I FOUND YOU by Lisa Jewell
Atria; 3/6/18
CBTB Rating: 5/5
The Verdict: an immersive, intricate suspense novel
No one writes page-turners quite like Lisa Jewell. One of my personal 2021 reading goals is to read my way through Jewell’s backlist suspense novels, and last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of devouring her 2018 thriller I FOUND YOU while on my first real vacation in over a year. If ever there were books built for vacation reading, Jewell’s thrillers are it. In I FOUND YOU, Lisa Jewell weaves an irresistible and immersive story of a group of seemingly unrelated individuals whose lives intersect in tragic and destructive ways. Centering around a quiet seaside town in England, where a woman has just found a man on the beach who has no idea who he is or how he got there, I FOUND YOU tells a hypnotic and atmospheric tale that will keep you glued to the pages from first to last. A cast of compelling characters and years’ worth of long-buried secrets just waiting to be uncovered make I FOUND YOU one of my new favorite Lisa Jewell reads. (Though, let’s be honest, any book by Lisa Jewell is pretty much guaranteed to be a must-read for fans of psychological suspense.)
Plot Details:
In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on a beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, newlywed Lily Monrose grows anxious when her husband fails to return home from work one night. Soon, she receives even worse news: according to the police, the man she married never even existed.
Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. The annual trip to Ridinghouse Bay is uneventful, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just because he’s a protective older brother.
Who is the man on the beach? Where is Lily’s missing husband? And what ever happened to the man who made such a lasting and disturbing impression on Gray?
Reading a Lisa Jewell book often feels like watching a magic trick unfold, and Jewell’s masterful sleight of hand never fails to thrill and surprise. A hallmark of a Lisa Jewell suspense novel is a plot that begins with a wide-ranging and apparently unrelated cast of characters, and, over the course of the story, closes in on itself bit by bit, in the process revealing to readers how each character has shaped the lives and fates of the others. Jewell executes this kind of storytelling structure masterfully in I FOUND YOU, and readers will relish their time spent with the mysterious and alluring women and men central to this intricate book. I FOUND YOU begins with a simple premise: single mother Alice looks out her window on a rainy day to see a man sitting on the beach. Concerned for his health in the bad weather, Alice goes outside to offer him a coat… and quickly discovers that this man has no idea where he is, or even who he is. Determined to help him solve the mystery of his own identity, Alice embarks on a journey with ties to another chance encounter in the very same town, decades ago. From this one simple, fleeting encounter, Lisa Jewell unspools a series of events that will delve into this mysterious man’s past, redefine Alice’s present, and embroil all the book’s characters in a web of sinister secrets. At the heart of this book is a simple question: can we ever fully know the people we welcome into our lives?
With a plot as complex as this one, it is a true testament to Lisa Jewell’s talent as a writer that I FOUND YOU is as easy to read (and downright binge-worthy) as it is. I FOUND YOU is a story with many moving parts, but it’s an effortless reading experience; the pages fly by, and the deeper readers travel into this intricate tale, the more eager they will be to see how its plot threads will ultimately be tied together. I FOUND YOU effortlessly moves between multiple timelines and locations: in the present day, readers spend time in Ridinghouse Bay, in the company of Alice and her family as she attempts to help this mysterious man recover his memories; also in the present, readers travel to a suburb of London, where a young woman who has recently moved to the UK with her new husband discovers him missing, and embarks on her own investigation into her husband’s disappearance. Woven throughout the story is a past timeline also set in Ridinghouse Bay, following a family whose annual summer vacation takes a dark turn when a charismatic-yet-sinister young man bumps into them one day, and becomes disturbingly fixated on the family’s teenage daughter. Jewell weaves between these plotlines effortlessly, doling out hint after tantalizing hint that will keep readers wondering how these timelines and individuals intersect. I FOUND YOU is not as much a character-driven thriller as it is a thriller driven by the impact characters have on one another’s lives; readers who love suspense stories that explore the fallout from long-buried secrets will love this book. As has been the case with previous Jewell novels I have read, I FOUND YOU is not a suspense novel that hinges on a massive plot twist in order to deliver entertainment value—though elements of this book absolutely will shock and surprise readers. Instead, this is a book that is as much about the journey as it is about a satisfying conclusion. The upside to this? Even if you manage to figure out how this story will end or predict the book’s numerous twists and turns, you will love every moment spent with its compelling characters.
I FOUND YOU is a story steeped in atmosphere, a perfect psychological suspense novel to bring on your next vacation (or staycation!). While the majority of the Lisa Jewell thrillers I’ve read thus far take place in upscale neighborhoods in or near a larger city, I FOUND YOU primarily centers around a small, seaside town that feels more down-to-earth than flashy. Ridinghouse Bay is the perfect backdrop for a story of suspense—doubly so if you’re planning to read it on a vacation of your own. This quaint seaside town is exactly the kind of place you might have gone on summer trips with your own family. Its little rental cottages, boardwalk, cafes, and one-screen movie theater conjure up nostalgia for simpler days and family getaways of childhood. But true to form for Lisa Jewell, this picturesque backdrop is soon revealed to harbor dark and sinister secrets, and it quickly becomes clear that the reverberations of traumatic events that occurred in this idyllic little town can be felt in the present for this book’s characters. A healthy dose of drizzly, overcast weather sets the atmospheric mood for this story, and cinematic and sinister details (for example: a mysterious, seemingly-abandoned mansion perched on the hilltop overlooking the town) bring this surprisingly chilling and moody setting to life. Lisa Jewell is a master at crafting psychological suspense stories that delve into the sinister underbellies of otherwise warm and inviting worlds, and I FOUND YOU is a perfect example of exactly that. This immersive book will transport you from wherever you sit reading to the quaint town of Ridinghouse Bay, and you will love every moment spent in its world.
I FOUND YOU is another irresistible, page-turning psychological suspense novel from an author who has quickly become one of my personal favorites. Written with the pacing of a “popcorn thriller” and the content of a dark psychological suspense novel, I FOUND YOU is a perfect summer reading choice for anyone looking for an intricate, engrossing, brooding work of suspense to add to their TBR list. Another outstanding work of suspense from a must-read author.
Book Details:
Publisher : Atria Books; Reprint edition (March 6, 2018)
Language : English
Paperback : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 1501154605
ISBN-13 : 978-1501154607
Crime by the Book is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way affects my opinion of the book(s) included in this post.
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.