What. A. Thriller! I already knew that there was a chance that I was going to be a fan of this book as I have read other books by Clare Mackintosh. I knew I was going to get a well constructed thriller, with characters that you love, and that you love to hate – and a great twist or two. And I was not wrong with any of these predictions when I read ‘I Let You Go’.
Now, as this book has all the ingredients that you would expect from a good thriller, it does make it incredibly difficult to write a blog post about it, as I refuse to put spoilers in my posts. So, this may be a very short post that simply tells you that you should read this book.
Told as ‘Part One’ and ‘Part Two’, you know that a young boy called Jacob has been killed in a hit and run accident one rainy evening. And then you follow the police as they attempt to solve the case that seems to be impossible to solve and you follow some of those who have been impacted by this accident. Yet, you are not actually sure who you are reading about, which of course adds to all of the mystery of the story. There was one twist which I did not see coming and caused me to read past my bedtime. The other ‘big twist’ I think I had worked out as the story progressed, but I am not sure it was an intentionally hidden. Apologies for being mysterious, but that is the ongoing issue with the thriller genre: writing about it can be as difficult as trying to solve the mystery of the story.
This was very cleverly written and I especially enjoyed the importance of the characters in this book. This was as much a thriller as a study of people and relationships. And how shared experiences can impact the bonds and relationships you form with people – at home and at work – including how sometimes it is easy to be blind to the things that are right in front of you and sometimes you lose your way, but you can always find a way back.
I think this was also a successful book because this is a thriller you could believe in. Something that is not so far fetched that it is a simple work of fiction but something that was definitely rooted in the realms of possibility which probably made it even more addictive reading.
This book does need to come with some trigger warnings about relationships, so please do check that out before you read if it is something that you may find difficult to read. But, as a whole, if you like a well-constructed crime thriller then this is a book that you will enjoy (and I always like that an author has a backlist I can catch up on, so I do not have to wait for new publications).