Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Title: I See You
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Sphere
Publish Date: April 4, 2017

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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…"

My Two Cents: 

"I See You" is a new thriller by Clare Mackintosh. If you're anything like me, your commute is not particular exciting. You take the same mode, go the same way, and generally follow the same schedule. You probably don't notice much as you're in your own world trying to mentally prepare for your day. If someone were following you, you'd be an extremely easy target. This book explores how something as mundane as a routine can actually be dangerous.

This thriller definitely freaked me out. While I don't take the train anymore (the train in my city is not really reliable), I know something about routine. In D.C., if you leave a few minutes later than your normal time, your entire commute can be upended so we all grasp onto our routine. Zoe does this in this book. One day she notices what seems to be a picture of herself in the local commuter rag. It freaks her out enough to contact the police, which seems to lead to a bigger issue of women being targeted on London's Underground all because of their routines.

I want thrillers to be surprising and this certainly was to me. I thought I knew early on who was involved in the crimes but I was very happy to be surprised (it's no fun when you can guess what's going to happen!). I don't want to give anything away but I did want to know more about the motivations of the people behind the crimes. I kind of got it but there was still a good deal of gray that I would have liked answered.

The writing of the book was taut. This is Mackintosh's second book (I definitely need to go back and read her first book now) and it is clear that she is going to continue to keep readers on the edge of their seats!