My Five Word TL:DR Review : Quirky and entertaining mystery thriller

I read The People Watcher some time ago during a period where my blogging and reviewing took something of a backseat.  Fortunately my reading picked up and having a Sam Lloyd story definitely helped with that.  Unfortunately I fell behind writing reviews and am still playing catch up but even with that gap in reading this  and writing about it I still remember my feeling of compelling curiosity.  This is a very unusual story and it takes a little time to set the scene but in a similar way to The Memory Wood (my first book by this author) this is a book that is pleasingly perplexing.

So, the main character is Mercy.  She has problems.  Following a violent attack she suffers from trauma and phobias.  Mercy doesn’t go out in the daylight, she has issues with her balance and she’s living a lonely life on the edges of society.  But Mercy is a conundrum, every night she goes out and watches people in the community, not with ill intentions, she wants to help people, in little ways, in spite of her problems she travels out to try to help others.  Then, one day, she meets a curious character called Louis.  Louis slowly but surely inveigles himself into Mercy’s life, at first subtly with small kindnesses, but eventually turning up and becoming involved in Mercy’s night ventures.  The thing is, Louis is not as gentle as Mercy, he has a more direct approach and isn’t averse to taking risks.

Now on top of this there’s another character, a woman called Nadia.  Nadia knows that someone is watching her and she has decided to take her own action – a decision that brings in a very unstable and violent character.  

These elements and the opening chapters will eventually resolves themselves but in the meantime take a seat and enjoy the ride.  Lloyd manages to pull together, a psychological thriller that is not only entertaining and compelling but is also mixed up in a fascinating way.  Mercy is a great character and easy to like. There are moments of fun that lighten the mood but there are also some darker threatening moments.

I had a good time with this.  It was very easy to read and doesn’t fit into a conventional murder mystery style.  I confess myself incredibly excited to see what this author comes up with next.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating is 4 of 5 stars