One to look out for: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

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 takes 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 woman, and another the day after that.

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

I See You is an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning psychological thriller from one of the most exciting and successful British debut talents of 2015.

I never review a book this far ahead of publication – I See You by Clare Mackintosh will be published in hardback and for kindle on 28th July by Sphere (Little, Brown). But I was a particularly lucky person to be chosen to receive one of ten advance reading copies via THE Book Club on Facebook (many thanks Tracy) and it’s only right that I should shout about it just a little.

I’m not going to begin to tell the story – anything that might spoil it (even a little bit) for anyone else would be unforgivable. I do hope that everyone else receiving an advanced copy – I notice it’s now available on netgalley – will be equally careful. But I will say that this book has totally taken over my life for the last couple of days – I thought it was absolutely superb. 

It gripped me from the very beginning – Zoe isn’t one of those perfect people, she has her faults and she’s done things wrong in her life, but she has a good heart, and you soon get totally involved in her life and that of her family. The tension builds around them to an unbearable level as the story unfolds, and it’s totally unrelenting – one of those books that has your heart pounding as you turn the pages, wondering where the next danger is coming from and what will happen. 

The story line is totally believable, very different, and makes you feel very uncomfortable at times – but not in a bad way, just because the whole thing is so very real. The characters outside Zoe’s family are wonderful too – the investigating team with their own stories that we get to know so well, every individual that becomes a potential threat, even the homeless girl who plays the guitar at the tube station. It’s superbly written, perfectly paced… and I had absolutely no idea where it was going until the very end.

Let’s face it, this book is guaranteed to be a massive seller on the strength of the author’s previous book, I Let You Go. But some may remember from my review that I found that one a story of two halves, coming good for me only after the much talked about “twist”. No such issues here – this book grabbed me from the first page and never let go for an instant. I See You absolutely blew me away.

Clare Mackintosh spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and their three children.

Clare’s debut novel, I Let You Go, is a Sunday Times bestseller and was the fastest-selling title by a new crime writer in 2015. It was selected for both the Richard and Judy Book Club, and was the winning title of the readers’ vote for the summer 2015 selection, and ITV’s Loose Women’s Loose Books. 

Clare is the patron of the Silver Star Society, an Oxford-based charity which supports the work carried out in the John Radcliffe Hospital’s Silver Star unit, providing special care for mothers with medical complications during pregnancy.

For more information visit Clare’s website  or find her on Facebook and Twitter #ILetYouGo