Girl on the Train is a debut psychological thriller by Paula Hawkins. Ms. Hawkins gave us a great book on her first time out. So much so that I will put Ms. Hawkins on my list of authors to check out further.
Rachel rides the train every day on her way into London. Having been a longtime passenger, she knows when the train will be stopping at various signals. The longest signal on the route is next to a modest neighborhood of cute little 2-story homes. In one of those homes, live Jason and Jess, a couple about whom Rachel has woven an elaborate story and whom Rachel feels that she knows. Every day, Rachel watches Jess as she sits in the garden drinking her tea and Jason as he moves about the house, eventually coming out to kiss Jess goodbye as he leaves for work. Then, Rachel’s illusions of a happy couple are shattered when she sees Jess kissing another man.
As the story unfolds, the reader finds out that Jason and Jess only live in Rachel’s imagination. The real-life couple, Scott and Megan, have what seems to be a typical marriage with its ups and downs…typical, that is, until Megan goes missing. Rachel tries to tell the police what she saw but she’s considered an unrealiable witness and dismissed. As the investigation into Megan’s disappears intensifies, Rachel inserts herself in to the search and the lives of those involved more and more forcefully.
This story is interesting and well-plotted. The characters are generally all train wrecks, and in some cases, very hard to like. The timeline in the story alternates between Rachel every day and Megan up until she goes missing as well as another woman’s viewpoint which I found to be a very interesting technique – it definitely kept the reader guessing as the storylines unfold.
I listened to this story on audio as narrated by Clare Corbitt, India Fisher and Louise Brealey – all of whom did a great job with the story and bringing their characters (and their issues) to life.
Rating: 4
No comments:
Post a Comment