in the other man that he is instantly protective of. It isn't long before Aaron's envy of Alex's life takes over and he doesn't want to just replace him at public events. He wants to replace the actor permanently.

Among the interesting approaches that Axlerod takes with the book is how Alex is written. For being a film star, he is free of ego. In fact despite the glamor job, he acts like a regular guy. He is close friends with his staff and treats them like friends and equals not underlings. He has a healthy relationship with women in which he respects them and is not only a good romantic companion but has many platonic female friends.

He knows many things about the people around him and vice versa so when Aaron at one point does something out of character for Alex while imitating him, one of his closest friends picks up on his deception right away. 

By contrast, it's Aaron who acts more like the spoiled arrogant narcissist when he imitates Alex. He treats Alex's employees like dirt, hits on female friends, and creates suspicion among Alex and his closest companions. This deliberate isolation works to gaslight Alex but also in Aaron's mind to punish him.

Aaron can't understand why someone with that much wealth doesn't use it to Lord over people. He is disappointed that Alex acts like a regular normal person. In Aaron's twisted mind, he feels that Alex doesn't deserve his wealth if he isn't going to use it. 

Other aspects to Alex's personality that Aaron exploits are his vulnerabilities. For living the life of the rich and famous, Alex has had his share of problems. His parents died when he was in his teens. His wife passed away recently and he is only just starting to get back into the dating game (though appears with beautiful starlets for publicity purposes).  In his mid-forties, Alex is starting to feel his age about appearing in the action film genre so wants to branch out into more mature fare like his latest film Hell After Dark, where he plays an anti heroic archangel. 

These issues put Alex in a vulnerable sensitive position that Aaron can easily exploit to his advantage. Aaron plays on these darker moments in Alex's past and present so he can appear like someone relatable towards him. He even shares hard luck stories about his own past so Alex can find some common ground with his new frienemy. Aaron's skilful way at manipulating Alex prove useful in his campaign to destroy and ultimately replace the actor.

There are a few plot twists towards the end in which I won't reveal but they suggest that Aaron is simply the most obvious one hiding a duplicitous nature. There are others around Alex that are manipulating him for their own gain. In the world of this actor, many are acting around him. 

The resolution calls to question many of the previous events and make the Reader wonder if Alex ever was or will be safe among the people around him again. Can he trust anyone when he finally sees them for who they really are? Aaron is the most sociopathic, but strangely enough he is honest in his sociopathy.

In an actor's life can he truly find reality and honesty? Can he find someone who isn't acting?