Zoe lives an ordinary, everyday life until the day she sees a dating hotline advertisement in the paper while riding the train home from work. Not normally something she would peruse in the paper but when you see your own face staring back at you from one of the ads you sit up and pay attention! Convinced by herself and her family that it is just someone with a great likeness to her, Zoe moves on and tries to forget about the weird occurrence. A few days later she sees something that changes her mind and convinces her it wasn't a coincidence.

Clare Mackintosh has giving us a thriller with believable, relatable characters and a good case of the heebie-jeebies! A single mom working and paying bills suddenly pulled into a city-wide mystery and the one and only policewoman who believes she has a right to be paranoid is a great story. There were so many times I thought I knew who was behind all the craziness but then the next chapter would make me rethink everything!

I See You is definitely a page turner! This book had me stopping only long enough to make sure my social media securities were locked tight!

Last month I featured a week-long series on the blog where I highlighted upcoming novels I couldn’t wait to read. One day was dedicated to mystery and suspense novels and at the top of the list was Clare Mackintosh’s I See You. Hot on the heels of last year’s I Let You Go (or, at least here in the US – back in the UK it originally came out in 2014), I See You is another twisty ride with a premise that could easily have been ripped from the headlines.

Zoe is a creature of habit. Every morning she goes through the same routine, heading to the same platform to get on the subway, choosing to sit in a particular seat – her favorite. Naturally she doesn’t think anything of it and why should she? There are thousands of people who use the subway every day; why would she have to fear her routine has gone noticed?

It isn’t until she opens the paper one day that she realizes something isn’t quite right. There, in the classifieds, is an advertisement for a dating site – FindTheOne.com and while that’s not cause for alarm in itself, it’s the photo used that had Zoe do a double take. Right there, staring back at her, is a photo of herself. Her birthday isn’t for months, but one of her friends must be playing a prank, right? When she goes home and shows the photo to her partner and children, they insist that the grainy black-and-white picture does bear a resemblance, but with the woman’s back turned to the camera, it really could be anyone.

Still, Zoe isn’t convinced. Especially when each day the photo in the ad shows a different woman…women who turn out to be victims of violent crimes.

Right from the start I See You had me hooked. Zoe and her live-in (and much older) boyfriend are struggling to make ends meet. Her two grown children still live at home and are in no hurry to leave. Her boss’s moods vary wildly day-to-day, but she knows she has to take it all with a smile – she seriously cannot afford to lose her job. Zoe was entirely believable and relatable, particularly when she realized how much of her private life is easily accessible through social media sites like facebook.

Kelly, the other narrator in the novel, doesn’t have it any easier. After an altercation with an inmate left her with PTSD and a leave of absence, she’s back on the force, but in a severely demoted role. Determined to show her superiors she’s changed, that she takes full responsibility for what happened but is more than ready to return to her old job, Kelly just needs that one case that’ll change everything. Initially writing off Zoe’s concerns, Kelly soon notices a pattern between the photos and subsequent crimes and leaps at the chance to get to the bottom of it.

I know I’m being pretty vague, but I See You isn’t a book I want to spoil for anyone. As the story slowly revealed its secrets I couldn’t help but think of Law & Order – I can EASILY see this working as an episode! Several other reviewers have mentioned I See You doesn’t stand up to the success of Mackintosh’s debut, but I thought it was great! Admittedly, I haven’t read I Let You Go, so I have nothing to compare this one to, but I enjoyed it immensely.

Mackintosh doesn’t bring anything new to the genre with this book – it’s a British psychological thriller that starts out on a train, now where have I heard that before?? – but fans of quick-paced, intense reads will be sure to feel right at home here.

Mackintosh’ debut, I Let You Go was one of my favorite reads of 2016 so naturally I was so excited to read I See You but I was also slightly apprehensive. The overall plot, superb writing style and massive twist in ILYG was so stunning that I wondered if her sophomore novel would be as strong. I shouldn’t have worried one bit as ISY was brilliant and though it was different, it was just as engaging and addictive.

Zoe is just an average woman living her life and I appreciated that she’s a middle aged woman and someone any of us could know or actually be. That’s what made this book so chilling, you can really envision this situation playing out in real life. When she first sees her picture in an ad in the paper she’s confused, but not overly concerned. As she begins to put the puzzle pieces together though she becomes paranoid and very worried. I can’t say I blame her, I would be too! We’ve all experienced the feeling of being watched before, but imagining how that would feel when you’re certain the person watching you has sinister motivations is so unnerving. When you add in that this is all happening during her generally uneventful daily commute, you have a claustrophobic environment that adds so much to the intensity. Zoe is surrounded by so many people, but that doesn’t make her safe, in fact many crimes are committed everyday without anyone even noticing, creepy stuff!

Kelly is the police officer that helps Zoe and I warmed to her character just as much as I did to Zoe. She’s tenacious, determined and a total rule breaker, especially when she feels she’s doing the right thing. This is heavy on the police procedures, but it’s not dry or boring as Mackintosh’s knowledge of such things is apparent and interesting. (She’s a former officer herself) Besides being told from the two women’s point of view, there are terrifying passages from the person behind the website that add something very ominous to an already dark plot.

I’ll stop with the plot details there, but if you’re already a fan of Mackintosh you’ll like this. As I said earlier, this is different but still very solid, edgy and dark AND she’s an extremely talented writer and storyteller. She crafts very well developed characters that are also wholly relatable making for a very gripping read. I was never able to pinpoint who the baddie was though at some point I was convinced every character was involved, and the ending was fantastic, throwing a sucker punch of a twist in the final page.

This was an absolute page turner, simply gripping (and I confess, a wee bit creepy). If you like psychological suspense, this book is for you! Red herrings, twists and turns, and ending that caught me off guard - and then the author added another twist that completely blew my mind.

Everybody has their daily rituals and routines. It's easy to just do what works every single day. But what happens when someone is targeting you because they know your schedule inside and out? How can you protect yourself from something you don't even know that is happening? Zoe happens to notice an advertisement in a newspaper with her photo and a listing for FindTheOne.com. Surely it's a doppelganger, and not actually HER, right? But when she starts noticing that others on the same type of advertisements end up victims of crime she wonders, is she next?

This book is told from Zoe's perspective, the perspective of Kelly Swift, the law enforcement person who believes Zoe and notices ties to these ads. But she has her own set of issues and will need to find a way to solve this without destroying her career in the process. We also get inside the head of the antagonist here and there and this villain is creeeeepy! I'm thoroughly amazed at Clare Mackintosh's mind. I want to crawl inside of it and live there to see how this whole story came together. As a New York commuter, I completely understood that feeling of being watched on the train, the "accidental" hand brush and being protective of my own belongings while commiserating with others on the train or making my own conclusions about people based on their footwear. Taking every day routines and bringing it into a plausible, disturbing scenarios will have me questioning every person on the train from now on. I'll surely be switching up my routine. Thanks Clare, you've made me a paranoid mess.

4.25-4.5 STARS

Zoe Walker is a 40-something divorcee, the mother of two, with a devoted live-in boyfriend. She has a well-paying, albeit, mediocre job with an unsavory, stereotypical boss. Her life in London is nothing short of ordinary. Her daily routine is mundane. That is, until the day Zoe discovers her photo displayed in a classified escort service ad.

While unsettling at first, Zoe convinces herself that the photo is actually not her at all, but simply one belonging to a look alike. But when Zoe discovers that a series of murdered women all had their photos featured in similar ads, Zoe fears she’s next in line. The London underground, the escort ads and the murders are all connected in ways Zoe could never have imagined. And when the evidence begins to point Zoe in the direction of someone too close to home, a deadly game of cat and mouse quickly ensues.

In this day and age where “big brother” is always watching, comes a psychological thriller by Claire Mackintosh who takes this premise to a chilling extreme. In her latest novel, “I See You,” the author poses the following questions… What if “someone else” is also watching? What if this “someone” is a maniacal as they are clever--a person without empathy or remorse? And how much danger would you be in if this apparent sociopath sold you out to the highest bidder? With complex characters in combination with an intriguing and suspenseful storyline, “I See You” is a unique and captivating story that you won’t soon forget.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I wanted to read this book after finishing the author's other title, I Let You Go. This book kept me in suspense and guessing the whole time. At times I did think you had to suspend belief just a little, but overall I just could not figure this one out and I love that about a book. The storyline was different than many other suspense type novels which is always a welcomed change. I will continue to seek out titles by this author in the future because I fly through these books. The only thing that stopped me from giving it a 5 star rating were the times when things just didn't feel realistic to me, but it didn't affect my ability to get sucked right in to the narrative.

Clare Mackintosh returns following her smashing debut and international bestseller, (2016) I Let You Go, landing on my Top 50 Books of 2016, with a strong followup. A clever, gritty, dark and twisty psychological thriller, I SEE YOU.

Someone is watching when you least expect.

FindTheOne.com is more than a dating site. An online matchmaking service for more than dating. Find the victim, and go for the kill.

A commute to work. A dreaded task. The Tube. However, someone has hacked into the system and they are watching the daily routines of women. A devious dangerous plan. Cyber Crime, coffee shops, CCTV, money laundering, greed, stalking, adverts, a killer, FindTheOne.com, an ax to grind, payback, and murder. Trust no one.

Middle-class Zoe Walker, a mother of two teens (Katie and Justin) -divorced, and dating a guy named Simon- must take the train to work. The only jobs worth taking were in zone one; the only affordable mortgages in zone four. She could only dream of working close enough to her home to walk.

On her morning commute she is shocked to discover in the London Gazette a photo of herself in the personal ads. FindtheOne.com. What the heck? She is looking at herself. A forty-year-old woman. The woman in the advert is none other than herself. Soon other women’s photos appear, and they end in a crime.

We also are introduced to Kelly Swift, the detective who has been disgraced and back on the scene with the latest murders. Her departure four years earlier from British Transport Police’s Sexual offenses Unit had been rapid and uncomfortable. She had spent nine months off sick returning to what had been presented to her as a clean slate but was really a punishment posting.

She had thrown herself into her shift work, quickly becoming one of the most respected officers on the Neighborhood Policing Team, pretending to herself she was a uniform cop through and through when every day she yearned to be dealing with serious investigations again. Will she lose control again?

The Underground Crime soars with the investigation into crime on public transport after record increases in reported sexual offenses, violent assaults, and thefts. Terrifying enough to make you stop using the Tube altogether. Kelly is back on the case full force.

With sprinkles of spine-chilling words in italics, from the mystery person throughout the novel (the best parts). Told from three POV: Zoe, the mom; Kelly the determined police officer, and the creepy mystery person.

“I see you. But you don’t see me. You’re engrossed in your book; a paperback cover with a girl in a red dress. I can’t see the title but it doesn’t matter; they’re all the same. If it isn’t boy meets girl, it’s boy stalks girl. Boy kills the girl. The irony isn’t lost on me . . . You’re still reading. And I’m still watching.”

Zoe is worried for all the women and girls out there as well as her daughter and herself. She feels the danger. She cannot see it, but she can feel it. She knows it is getting close.

“Routine is comforting to you. It’s familiar, reassuring. Routine makes you feel safe. Routine will kill you.”

"You never know where you might meet The One. A way of introductions between London’s commuters on FindTheOne.com. A matchmaker. A broker. A go-between. To give coincidence a head start. . ."

Soon the adverts are all-consuming for Zoe, and Kelly is determined to find the killer. They work together and believe the adverts are at the heart of the series of crime against women. What is the motive and who is stalking and preparing information on each woman? Who are the buyers/subscribers? These customers come from all walks of life.

Who are these men?

“They’re your friends. Father. Brother. Best Friend. Neighbor. Boss. The people you see every day; the people you travel to and from work with. You think you know them better than that. You’re wrong.”

The ruthless psychopath is more than a matchmaker. “Someone could be downloading your profile right now. . . A facilitator for desires hidden so deep inside they’re barely acknowledged. The chance to kill someone.”

From making notes of everything from hair color, body size, duration, availability, employment, routines, timing, locations, and a rating of easy, moderate, difficult. A cost. Chilling!

As Zoe and Kelly plan an attack, they are in danger as well as Katie. Any woman on the train could be the next victim. Once the photo appears, are they worth the amount someone is willing to pay to kill?

With a cast of characters, the author leaves you in suspense as you doubt everyone close to Zoe. Who is the sinister mastermind behind this elaborate cybercrime – a deadly scheme of cat and mouse?

Mackintosh spins an elaborate set up with the slow burning background of Zoe and her family as well as Kelly. Two interesting women. The suspense builds to a fast-paced heart-pounding climax, with an array of red herrings. Readers will be mindful of their own daily routines and possibly be looking over their shoulders, or mixing up their daily grind. I know, I will. Take a different route, a different time.

In our world of identity theft, technology, social media, and cyber-crimes, a horrifying fictional account, and yet a believable one which makes it even scarier.

I See You, would make a great movie. You never know who is watching. Are we ever safe? Highly entertaining, suspenseful, and innovative.

For me, the mystery secret person and the words in italics— "the icing on the cake." The twisty finale will leave you spinning. The secret is finally revealed. I was reminded of the final episode of Season One TV Series, Secrets and Lies. Deliciously evil!

Well crafted, Mackintosh once again uses her cop procedural expertise mixed with her fine-tuned writing abilities, to keep readers glued to the pages for a strong and gritty second installment. Highly recommend both books.

A special thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a complimentary reading copy, in exchange for an honest review.

JDCMustReadBooks

This is one of those stories that has you looking over your shoulder. We live in a world that is constantly under surveillance. It seems common place to the point we tend to ignore it. Think of all of the criminals who are caught because they forgot there is the ability to provide surveillance in most every situation. Zoe finds herself stuck on a train on her way home one night. When she begins to read the ads in her paper she sees a picture of herself. There is also a website attached to her picture. Later she finds out that another woman who’s picture was in the paper ended up dead. This pattern keeps happening and she is sure that she is being targeted. I tend to do a lot of reading late at night after I’ve finished grading papers. This one had me so creeped out about being watched that I dreaded having to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I kept hearing what are normal creaks of our house, but kept imagining someone was in the house.
We have Kelly a detective who has her own issues and is actually trying to build her reputation back up. She is one person who believes Zoe. This is one of those books where things build up slowly until you suddenly realize how tense the situation is. I was unable to guess who was behind this. That is a plus for me. I hate reading a book and figuring things out so quickly. I loved this book and the way it was written in different points of view. This is a book that I will definitely recommend

Clare Mackintosh has written another great thriller, an edge-of-your-seat kind of story with twists and turns that I never saw coming. And doesn't this title, I See You, just kind of put you on edge too? Creepy!

There are all sorts of suspects and bad people that you think are the good ones. Zoe isn't sure who she can trust. I felt pretty stressed out right along with her, someone may be trying to hurt her, but who could it be?

And wow, what an ending! It's that 'didn't see that twist coming' kind of ending. I've read two of this author's stories now and she is on my must-read list. Love her stories!

A new thriller from the author of the bestseller I Let You Go. What would you do if you discovered a photo of yourself being used to advertise a business that you'd never heard of? Zoe is flipping through the newspaper during her evening commute when she spots a photo of herself in the classifieds section. It's part of an ad for FindtheOne.com, a service she never signed up for. Zoe's family assures her the photo is of someone who only vaguely resembles her. They try to convince her that there's nothing to worry about, but she can't shake the nagging feeling that something is wrong. She finds similar ads in other issues of the newspaper, each featuring a different woman. She's shocked to recognize a couple of the women as victims of local crimes. Is it a coincidence or could she be next?

The story alternates between Zoe Walker's personal life (first person) and PC Kelly Swift's investigation (third person), with occasional interludes from the villain (second person).

• Zoe is a single mom who lives with her devoted boyfriend and her two adult children. Her daughter is an aspiring actress and her son's life is finally back on track after some youthful indiscretions. Zoe is dull, but we spend the most time with her character. Her rationalization of her ex-husband's past behavior and her ill-advised antics annoyed me. There's a lot of focus on her personal problems. While the lack of action in the first half did make me question whether Zoe's paranoia was warranted, the focus on the banalities of her domestic life made the story feel slow-paced.

• Kelly takes an interest in the classified ads after Zoe alerts her to a possible connection to the case she's been working on. Finding a connection between the classified ads and other crimes could help her redeem herself. Four years ago, she was demoted from the Sexual Offenses Team to the Neighborhood Policing Team. I loved Kelly's passion for her profession and her protectiveness of her twin sister. She has a victim-focused approach to police work, but she also has issues getting too close to her cases. I was rooting for her! I wish Zoe and Kelly interacted more, because I would have liked to spend more time with her.

• The villain's sections are short, but unnerving. I love how Mackintosh writes sociopaths. It puts me on edge!

The creepiest parts take place in the claustrophobic London Underground. We never know who might be lurking around the corner, watching our every move, and waiting for the right moment to strike. The crowds and cameras in the tunnels lulled Zoe into complacency. There's a false sense of security because there are so many potential witnesses, but everyone is caught up in their own lives and gadgets, oblivious to the world around them. The popularity of social media adds extra concerns. How much of the information we voluntarily publicize can be used against us? There's also an important lesson about being vigilant and trusting your instincts. There are a few instances where women’s concerns are dismissed as paranoia or overreacting. They're asked to ignore the clear evidence in front of them. This story shows how easy it can be to dismiss our own fears, either because of outside pressure or our own desire to feel safe. On the investigative side, Kelly has to question her approach towards victims. Is a victim under any obligation to assist the investigation? Should a victim be pressured to testify against their will?

I See You uses an exaggerated situation to remind us of the risks we might encounter in our everyday lives. The paranoia and anxiety increases as Zoe goes from being unsure if she has anything to worry about to feeling hunted. It's an unsettling reminder to stay alert, trust your intuition, and be aware of your surroundings. Whether you like this one will depend on what you want out of your thrillers. My feelings for I See You are similar to my feelings for David Bell's Since You Went Away. I tend to prefer investigations or sociopaths over the parenting of teenagers, but there are always exceptions! This book was entertaining and I suspected almost everyone at one point, but I didn't feel like I was at the center of the action.

This author is a wonderful creator of suspense. This book is an intense edge of your seat thriller, that had me reading late into the night.

What an excellent, twisty thriller! I was caught up right from the beginning and enthralled until the very end.

I loved this book! So amazingly creepy and unnerving. This is definitely something that has the potential to happen! Little do you know, someone could always be watching you. On your daily commute, your place of work, anywhere.

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. One night, on her commute home, she sees her photo in a classified ad with a phone number and a listing for FindTheOne.com. The more she checks these listing, new women are featured in this same ad, but Zoe begins to realize that they all have become victims of violent crimes that continue to increase in severity, including murder. Zoe becomes convinced more and more paranoid as she she realizes she could be the next target.

That man smiling at her from across the train, could he simply be a friendly stranger? Or is he someone that has specifically chosen her and is prepared to make his next move?

This book fills you with paranoia. Checking over your shoulder wherever you go. Is someone watching?

Thanks to Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just as before, Mackintosh creates a story that seems unbelievably real. And the reason that this author is able to achieve this is through the way she creates such realistic characters. Every single person in this book has just the right amount of flaws and positives to make them come alive; I could easily see these people existing in my world. This is the author's strength and she uses it to full advantage to make this story come alive. And the story really got under my skin. It is all about the vulnerability of women to stalkers and predation in public areas, and the experiences that these women go through is something I myself have experienced; many times, when riding the subway to go to school or home, I would see someone staring at me, sometimes see them following me. And I felt completely helpless. I thought that if I said something, people would look at me as if I was crazy, because there was no way I would be able to prove that this was actually happening to me. The author did a great job of highlighting this issue, racking up the tension and making my heart pound with every encounter. I could understand Zoe's paranoia and her reckless desire to get to the bottom of this. The ending of this story was definitely a twist, but it wasn't as strong as it could have been; after having read I Let You Go, I was expecting something a bit more sensational. However, the novel as a whole was really engrossing and I definitely enjoyed the thrills it brought. Overall, another strong story from a rising thriller writer!

Zoe Walker is shocked to see her photo in a newspaper advertisement in the section where escort/dating services advertise. She certainly didn’t put it there. But wait, she sees other women appearing in these ads – and these women are involved in crimes, sometimes fatal ones. Is someone watching their every move? Will she be next?

I found this book to be a suspenseful, interesting read. I can’t imagine how I would react if I were in Zoe’s shoes. I felt quite a connection with Zoe and all that she’s going through. The book alternates between Zoe’s first person telling of her situation and the third person telling centering on Kelly, the police officer investigating these crimes. The book also goes into the background of these two main characters, which brings another level to the book.

Lots of red herrings, suspects and twists kept me racing through the pages. I thought sure I was narrowing down “who done it” towards the end, but nope, the author did quite a good job of surprising me. Believable? Maybe not completely. But that’s OK – it was a fun and thrilling book.

Recommended.

A beautifully written, engaging book with a wonderfully original plot. The ending--or near-ending--took me by surprise. It was very well crafted in that I didn't see it coming, but it did make sense. But I just had this feeling that there would be one more surprise coming; that's how much confidence I had in the author's cleverness at that point, and she definitely didn't disappoint! Just noticed that I have Clare Mackintosh's first book, "I Let You Go," still unread on my Kindle and now I can't wait to read that. Since some reviewers seemed to prefer it to "I See You," it must be really great, given how wonderful this was! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-copy of this fabulous book.

I See You by Clare Mackintosh (2 stars)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I must admit, I gave up halfway through and just started skimming through the story to see whodunit. This is slow and plodding, yet the premise of the book could have been really exciting. There were way too many details about insignificant things which just made the book boring. When Zoe and Katie run to Melissa’s house, they spend a page talking about locking the door! Storyline had so much potential, but the story just bogs down.

Well crafted, intense and incredibly riveting!

This is an engrossing hair-raising thriller that touches on just how much people are creatures of habit and how vulnerable that routine behaviour truly makes us. It is a story about jealousy, greed, manipulation, trust, deception, violence, and murder.

The characters are complex, multi-layered, and determined. The writing is well done. And the plot builds nicely and shifts effortlessly as it alternates between the heroine's point of view and the ongoing investigation, interspersed with the occasional perpetrator's point of view which continues to elevate the tension and creepiness throughout.

I would have to say this truly is a well written suspenseful mystery that highlights the perverse and nefarious side of human nature and has enough twists, turns and surprises to make it a definite must read in my book.

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Berkley Publishing, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

**I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**


This was my first read by Clare Mackintosh. I had heard raving reviews about her debut novel, I Let You Go, so when I had the opportunity to read I See You, I jumped at the chance. I was a little disappointed in this book though. I really liked the concept of the story, but I feel like it didn't really go anywhere. The idea of someone stalking you, knowing your every move, especially in today's world of social media is a real fear for me, but I think the author relied too heavily on that expected fear from readers and it quickly got old. I did find the book interesting, but it took me awhile to read it and I wasn't able to really connect with any of the characters. The whole book seemed to be monotonous; a lot of the same thing kept happening, nothing going anywhere, and when something finally did happen, I had already predicted it way before it came about. Even though the concept was good, the book needed more depth to it. I believe if there was more depth and/or character development in the story, it would have been a better read.