I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

Author : Teresa Driscoll
Title : I Am Watching You
Published : 2017
Publisher : Thomas & Mercer
Pages : 300
Genre : Crime Thriller







     When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared. A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters—letters that make her fear for her life.

Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night—and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own. Someone knows where Anna is—and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

    Recently I have been reading a great many nonfiction books, I figured it might just be time to go back to what first drew me into reading as an adult, Crime and mystery fiction. Now while I greatly enjoy fair from America and the many countries of Europe I figured I would go for something set in my home country and that was how I came to have a copy of I Am Watching you in my hands. 

     What happens when your daughter goes missing? For any of us, it would be our worst nightmare. How could it not be, in the world we live in should your child suddenly disappear how could you not fear for the worse. The only proof you need is to turn on the news or open a newspaper. But what would happen if you were the last person to see them go, even if it was only a glance and you had no idea who they where to they were gone. How much guilty do we put on our selves for things we don't really have any control over at the time. This is how the book introduces us to the world the author has created. But this is not just a book of one stand, the author splits her story up between many people affected by the disappearance of one girl. As we all know such events ripple out and the effects can pull at so many people. For the most part, each of our hero's feels some form of guilt towards what happened. When someone is gone there is a list a mile long of things we wished we had said or done. 

     On the other hand, this is a book of secrets those who have chosen to keep them for reasons that seem perfectly logical to them. As we turn the pages it feels like peeling an onion each lay gets us closer to the truth about what happened on that fateful day. It's a funny thing how guilt effects us, there is something about it that eats at our brains like pretty much no other emotion. The author explores how this affects her cast a year on with Anna still missing. I found it fascinating how it twists people on both sides of the spectrum. It is a feeling that seems to hook into people and not let go until we can realize the truth. As for the mystery elements of the book, I found myself hooked into the tale as I scrambled to find out who was responsible for Anna going missing. As the book proceeds, I was left a little set a different as to who I could trust in this every turning tale.  

     It is all power to the author for writing a captivating tale while my superstitions as to who was the culprit of this crime changed, not once did I feel I was slipping away from her book. It is for me at least a study in human nature hiding behind a mystery. If people had spoken out sooner the truth may have come to light a lot quicker. But this is the problem with people, we don't like to admit we have done something wrong or let an opportunity go by because of something we did. 

     This was a book as you would imagine I enjoyed greatly, It got my mind working and had a great story to tell. It is both a dark tale of what can befall us in the blink of an eye and also a look into human nature. How we are prisoners of our emotions they guide us through our lives and can lead to some very harmful and destructive outcomes.