Katherine MacAlister finds a debut novel from Chipping Norton Literary Festival’s director gloriously fails to do what it says on the tin

I Let You Go doesn’t so much grip you, as pin you down and nearly suffocate you. The thriller is just that from the first moment you open its pages, but after that you are lost, lost in Jenna Gray’s nightmarish world of escape, salvation, hope and terror.

You travel with her from Bristol, where she is involved in a terrible accident, to the Welsh coast, where Jenna goes to start again, to plan her next move and recuperate.

But as with all good thrillers, her past is never far behind her and while she dares to believe that she can reinvent herself and find new love, her shadow pursues her, reaching ever closer.

A word of warning, then. Take the phone off the hook, send your kids to bed early, and order a takeaway, because once you’ve started this amazingly haunting novel you won’t be going anywhere until you’ve read every last word and examined your own prejudices along the way.

As a debut it is an astonishing achievement, and what former Oxford police inspector Clare Mackintosh does next is anyone’s guess, but at this rate her star is not so much rising as shooting. Hollywood look out.

Tomorrow, Clare Mackintosh speaks to Jane Wenham-Jones about her role in the creation of ChipLitFest, and how it launched her career as an author. Enjoy a glass of fizz on the house to celebrate the publication of I Let You Go. The event is held at 6pm in Chipping Norton Town Hall. Tickets are £8.

I Let You Go
Clare Mackintosh
Sphere. Paperback, £13.99