Book Review: I See You by Claire Mackintosh

My personal book review of I See You by Claire Mackintosh – a gripping psychological thriller.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a book review so I thought it was time for another. I picked up I See You by Claire Mackintosh (and another book, Miss You, which I’ll also pop a review up for) recently at WHSmith, as I realised it had been ages since I’d bought a new book.

It was also not the type of book I’d normally read, as usually I’m set in my ways with chick lit books or zombie novels, so this thrilling psychological thriller was new to me.

The blurb reads –

You do the same thing every day.

You know exactly where you’re going.

You’re not alone…

When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it’s there. There’s no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She take it home to her family, who are convinced it’s just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different women, and another the day after that.

Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is it someone keeping track of every move they make…

My Review of I See You by Claire Mackintosh

The first thing that attracted me to this book was the setting of the story. It’s based all around a women’s usual commute around London which is something I’m used to doing myself. The story actually brought up some interesting points about how we never really pay attention when on our regular commute and how easy it is for someone to be watching us or to steal from us.

I thought by reading a story based around something I know of would give it an interesting twist and it did. It definitely felt just that bit more gripping to me to know that anything that was happening in the book could happen to me – the whole premise behind what was happening was entirely realistic.

This story was gripping and I couldn’t put the book down once I got past the first few chapters. The first few chapters were setting the story and focused on different crimes that were related. This meant that for a while there were a lot of different characters and names to remember. I found this a little confusing, so I was pleased when the story faltered out of this to focus on the main characters.

The story also kept me guessing until the very end. Throughout the book there were tiny parts that were added to pad out the story that didn’t really make sense at the time. Although looking back now and thinking about it more, I can see where each little thing slotted in – smart!

The characters were likeable too. I especially loved the fact that the main women of the hour were such strong characters. A lot of the story was based around men preying on unsuspecting women, but to read the main characters as being such headstrong women was refreshing.

Final Thoughts

Finally, the ending. I liked the ending and liked that it tied up all ends nicely. I did find some of it a little unrealistic, but it all made sense. Had it ended any other way I would have finished the book feeling disappointed and let down.

All in all, it was a really interesting and gripping read for my first thriller novel. I’ll certainly be reading this type of genre a lot more often.