I Am Watching You

What would it take to make you intervene?

When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it―until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls―beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard―has disappeared.

A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters―letters that make her fear for her life.

Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night―and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.

Someone knows where Anna is―and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

TWO MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR

Teresa Driscoll is a former BBC TV news presenter whose psychological thrillers have sold more than two million copies in twenty languages.

Her first thriller I Am Watching You hit Kindle Number 1 in the UK, USA and Australia and has sold more than a million copies in English alone.

Teresa writes women’s fiction as well as thrillers and her work has been optioned for film.

For decades Teresa was a journalist working across newspapers, magazines and television. Covering crime for so long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction.

Teresa lives in glorious Devon with her family.

www.teresadriscoll.com.

“Perhaps one of the best psychological thrillers released this year…” ―India Today

Teresa Driscoll’s I Am Watching You is a psychological thriller built around guilt, fear, secrets, and the haunting question of what might have happened if one person had acted differently. The story begins on a train, where Ella Longfield, a florist, notices two teenage girls, Anna Ballard and Sarah, chatting with two young men who have just been released from prison. Ella feels uneasy as she listens to their conversation. The girls are carefree, excited, and a little reckless, while the men seem charming but troubling. Ella thinks about warning the girls or calling someone, but she hesitates. She does not want to interfere, and she convinces herself that perhaps she is overreacting.

The next day, Ella learns that one of the girls, Anna, has disappeared. This discovery devastates her. She realizes that the girl from the train is missing, and she becomes consumed by guilt. She keeps asking herself whether she could have prevented Anna’s disappearance if she had spoken up. Her silence becomes a burden she carries every day. The case receives media attention, and Anna’s family is left shattered by uncertainty. There is no body, no clear answer, and no peace. Anna simply vanishes, leaving behind pain, suspicion, and unanswered questions.

The novel then moves forward in time, showing how Anna’s disappearance has affected several people connected to the case. Ella continues to receive threatening postcards, which tell her that someone knows what she saw and blames her for what happened. These messages make her feel watched and unsafe. She is not only dealing with guilt but also with the fear that someone is targeting her. Her normal life with her family becomes tense and fragile, because the past refuses to stay buried.

The story is told from several points of view, which slowly reveals the emotional damage caused by Anna’s disappearance. Ella is one important voice, but the novel also follows Anna’s father, Henry, her friend Sarah, a private investigator named Matthew, and others connected to the mystery. Each character has their own secrets, regrets, and hidden fears. This shifting perspective creates suspense because the reader gradually learns that many people are not being completely honest. Almost everyone seems to know something they have not revealed.

Anna’s father, Henry, is deeply affected by the loss of his daughter. His grief is mixed with anger, helplessness, and desperation. He wants answers, but the lack of closure slowly destroys him. His family life suffers, and his pain shows how a disappearance can be even more cruel than a confirmed death. Without knowing whether Anna is alive or dead, her loved ones are trapped between hope and despair. Henry’s sections show the emotional cost of waiting, wondering, and imagining the worst.

Sarah, Anna’s best friend, is another important character. She was with Anna on the night everything changed, and she carries her own guilt about what happened. Sarah survived, but survival has not made her free. She is haunted by memories of that night and by the knowledge that she may not have told the whole truth. Her friendship with Anna was close but complicated, shaped by teenage excitement, jealousy, loyalty, and mistakes. Through Sarah, the novel explores how young people can make careless choices without understanding how dangerous the consequences may become.

Matthew, the private investigator, is hired to look again into Anna’s disappearance. His role helps bring new attention to old evidence and forgotten details. As he investigates, the story becomes more layered. It is not simply a case of two suspicious men on a train. There are family tensions, hidden relationships, and personal secrets that complicate the truth. The investigation suggests that danger may have come from somewhere unexpected, and that people close to Anna may know more than they admit.

One of the strengths of the novel is the way it shows how guilt spreads among different people. Ella feels guilty because she did not intervene. Sarah feels guilty because she was there and survived. Anna’s family members feel guilt over things said or left unsaid before she disappeared. Even people who may not be directly responsible are damaged by regret. The title, *I Am Watching You*, adds to this atmosphere of suspicion. It suggests not only physical surveillance but also the feeling of being judged by memory, conscience, and the past.

As the mystery unfolds, the reader is led through different possibilities. The two men from prison seem like obvious suspects at first, especially because of Ella’s fear on the train. But the novel keeps questioning easy assumptions. It asks whether danger is always where we expect it to be, or whether people sometimes ignore threats closer to home. The suspense comes from small revelations rather than constant action. Each character’s confession or memory changes how the reader understands Anna and the night she vanished.

The book also examines the ordinary moment that changes everything. Ella’s decision not to speak to the girls on the train is small and understandable, yet it becomes the center of her emotional life after Anna disappears. The novel does not present her as a bad person. Instead, it shows how easily people hesitate in uncertain situations. Most people do not want to interfere in strangers’ lives, and Ella’s tragedy is that her hesitation may have mattered. This makes the story feel realistic and unsettling, because her choice is one many readers can imagine making.

By the end, the truth about Anna’s disappearance is revealed through the connected secrets of the characters. The resolution brings together the clues, lies, and hidden motives that have been building throughout the novel. It shows that Anna’s fate was shaped not only by one frightening encounter but by a wider web of human weakness, fear, and deception. The ending offers answers, but it also leaves a strong emotional impression because so much suffering has already taken place.

Overall, I Am Watching You is a tense and emotional thriller about responsibility and the consequences of silence. It is less about shocking violence and more about psychological pressure, suspicion, and guilt. Teresa Driscoll creates suspense by showing how one missing girl’s story changes many lives and how the truth can hide behind ordinary faces. The novel reminds us that sometimes the most painful mysteries begin with a simple question: what if I had done something?