Tonight Puffin Books have organised a launch party for the third book in Dee Shulman's “Parallon” trilogy for young adults. Until yesterday I was planning to go. Dee and I had been fellow students and housemates back in the 1970s in York. While we were from very different backgrounds we shared a similar sense of humour and always got on well: in fact, as I remember, Dee was the only person ever to read my first novel, which I wrote I the summer of 1976. At that time I had no idea she had similar ambitions to write, and it was only a couple of years ago that we reconnected on social media and discovered that we were both children's authors.

Sadly our friendship is no more. Checking out the reviews of “Fever” on Goodreads, the first book in the trilogy, I smelled a rat. There was clear evidence that many of these were faked. When I confronted Dee about this, her response was a vehement denial (“WTF!”) that she had ever written a review on Goodreads, and a comment that “it is good to know who your friends are”. In point of fact, however, I did not accuse Dee of writing the reviews herself. Just who did is a moot point, but let me first clarify why it was my suspicions were aroused, and why I believe it is of the utmost importance that Goodreads remains an uncorrupted interface between writers and readers.

I looked at the reviews for “Fever” in chronological order. The first reviews were pretty scathing. As if in response, however, a series of glowing reviews appeared, all giving the book 5 stars. These, to me, struck a false note. I checked out the reviewers: “Bertie Bookreader”, “Catz Doc”, “Sven”, “Niki”, “Sally”. Every one of them had the address London H9: there is no such postcode. None had a photo. None had a friend. Three joined in April 2012 and posted their review on April 11. Two others also posted their reviews on the same day, Jan 13. I screengrabbed all the evidence, just in case these reviewers should just as mysteriously disappear.

The credibility of Goodreads absolutely depends on our being able to trust that we are reading the views of genuine readers. Publishing today however is an increasingly cut-throat business in which large sums are spent on marketing a limited range of books, and profit margins are threatened by discounting, the growth of e-books and self-publishing. It is naïve to suppose that publishers, authors and agents are not taking an interest in what is written on the world's largest bookreaders' site. However, it is impossible for those employed by the site to police the huge number of reviews posted there. That is why it is vital for those who use and value the site to keep a constant eye out for the fakes and alert the site owners to their presence.