Eye Spy by C. M. Ewan (Pan Macmillan | Pan)

I found Eye Spy to be a gripping thriller right from the start. I was immediately hooked by the story of Mark, who is returning home from Paris on the Eurostar with his daughter Molly and stepdaughter Freya. 

The story creates a sense of worry early on, with Molly spotting a bad man at check-in and Mark later noticing this same man acting suspiciously on the train. Most of the story happens on the Eurostar as Mark gets more and more worried. Back in London, Mark's wife, Claire, is secretly meeting with a man whose name we don't know.

The novel focuses on a narrator who is both determined and careful. The way he sees things changes as the pressure builds. The other characters, his wife, his child, and a few of the other passengers and crew, act as reflections, bringing out themes of trust, loyalty, and what it costs to keep secrets. What happens between these people forces Mark to make tough choices and to understand strength in a more complete way.

The book often talks about things like doing what's right to keep people safe versus respecting their privacy, the moral responsibility parents have to protect their kids, and how easily normal life can fall apart when fear takes over. It feels tense, risky, and morally ambiguous, which fits well with a world where news spreads fast, but the truth is hard to find. 

People who like thrillers that also make you think about society will see modern-day worries about security, tech, and family relationships in this book.

I liked that I had zero clue where the story would go next, and I was intrigued by the link to a bombing in Helsinki where Mark’s parents died. But, even though this book had everything it needed to be a good thriller, after reading a third of it, I thought it got slow and repetitive, and it lost its sense of tension and worry.

This book was dark, twisty, a little outrageous, and predictable, a mixed read.

3/5