Review of I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After hearing a review on NPR of I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh, I was eager to read this British thriller/detective novel. Revolving around the hit-and-run killing of a child, the novel is both suspenseful and wrenching. The Bristol detective duo Ray and Kate make an interesting team, immersed in a growing friendship and attraction, as Ray struggles with a difficult teenage son and a disaffected wife at home; and Kate, much younger, tries to establish her career. The strongest voice in the novel is Jenna Gray, an artist who flees Bristol for a remote cottage on the Welsh coast. Jenna, who is obviously damaged and griefstricken, finds a new form of action-art by drawing and photographing names and phrases in the sand on the beach. This art is continually washed away by the sea, much as Jenna’s life and sense of self have been washed away by waves of tragedy. A rescued dog and a ruggedly attractive veterinarian give new hope to Jenna’s life. But the cottage by the sea devolves from a place of refuge to a place of threat that reaches a climax at the end of the book.

Mackintosh writes in a mixed voice, alternating first and third person narratives. Her choice of the first person for the most dangerous character brings the reader uncomfortably close to the mind of an entitled and manipulative predator. And the author’s manipulation of viewpoint brings a shock that left me with a sense of confusion and broke the flow of the book. That said, I Let You Go is a riveting thriller which is hard to put down.




View all my reviews