Bookworm

I never read books outside of school, I despised reading, it felt more like a chore than an experience. However, since lockdown began in March I was searching for new hobbies to free me of the boredom, and I am pleased to say I found a love for reading after years of despising it.

I found ‘I am watching you’ on Amazon. It had really good reviews so I thought to give this psychological thriller/crime a go. 

[PLOT]

You follow the lives of the the family, friends and strangers of a girl named Anna, a year on after her disappearance. As each chapter goes on you discover some ugly truths, lies, and secrets leading up to her disappearance and the lengths some people will go to cover their tracks. 

You are introduced to the main character Ella Longfield in the opening chapter. She witnesses two men talking to Anna and her friend Sarah on the train, then learns they are just out of prison. She contemplates calling the girls parents however decides not to. The next day she learns of Anna’s disappearance on the news. Ella lives with the guilt everyday, and now someone is sending her threatening letters. It makes you as ‘Is Ella really guilty of anything?’, should she have intervened? 

Private Investigator, Matthew Hill, hired by Ella to look into the letters. He is a brilliant character, who finds himself helping to solve the case of missing girl, Anna Ballard. Unofficially. 

This book is full of so many twists, you can never get bored. Each chapter leads to another plot, you will find it hard to put this book down. I thought this book was so well written, each chapter you learn of different characters and dive into their stories and perspectives.

[SPOILERS]

You do find out what happened to Anna in the end. Personally, I sensed the ending would not be sunshine and rainbows with Anna returning home safe and sound. There is some hope throughout the book that perhaps she is still alive, however this unfortunately is not the case for Anna Ballard. That is what makes this book so good, there’s hope, leads on cases, then false leads, there’s suspects but never who you expect. 

The killer of Anna Ballard is someone quite absent from the story, someone you’ll dismiss straight away or not even think about. The answers to what happened to Anna are scattered throughout the book but aren’t jumping at you. Once you get closer and closer to the end, you can start to fill in some blanks but you can never say with absolute certainty ‘whodunnit’ until you are told. Only then does everything slot into place.

When Anna is found and the truth of her murder is out, everyone can move on. Ella finally forgives herself, turns out the two men had nothing to do with her disappearance. 

stories within the story

- Sarah comes to terms with the ugly truth about her father. She leaves home to go and live with her sister where she learns what her father did to her as well. (trigger warning - this story does involve sexual abuse and self harm)

- You learn of Anna’s fathers infidelity and how it tore their relationship apart in the last days before she disappeared.

- Ella’s teenage son gets a girl pregnant, you see how Ella and her husband deal with the circumstance and how they are a supportive family unit for their son. 

[CONCLUSION] 

Very good book, such an easy read and kept me guessing ‘til the very end! I loved it so much I bought Teresa Driscoll’s next book ‘The Friend’ which I will review soon too. 

I would recommend to anyone who wants to start with a crime/thriller genre who perhaps wants to get back into reading or wants to start reading more often. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Watching-You-Teresa-Driscoll-ebook/dp/B06Y1264PX#:~:text=When%20Ella%20Longfield%20overhears%20two,for%20help%2C%20something%20stops%20her.