The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins

(2015) 

Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved.


***

Review: Thrillers aren't my usual fare, so they have to be pretty gripping to reel me in. The last time I recall tearing through a thriller as quickly as this one was when I read "Derailed" by James Siegel. Coincidentally both involve trains! As soon as I read the premise for "The Girl On The Train" I had to read it. I myself am a people-watcher, though maybe not quite so invested in the lives of specific strangers as Rachel is in the lives of 'Jess' and 'Jason'.

There was nothing I didn't enjoy about this book. None of the characters were particularly likeable, but all were compelling enough to read about, which is not an easy thing to achieve. Although, I didn't dislike Rachel. I found myself relating uncomfortably to her endless good intentions for a fresh start tomorrow, knowing tomorrow is always a day away. I can see why people might pity or despise her, much in the way they do in the novel, but honestly I just felt empathetic. I wanted something to go right for her, and completely understood her compulsion to unravel the mystery she finds herself tangled up in.

The narrative jumps around, temporally and from one viewpoint to another, and often such books lose me so entirely that I give up any semblance of understanding what's occuring. This book, however, covered quite a short span of time in two separate years, and each viewpoint was distinct enough to create distinct jigsaw pieces which slotted together perfectly. I had five ideas about whodunnit, all of which were wrong, and on three separate occasions I thought 'this reads like an ending, what more can happen?!' An easy read, a complex but not over-complicated, and certainly not unbelieveable, plot, and while it probably doesn't *quite* deserve five stars (not entirely sure about that scene at the end), it definitely left me satisfied enough to award them.

Rating:  5/5

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