Book Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

 

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!


  Taking the subway. We all do it. We travel to and from our destinations oblivious to our surroundings. In this age of personal technology we watch videos, listen to music, or read a book. But can we always know who is watching? With a twelve year career with England's Criminal Investigation Department, Clare Mackintosh definitely knows police procedure and the evils people are capable of. She has taken this unsettling knowledge and has turned it into a career as a best-selling writer. This was my first time reading one of her books, and I have to say I was not prepared. In this novel Clare Mackintosh whispers in our ear telling us to beware. Because someone may be watching us.

  I See You is Clare Mackintosh's second novel, and it is published by Berkley Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. In it we are introduced to Detective Kelly Swift. After beating a prisoner in a blind rage, her superiors are forced to demote her to working England subway, the Tube, as part of her punishment. She works to nab petty crimes in the transit system and does a decent job. She misses investigating and wishes her current work would be as exciting. Then an odd incident has Kelly moving herself closer to returning to detective work. On the train one day Zoe Walker notices her face in an advertisement for a match-making site, called Find The One. Upon reading other editions of the same newspaper Zoe notices another face that belongs to a woman who was robbed of her keys on the train while asleep. Next another face alerts Zoe, this one is of a murdered woman. Both women's faces were also featured in the match-making site's ads. This leads Zoe to believe that the incidents with the two women are related to Find the One.     

  As the pieces are connected one by one Kelly manages to get herself included in an investigation into the transit crimes involving the women in the ads. She is determined to not let anymore women get hurt, as her own sister had many years prior. Zoe Walker and her family do their best to aid in the investigation, crossing paths with Kelly Swift. As Zoe nears the truth she is put into a precarious situation that ultimately threatens her daughter's life. What connection does Find The One have to the crimes being committed against commuting women? Will Kelly and the investigative team be fast enough to make sure that Zoe Walker and her daughter do not end up dead? The answers could prove more than Walker and Swift can handle.

  I See You is relentless, cold, and calculating. Clare Mackintosh does not believe in letting the reader relax for long as she speeds the pages of her novel along like a runaway train. Suspects are everywhere. No one can be trusted. And this makes for an insane and thrilling ride. Mackintosh toys with the reader's own paranoia ever-so quietly, which made me reconsider my own travels and how much I pay attention. She uses space, light, and the character's doubts to plague them with false clues created from their growing fear. With social media permeating society, Mackintosh also enters in the issue of how private one's Facebook or Instagram page should be. This book never minces words when it presents the modern day dangers of over saturating the Internet with your life and not thinking of privacy.

  I read I See You in part with the narration of actress, Rachel Atkins. Her smooth and engaging voice moved swiftly through the various characters effortlessly. She had a sense of urgency while reading that made the most tense moment even more suspenseful. Her handling of Zoe Walker's narrative sounded as if a witness was being interrogated and this novel was the recording of the session. She was fantastic presenting this story, and I look forward to more of her work.

  In the end I was left with a five star read that hit all the high points: three dimensional characters, spooky atmosphere, and an ending that was a twist within a twist. I cannot recommend this novel enough. It was a great way to have my nose in a book. This is perfect for that scary October TBR. Enjoy.     

   
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