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I Am Watching You

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It was an okay read for me. It was real slow. But my main complaint is the author wrote more about the characters’ personal life and less about Anna’s missing or the mystery. It’s told in multiple POV (both in 3rd and 1st person) and one of them was a private investigator that Ella was hired but I really didn't understand his role in the story because until the first 70% he was with his wife and his newly born daughter, like all the time! Anna’s father most of the time thought about his past with his father and his past with his girls! Ella was stressed out about her son! The Watcher’s POV was too short and actually it didn’t have anything to say, it wasn’t even thrilling! Sara was involved with her personal life! So there was less about Anna and her missing! The characters’ personal life was a bit too much in this story for me! But it was unpredictable! I did like the alternating POVs but in the end they were unnecessary. I guess the author was going for character study, but none of the other characters really contributed to the plot. It was just a lot of catch up between POVs to build suspense. It was clear Henry was just a manwhore, not a murderer. It felt like Sarah was assigned some rando trauma so you wouldn't be annoyed she ditched her friend for an ex-con. I kinda liked "the watcher"—spooky vibes. And I guess the PI POV was "necessary" because the mystery had to be solved by a credible character and not one of the regular degular townspeople. The next day one of the girls, Anna, is reported missing, and Ella is beside herself, wondering if she could have helped the girl instead of turning away. Anna's friend Sarah is saying much about what had happened to them the previous evening and the police soon run out of leads. But what is Sarah hiding? Who else in the girls' families are keeping secrets? And who is sending Ella anonymous postcards? I love a good unreliable narrator story, and the changing POV of this one made sure I never knew who to suspect. There were many twists and hints to the culprit along the way, which I missed while reading. The ending was satisfying and all questions were answered!

When Ella wakes the next day after getting blitzed she is afraid she may have done something like call the girls mothers. Turning on the TV she is floored to see a broadcast talking about one of the girl's she saw on the train. Now another thing with this one that seemed to make it a bit tougher to connect to the story for me was the way the book changes the point of view between several different characters. The chapters are titled with things such as The Witness (Ella), The Father, The Friend and eventually The Private Investigator along with a couple of other POVs later in the book so as it's switching I was struggling to match who was who and the characters were just not popping out to me and taking a life of their own. Perhaps it was the style or perhaps I just didn't feel there was enough depth to them to really connect but it gave the story another bit of slowness to it. THE WATCHER — An unidentified person who had been watching Ella and was involved with what happened to Anna.

A fairly well done mystery that takes place after a teenage girl goes missing while on a trip to London. It shows how everyone suffers the ripple effects from a single event. Told from multiple points of view, we hear from the parents, a friend, a witness and a private eye. All the immediate friends and family have secrets they are hiding which we are let in on bit by bit. This book follows the case of a young girl who goes missing in London after a night out with a friend. It follows various POV's from a witness that saw her on the train the day she went missing to her friends, family and a detective investigating the case all leading to uncovering the mystery of her fate. The writing was so tedious it was hard not to dnf, I had to sit through an entire chapter of how to make flower arrangements and another chapter explaining why a character has a deep hatred for flies!!!! WTF?! All bc I am stubborn and wanted to know what freaking happened to the girl!! Ella apparently got harassed when her name as a witness was released. People blamed her for not intervening. In the day of social media I can believe that something like this could have happened. It would have made sense if Driscoll showed that. Because a year later it seems most people have forgotten her except for Anna's family and the police. The next day, the news of Anna Ballard, one of the girls on the train, missing was on the TV broadcast. Ella heard the news and guilt crept into her instantly like never before. She should’ve done something that night. What would have happened if she didn’t stay still?

Thank you to Kindle First for allowing me to read this before the publication date in exchange for an honest review. We’ve had a look at the CCTV, Sarah. From the club.’ It is the detective’s voice now – firmer. ‘Some of the cameras weren’t working, unfortunately. But there are some things we’re not quite understanding, Sarah. Also, we’ve had a call from a witness.’ Ella is on the train eavesdropping as we all do—except the tea she heard was exceptionally disturbing. Two fresh out of prison ex-convicts hitting on two teenage girls. Ella tries to forget what she heard, but that soon proves impossible when one of the girls, Anna, goes missing, and the two ex-cons are suspects. Already hated on by the media for being a bystander, Ella starts receiving mysterious hate mail. Why is this person so mad? And what really happened to Anna?

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. When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realizes 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. I read this for "Free Space/Creepy Raven". "I am Watching You" by Teresa Driscoll which is a thriller/mystery. Anna and Sara lied to their parents and instead of going to watch a movie, they were seen in a train. That night Anna was missing and Sara couldn’t remember what happened. But there is a witness who saw them in the train with two men who got out of prison. Ella, the witness, heard their conversations and wanted to call but she was distracted at that moment and sometime later she saw Anna’s picture as a missing girl. One year later, Anna’s still missing, Sara still can’t remember and Ella feels guilty and blames herself for not calling. And let’s not forget about nasty notes she receives, like: The ending. As usual, it is always nice to feel that I am wrong about the villain. This book gives me that. However, it feels like the author rushed to reveal the villain and did not give enough time to give more plot about it or explore his character. Final Thoughts

THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR — Matthew Hills is the private investigator hired by Ella. His main job was to help Ella figure out the person who sent her the threatening letters. Throughout the story, we can get a glimpse of her personal life as well as his investigating skill in handling the case. A year goes by from that fateful night with Ella still upset that she hadn't done anything and possibly stopped Anna's disappearance and with the girl still gone someone else decides Ella is at fault and begins sending her threatening letters. Ella hires an investigator to look into the letters and with the anniversary of the disappearance a public appeal is planned but before long it becomes clear that others are also hiding secrets about that night and just what happened to Anna. Simple. Rhythmic. Showing not telling. You can feel the disdain of Henry. You can feel the apathy toward Tim's dad for being a cliche absentee father who pops up at the end in hopes of narcissistic redemption.I had a little trouble buying that everyone would blame a mother who didn’t call the parents on the fact the girl went missing. Other than that, though, I really liked the characters of Matthew in particular. Ella’s guilt seemed misplaced, but I’m not a mother and, happily, I’ve never been in the position of watching a teenage girl make terrible choices and then go missing. Next, I didn’t really find this book to be all that grasping or mysterious. By the end, I was a little confused and the last chapter just tried to bring everything together. The writing definitely wasn’t my favorite thing, but it did have it’s moments.

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