The Watcher by Ross Armstrong

HQ | December 2016 | 384 pgs

Source: Library

The cover quoted this as The Girl on the Train meets Rear Window. As I haven't read the latter I have no idea what it is about but I did read the former and it was an intense read. With this in mind I began my reading journey with some expectations and hoping that it would surprise me and turn out nothing like TGOTT (not that it is not good, just hoping for something different) and I wasn't disappointed, at least the writing style is concerned.

Set in East London with a new-build apartment and an estate marked for demolition, we see the social divide amid the neighbourhood and the opposite feelings of some of the residents living there. However, this is not about the apartments but one particular woman named Lily Gullick. A keen birdwatcher, she loves looking for them through her binoculars at her apartment until her observation begins to shift to her neighbours. And when she sees something suspicious in a neighbouring block, she decides it's best to keep the information to herself, at least temporarily. But the following day, an elderly woman is found dead in her flat. Lily has spoken to the elderly woman once the previous night and she couldn't help but to link what she saw at the next block might have something to do with the elderly woman's death. And this prompts her to do some investigation of her own until she thinks of nothing but this unsolved case; not even her husband Aiden could deter her from doing so.

As intriguing as this may sound, I found myself disappointed with the story but first I will focus on the things I liked about this book. Lily is an unreliable narrator to start with, and as old as this may sound I haven't gotten tired of unreliable narrators, yet. They are the main thing that keep the story moving and not to mention keep readers on edge. Plus, the writing style is a bit different here. Told from Lily's perspective, the chapters read like a journal yet they connect smoothly and didn't really feel like journal entries.

Onto the disappointing note, I found the story going towards another direction and lacks credibility after reading more about it. At times I found some parts confusing but I persevere, hoping there would be a turn but sadly it still didn't spark my interest. Lily was an interesting character, but I didn't really feel connected to her (maybe in the beginning but then she got on my nerves; plus the story direction may have killed it). That said, I still find there is potential with the author's writing. This book simply wasn't a good fit to me.

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