I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

 

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . .

The other day I finished reading a Domestic Noir book that I really enjoyed, and I was still in the mood for a thriller. Since Hachette Australia was kind enough to send me a few, I decided to read this one. I'd already heard great things about it, so I couldn't wait to get stuck into it...

 

On a rainy afternoon as a mother and her child are heading home from school, the boy becomes the victim of a hit-and-run. The mother is left in the middle of the road, screaming for help and cradling her dying son while the driver responsible flees the scene. A tragic accident soon becomes an intense investigation without too many clues.

 

Detective Inspector Ray Stevens and his team are assigned the case, but soon find themselves having to abandon the investigation for other more important ones. Ray has a lot on his plate to keep him busy as his family life is suffering because of the amount of hours his job takes, but there's something about the little boy, Jacob Jordan, that keeps nagging at him. And it's not until the one year anniversary that they get a lead.

 

When Jenna Gray jumps on a bus eager to leave behind the nightmare her life has become, she ends up in a small coastal town in Wales. There she rents a cottage and slowly, slowly starts to live again. She can't escape the tragic circumstances that brought her here, but she starts to make a nice and comfortable life for herself making friends, finding a purpose, taking care of a companion, and even a relationship. But the past has a way of catching up with you, no matter how fast or far you go...

 

OMG. This book was... Wow. I enjoyed every minute of this awesome book. Yes, even when I realised that everything presented in front of me wasn't as it seemed. But it wasn't because the story didn't make sense. Oh no! It was because the author is an amazing storyteller and wrote it in a way that throughout the whole first part I was sure I knew who and what Jenna was. But as soon as I reached the second part I had to stop, take a breath and let everything really sink in.

 

Like I said, wow!

 

The story is told in the POV of Jenna and Ray. So you get to see how Jenna struggles to move on after tragedy strikes, as well as get a glimpse into the investigation. But what was really cool was that we were also invited to share the Detective Inspector's life, so every character was humanised. Well, except for one. But I can't say anything more without spoilers.

 

This is a tricky book to review because there are so many things I want to point out and chat about, but they're all spoilers. So, this is going to have to be it. ;)

 

I Let You Go is a chilling, addictive and fascinating story that will leave you breathless. This book hooks you in and then keeps you wondering what's going to happen next, because you know something bad is hiding in the shadows. But it takes a while for you to figure out just what it is, and when you do: your mind is blown! Seriously. There are several HUGE twists in this book and the first one took me by surprise. I worked out the second, but by the time the next twist was revealed, I couldn't believe how well crafted this story was. It's tense, clever, and delves so deeply into the emotions of the characters that you become invested in them. Totally invested. 

 

This is such an awesome book, and the reason why I enjoy thrillers so much!

I Let You Go, May 2015, ISBN 9780751554151, Sphere