I See You

by Clare Mackintosh

"The author of the smash bestseller, I Let You Go, propels readers into a dark and claustrophobic thriller, in which a normal, everyday woman becomes trapped in the confines of her normal, everyday world... Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her... It all starts with a classified ad. During her commute home one night, while glancing through her local paper, Zoe sees her own face staring back at her, a grainy photo along with a phone number and listing for a website called findtheone.com. Other women begin appearing in the same ad, a different one every day, and Zoe realizes they've become the victims of increasingly violent crimes--including rape and murder. With the help of a determined cop, she uncovers the ad's twisted purpose...a discovery that turns her paranoia into full-blown panic. For now Zoe is sure that someone close to her has set her up as the next target. And now that man on the train--the one smiling at Zoe from across the car--could be more than just a friendly stranger. He could be someone who has deliberately chosen her and is ready to make his next move

• ISBN10: 1101988290
• ISBN13: 9781101988299
• Publish Date: 21 February 2017 (first published 28 July 2016)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Imprint: Berkley Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I finished I See You right before I left for work, and Mackintosh had me a little creeped out and looking over my shoulder. So, bravo! That's what a good psychological thriller does.

Imagine Zoe's surprise when she sees her own picture in an advertisement for FindTheOne.com, some sort of dating site. Zoe then realizes that some of the women pictured have been victims of violent crimes, and this is where we take a turn to the sinister side of things.

I love, love, loved! I Let You Go, so I had expectations for this book. This was a much slower build, but Mackintosh did an amazing job building the characters and ratcheting up the paranoia as she dropped breadcrumbs for me to follow. I will admit, I was distracted by the red herrings, and the last 10% of the book!!!! My head was spinning for all the reveals. I did not see that coming at all. *Applause, applause* I feel, that Mackintosh's background is such an asset in her thrillers. She brings all the crime drama to another level, which definitely adds to the overall reading experience. She also does an impressive job building the mood. I felt the fear, the tension, the frustration. I felt it all, and my heart was definitely pounding out of my chest during the last bit. The ending - left he hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

For me, this was another fantastic thrill courtesy of Ms. Mackintosh, and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy

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[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


I've only heard wonderful things for Clare Mackintosh's writing. Not having read I Let You Go, I had no idea what to expect from this author, but I was so impressed and intrigued with what I got!

I see you. But you don't see me.

When Zoe sees her face on an ad in the newspaper for the website findtheone.com, she's creeped out. She's convinced it's her, but her family thinks it's someone who looks like her. The next day, another woman appears, and so on. What happens when one of these women ends up murdered?

I admit, it took me a bit to get completely hooked on the story. Our main character Zoe lives a very normal, boring, relateable life. There wasn't anything outstanding about Zoe and if it had been just her POV, I would have been very bored with the story seeing as a lot of her thoughts were monotonous. Thankfully, the author introduced Kelly, who's a police officer investigating Zoe's case and soon, all the cases from the women featured in the ad. Kelly was a strong and level-headed character that I instantly liked. Her POV was much more entertaining and intriguing.

There are short chapters that give more insight to why the website was created. They are also the creepiest chapters of the story! They make you second-guess everything you do, where you go, your routines, what you post on social media, and just every aspect of your life. Especially for those who use public transportation all the time. This book will make you rethink public transportation and everyone who looks at you while commuting.

How many of you are being followed? Would you even know?

The last two pages of the story left my mind going crazy with the sudden twist that Clare introduced! I was so shocked! I remember screaming, "WHAT?!" and re-reading the last few paragraphs. So shocked, you guys! It's safe to say I did not see that coming at all.

I believe readers will be impressed by this story. You will be second-guessing everybody and wondering what the heck is going on, why the person is doing what they are doing, who is the person!!! The tension that the author slowly built up for the climax kept me on edge!

I See You is a chilling and powerful psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! It is slightly slow but the tension and the shocking ending makes it all worth-while!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five reasons to make I See You your next read:

Some stories draw the reader immediately in and I SEE YOU did just that. We meet Zoe Walker as she takes the tube home from a thankless job. As she thumbs through the newspaper she comes across a classified ad from FindTheOne.com with a phone number and a grainy photo that looks an awful lot like her. Meanwhile, Kelly a police officer working the tubes struggles for a second chance after crossing the line. These two characters will converge when a theft case and Zoe's concerns over the strange ad bring them together. The tale that unfolds had me flipping the pages as we are introduced to the thoughts of the person running FindTheOne.com

I loved the different threads that allowed us to get to know both of these strong female characters, their families, and co-workers. While some may feel these side threads slowed the story, I felt it allowed me to connect and grounded the tale.

The premise of this case, which becomes a murder mystery is clever and based in enough reality to be downright scary. As someone who doesn't like going to strange places and prefers the comfort of routine and familiarity, the concept is downright scary. While the threat is a well known Mackintosh weaved in modern technology and our own habits to ramp up the suspense and danger. The threat is real, and the author reminds you that no one is safe.

I loved being a part of the case both professionally along with Kelly and the Homicide Department and tagging along with Zoe as she begins to find connections. The story delivered twists, turns, and red herrings that had me enthralled.

I See You was a well written, fast-paced tale that shares all angles of a case that will have you looking over your shoulder...because someone is watching and waiting.

Mild Trigger Warning- the book discusses sexual assault and while not detailed one of the characters suffers from PTSD and flashbacks.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[stressedrach]

I read I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh and really enjoyed it so it was inevitable that I was going to read her new book soon after it was released. I am so glad I did.

The books main character is Zoe Walker and flips between her and PC Kelly Swift who also plays a big part in the book, there is also a page or two after every few chapters with the website owner’s twisted point of view.

Zoe commutes to work via the London Underground, she takes the same route every day as do many other ladies. Just by chance she looks at a local London newspaper from front to back and comes across the classifieds, not really looking for anything, just flicking though and spots a photo of herself, with a website and phone number attached. The website leads to a blank page with a box for a password in the centre of the screen. The phone number does not work.

She didn’t put her photo in there, is it even her photo or someone that looks very similar to her? She doesn’t know but has a gut feeling it is her. She shows her family the advert and they tell her that it is probably someone that looks like her too and brushes it off. Zoe is not convinced though and after a woman gets murdered she digs into it more, discovering that the victim’s photo was also in the same classifieds a few days before. She finds a stack of newspapers from various days before and checks the classifieds, different day a different woman. The problem is these women are all starting to have things happen to them.

But is Zoe just being paranoid? Of course she isn’t even though the police kind of brush her off to start with. PC Kelly Swift gets involved as there are links to the paper photos and the murders and other nasty things that have happened and later joins the MIT team just for this one case.

They manage to crack the password but it isn’t that easy, someone seems to be getting information that the police are on their tail and quickly removes the police account to the website. When they do finally get in, they are sent on a wild goose chase trying to find the person behind the website. In th mean time more things are happening and Zoe is getting more worried about what is going on, worried about her safety, and who may be following her but also worried for her daughter Katie who also travels via the London Underground to get to work. She is worrying more and more each day. It goes from one possibility to the next, it is chilling.

This is an absolutely fantastic book to read, especially if you like psychological crime thrillers/suspense’s as you will be kept on the end of your seat until the very end. Just when you think you have the person behind the website, you realise you were very wrong. When the person behind it is revealed I warn you, you will be in for a huge shock.

The book flowed well, I was absolutely hooked and could not put it down, just one more chapter I would say to myself and an hour later I would still be reading it. I really liked Zoe’s character, I could relate to her, with the niggling feeling at the back of her mind. I also liked PC Kelly Swift, she was a determined, dedicated police officer and although things happened in the past she was trying so hard to build her career back up, to be trusted again and I think it finally worked after this case.

There is some violence towards the end, but it needed to be there for obvious reasons which you will discover when reading it and lots of twists and turns. I think this book certainly proves you cannot trust anyone.

The ending has been left open so there may be a sequel in the works. I do hope so!

[Leah]

I See You is one of those books that will leave you gasping - literally. I didn't know what to expect going in - Clare Mackintosh is highly, highly regarded among critics and fellow authors, but for once all the high praise really did this book justice, it is SO well deserved. This book was phenomenal, and very much is a contender for my top ten books of 2016. It absolutely blew my mind - the plot, the twists, the characters, but most of all that ending, that left me open-mouthed in shock and absolutely desperate for a sequel at some point in the future. THIS is how you write a thriller, pay attention thriller writers, because this is how you do it, this is how you nail a psychological thriller.

No matter what I will say about this book I will never do it justice. It's so tight, so taut, very edge-of-your-seat stuff, I started it one evening and barely put it down, until I had finished, sitting in shock for at least fifteen minutes just trying to process what I had read. But it was also so scary! Because it's so true, that what happens in I See You could so very, very easily happen in real life, with the way people are nowadays, glued to their mobile phones, always distracted, never having their wits about them, and that's perhaps the scariest part. This book could be a manual for any one looking to cause some serious trouble, because everything in this book could legit happen in real life. I will never, ever look at a ride on public transport in the same way again, that's for sure.

The book is told from three points of view which really helps keep the pace going - there's Zoe, a mum, who finds her picture in the paper that kind of sets everything off; then there's Kelly, investigating the case and then there's the unsub, I had no idea who the unsub was, and it genuinely left me stunned to find out. There really was such a good pace to the book - I liked Zoe, though I liked Kelly more and I really hope Clare develops that part in future novels - brings back PC Kelly Swift and DI Rampello, sets them away on their journey the way many crime/thriller writers have. She's set them up as a good team.

This book genuinely astounded me. I pride myself on being able to tell who the bad guy is, but Clare got me here. She absolutely mugged me. And I loved it, because I do believe the best thriller writers are the ones who make you feel stupid for not knowing what's going on, because I HATE guessing what's occurring, and I love being surprised and Clare had me like a goodun. This was an astonishing read. Book three now, please, Clare? Whenever you're ready. And a sequel at some point, please and thank you.

[pamela]

I had heard such wonderful things about Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go (which I have yet to read), that I jumped at the opportunity to read I See You which promised a just as interesting premise, and had been described as “an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning psychological thriller”.  A quarter of the way through the book, and I was still waiting for something to happen.

Instead of a thrilling, fast paced jaunt through a dark underworld I was treated to long passages about boring police procedure, parenting problems, financial accounting and misogynistic bosses.  Every character was hinting at something, but nothing really progressed or went anywhere.  I didn’t care who was hungry and who had skipped dinner; the entire first quarter read like a boring treatise on everyday life.  I found myself skim reading just to get it over and done with.

The pace certainly doesn’t pick up much as the narrative progresses.  There was no sense of impending dread, no excitement, no tragedy. The characters lacked depth and I felt myself completely unable to engage in their lives. Everyone felt like caricatures of their archetypes. Teenagers with 'you wouldn't understand man' attitudes, unfulfilled housewives, philandering ex-husbands, struggling writers and troubled cops with tragic pasts and rogue ways who take issue with authority. The victims were nothing but faceless plot elements, something that I abhor in crime writing. I should feel sympathy for the victims, and sadness at their misfortunes, but instead, they were just names with no voice. There was nothing new in I See You, and nothing that made me desperate to read on or invest myself in the characters’ lives.

But worst of all? It was predictable! Everything followed on rails to a formula that was all too familiar. There were an appropriate number of red herrings from the 3/4 mark so you knew who to eliminate as a suspect. When the antagonist surfaced they were given little to no legitimate and believable reason and ability for the crime, and the final plot twist was given away by a rather jimmied in explanation of a particular character near the end of the novel. This explanation (without giving anything away) highlighted a certain skill set making the 'surprise' ending exceedingly unsurprising, while also managing to invalidate some of the descriptions of the character earlier in the book.

I really wanted to like I See You. I might even still try I Let You Go. You can't become such an overnight sensation if you have nothing going for you. Maybe I just started with the wrong book?  I did see a talented writer buried beneath all the formula. Clare Mackintosh 's dialogue was convincing and her prose was fluent and interesting to read in and of itself. But for me the plot never came to life. It didn't build, it lacked depth and the characters weren't particularly likeable or interesting. I didn't hang on the story, desperate to read on and know what happened. I didn't sound out the words in my head or savour them. Instead, I speed read the book in a day. It was just good enough for me to want to finish it, but not good enough for me to care that I had.

Review also on my blog: http://iblamewizards.com/review-see-clare-mackintosh/