The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives.

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. Has she done more harm than good?

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories.

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published January 13th 2015 by Riverhead Books 

personal library

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Book reviews are a very personal thing, what tickles one persons fancy doesn't another.  Is there a review out there that is correct, that everyone agrees with?  No of course not, everyone has their own tastes and should not be afraid to voice their opinion, even if it goes against the grain.

That being said, I really struggled with this book, whether all the media hype raised my expectation I am not sure.  I loved Rear Window by Hitchcock and Before I Go to Sleep, making me anxious to read this one.  But by the half way point I still hadn't even liked any of the characters and the plot was just dragging (remember just my opinion).  If it wasn't for the fact that this was for a face to face book club I would have been slower to finish.  The ending picked up and some of the conflicts throughout the book were resolved here (wish I could say what they were, but spoiler risk).

The authors writing style was interesting, weaving between the POV's of 3 characters and jumping back and forth in time made me stay on my toes.  This is the authors debut and her the concept had huge potential, definitely a lot of work went into this book and I give Paula Hawkins credit for that.  Will I read her next book, yea I will.