I See You (Mackintosh)

I See You
Clare Mackintosh, 2017
Penguin Publishing
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 978110198829


Summary
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 a 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 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. 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. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1976-77
• Raised— Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
• Education—B.A., Royal Holloway University, Surrey
• Awards—Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year; Cognac Prix du Polar Best
   International Novel
• Currently—lives in the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, England


Clare Mackintosh, a former British policewoman, is the author of the thriller novels, I Let You Go (2014) and I See You (2017). The first book was a Richard & Judy book club pick, winner of Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award (beating J.K.Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith), and the Best International Novel at France's Cognac Festival Prix du Polar awards.

Education and career
After attending Aylesbury High School in Buckinghamshire, Mackintosh went to Royal Holloway University in Surrey, taking a degree in French and management. As part of her course work, she spent a year in Paris as a bilingual secretary. Upon graduation, however, she decided she wanted to enter police work. After training, she was transfered to Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds where she was promoted to town sergeant. Later, she became Thames Valley Police operations inspector for Oxfordshire. All told, Mackintosh spent 12 years in the police force

For a number of years, Mackintosh had been writing her own blog, and in 2011 she left police work to try her hand at writing full-time. She took on feature articles as a free-lancer, became a columnist for Cotswold Life, and eventually turned to fiction. After writing what she calls "a fairly mediocre chick-lit novel"—clever enough to gain her an agent but not a publisher—she realized she needed to write on a subject she knew something about: a hit-and-run accident in Oxfordshire that took the life of a young child. Some years later, Mackintosh went through her own devastating loss as a mother. Those two tragedies led her to write I Let You Go.

Personal
In 2006, Clare and her husband Rob Mackintosh became the parents of twin boys, delivered prematurely. Their son Alex contracted meningitis and died when he was a few weeks old. When her surviving son was 15 months old, Mackintosh gave birth to a second set of twins.

Mackintosh is founder and director of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival and has become patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity supporting the John Radcliffe Hospital's work with families facing difficult pregnancies. (Adapted from Wikipedia and other online sources, including Writing Magazine. Retrieved 1/17/2017.)

Book Reviews
[A] nasty little tale by the British author (and former police officer) Clare Mackintosh.… [I]n this well-told suspense story…Mackintosh supplies refreshinglly reaslistic domestic scenes.… With the exception of a forced and truly awful ending…[the author] really hits home for daily commuters.
Marilyn Stasio - New York Times Book Review


Mackintosh understands the complexities—the endless ups and downs—of police work and family life, and she presents them with skill and sensitivity. Beyond that, her greatest gift may be her plotting. About halfway through I Let You Go, she introduced a shocking twist that turned her tale on its ear and carried it to a new level. Now, in I See You, she hits us with an equal astonishment at her story’s very end. She’s a master of surprises…[and] seems destined to do important work for many years to come.
Patrick Anderson - Washington Post
 

Mackintosh allots her characters the perfect amount of back story, allowing them to carry their own weight throughout the investigation. She also casts enough extras to keep readers guessing who could be behind these attacks…readers may find themselves wanting to reread this one.
Associated Press


(Starred review.) Although some shocking final twists don’t quite convince, Mackintosh scripts a hair-raising ride all the scarier because its premise—that our predictable routines make us easy targets—is sadly so plausible.
Publishers Weekly


[R]eaders will begin to believe that they, too, are being watched.… [A] chilling addition to the mystery and police procedural genres. The twists and red herrings will attract fans of Tana French and Lisa Gardner. —Natalie Browning, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, VA
Library Journal


(Starred review.) A well-crafted blend of calculated malevolence, cunning plot twists, and redemption that will appeal to fans of Sophie Hannah, Ruth Rendell, and Ruth Ware.
Booklist


Most readers will peg the villain early on, while the epilogue will remind them of the loose ends the author—and authorities—has left dangling. The author's meticulous detail to investigative accuracy and talent in weaving a thrilling tale set her work apart from others in the field.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, please use our LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for I See You…then take off on your own:

1. Talk about Zoe Walker, her personality, as well as her life above ground: job and family life. Does she make a credible and/or sympathetic character?

2. What about Kelly Swift. She's on a lousy assignment, what is considered a probationary period for having attacked a rapist. How would you describe Kelly? Author Clare Mackintosh was a policewoman in a former life; how much do you think her previous job influenced her portrayal of Kelly?

3. How does Mackintosh ratchet up the suspense in her novel, the element in any good thriller that keeps you turning the page?

4. Did you guess the villain's identity before the end? If so, how?

5. The novel's ending has everyone is talking. Did you see the twist coming? Do you think it's well done, or does it feel forced?

6. What about the epilogue. How does it affect your reading of the book? What feeling does it leave you with? Why might the author have chosen to include it?

7. Do you think the world is filled with the kind of evil that this and the many other recent thrillers would have us believe? Think of recent books, their victims, and sociopathic villains. Is the world this dangerous?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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