“Eye Spy is the chillingly intense original thriller from C. M. Ewan, author of The House Hunt, The Interview and Strangers in the Car. Set on a fast-moving train over three hours, this high-octane thriller combines emotional family survival with edge-of-your-seat suspense.

Waiting for the Eurostar in Paris, Mark’s four-year-old daughter alerts him to a ‘Bad Man’ during a game of ‘Eye Spy’.

Things only get worse when Mark notices that the man is on their train with a suspicious-looking suitcase, and he’s sitting ominously close.

With secrets unravelling from the past, can Mark piece together the jigsaw of his life in order to save his family?

Or will their journey come to a fatal end?”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Eye Spy by C.M. Ewan. Eye Spy was published by Pan on 26th March 2026 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Eye Spy but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to join the blog tour and for sending me a digital copy of the book.

I could not put this book down! Wow. Tense, utterly gripping and with a delicious sense of building dread, this family thriller set on the Eurostar had me on the literal edge of my seat. Mark and his family (four-year-old Molly and fifteen-year-old stepdaughter Freya) are heading home after a short break in Paris. Mark’s wife, Claire, had to stay behind due to a work emergency, but she insisted they go ahead with the break anyway. Mark is understandably exhausted, and the girls are anxious to see their mum. But going through security, Molly does what four-year-olds sometimes do. She makes an uncomfortable comment about one of their fellow passengers during a game of Eye Spy. But this is no ordinary, embarrassing comment. This is a whole new level of awkwardness. She calls the passenger a ‘Bad Man’. Mark is instantly mortified, but also on high alert. When the stranger boards the same train as Mark, but this time with a slightly different-looking suitcase, Mark’s concern grows exponentially. Stuck a few seats away from this ominous stranger and with his mind working overtime, cautious Mark knows he needs to act. Before it’s too late…..

Eye Spy is a high-stakes, full-on family thriller that I devoured with utter glee. The book starts with a shocking scene: a terrorist attack in Helsinki, which kills several bystanders, including Mark’s recently retired parents. Mark is on a video call with them when it happens, ensuring he suffers the kind of trauma no amount of time or therapy will ever erase. As a result, Mark is a cautious man. Always alert, always aware of what is going on in the background. The tragedy, however, does bring a note of happiness when he meets Claire, whose father was also killed in the same attack. They later marry and have a daughter, Molly. So when presented with a ‘Bad Man’ who is acting highly suspicious on the Eurostar, Mark’s instincts automatically kick in. But in truth, he doesn’t know the half of it. I really liked Mark. The situation he finds himself in is pretty concerning to start with. It then spirals into something utterly terrifying. Trapped in a metal tube under the English Channel with his two daughters to protect and very little help from elsewhere, I was gripped and unable to tear myself away from the story. And on the occasions I did have to ‘do normal life’, I was always excited to return to Eye Spy.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Eye Spy is a tense, taut and completely engaging thriller which I devoured with gusto. Perfectly paced with bucketfuls of intrigue, I loved every second I spent reading this brilliantly written book. I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again, WOW! I believed in the characters, I believed in their situation, and I couldn’t get enough of Mark’s journey to the truth (and what a truth it is!). Seriously good stuff! Chock-full of suspicion and mounting dread, utterly compelling from the get-go, this book hooked me in and didn’t let me go until I’d turned the final page. Just superb! I was kept guessing throughout. At no point was I able to predict where the story was going, which is always a bonus. I’ve read books by this author before and he never disappoints. I am officially a fan. All in all, Eye Spy is impossible to tear yourself away from. It’s a captivating, high-octane family-driven thriller with tonnes of suspense, suspicion and a superbly written cast of characters. Just when you think things can’t get any worse for Mark, they do. Tenfold. Bloody marvellous! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Eye Spy. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Eye Spy by C.M. Ewan was published in the UK by Pan on 26th March 2026 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Chris Ewan is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of many mystery and thriller novels. Chris’s first standalone thriller, Safe House, was a number one bestseller in the UK and was shortlisted for The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. He is also the author of the thrillers A Window Breaks, Dead Lineand Dark Tides and the Kindle Single short story, Scarlett Point. He is the author of The Good Thief’s Guide to . . . series of mystery novels. The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam won the Long Barn Books First Novel Award and is published in thirteen countries.

Born in Taunton in 1976, Chris graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in American Studies with a minor in Canadian Literature, and later trained as a lawyer. After eleven years living on the Isle of Man, he recently returned home to Somerset with his wife, their daughter and the family labrador, where he writes full time.