THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins
Published by Riverhead Books
Publication Date: July 12, 2016
ISBN-10: 1594634025
ISBN-13: 978-1594634024
Pages: 336
Review Copy From: Personal Purchase
Edition: PB
My Rating: 4
Synopsis via GR:
EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. 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.
UNTIL TODAY
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 goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
My Thoughts and Opinion:
I really liked this book, however………
Rachel is not in the best frame of mind. Still trying to cope with her marriage ending and having a drinking problem, she gets caught up in a missing person case that turns out to be a murder.
The mystery and suspense flowed. It was definitely an interesting read that had this reader guessing as to who the killer was but I had my suspicions and was right.
Like I said, I enjoyed this title, but, I’m not sure if it was due to all the hype and that I recently read 2 other psychological thrillers, that I was expecting a more shocking story. Overall it was an entertaining read.
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I agree – this book was really good but it wasn’t great.
I read this book as an ARC from librarything.com. Here’s what I think.
I think the publisher, Riverhead, did a great marketing job for this book, right down to its very clever cover. But, reader, be warned: after all this hype, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN may disappoint. While it will keep your attention, it probably won’t be as unputdownable as claimed until the last couple of chapters. It wasn’t for me.
The girl on the train is Rachel. She’s a raging alcoholic who has opinions about people that are often based on nothing and are always wrong. The entire book is about her alcoholic blackouts and figuring out what really happened.
Some things about this book are aggravating. For instance, during tense moments, characters, especially Rachel, bite their lips, often so hard they draw blood. I could just imagine all the people walking around with bloody mouths they had chewed. Ridiculous
The biggest aggravation is difficult to describe without saying too much and spoiling the story. It has to do with how everything is explained in the end. It is too hard to swallow.
Yet, even considering these and other faults, the book did keep my attention.