Image Credit: Barnes & Noble

This was another 49-cent birthday purchase from Best Thrift. I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while!

I’ll try to make this review as spoiler-free as possible, if you haven’t read the book yet.

I’d heard mostly good things about this book, so I wanted to give it a shot.

Let’s just say that Hawkins does not disappoint!

I love that this book is set around London. It gave me a different perspective of how people in Britain work, live, and struggle.

I immediately noticed that each chapter was a different POV. Given my inherent struggle to read and finish books with multiple POVs, I was crossing my fingers, hoping and praying this was different.

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It was. This book was a breath of fresh air!

Hawkins enveloped me into the train, the houses, and the characters. It was an amazing look into a group of people’s lives, and how dramatic things can be and become.

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The book starts with Rachel, literally “the girl on the train.” Pardon my French, but this woman is fucked up from the get-go. She takes the train from the house she shares with Cathy, into London, every day. She’s an alcoholic, and we quickly learn that she was fired from her job, she single-handedly demolished her marriage, and she’s incredibly jealous of the woman that is now married to her ex-husband.

Along the way, we meet Tom, Anna, Cathy, and the man and woman Rachel refers to as “Jess” and “Jason.” She gives them these names because she sees them, and their house, from the train every day.

Little does Rachel know – Her life is about to be turned upside down. As her drinking increases, she struggles with multiple emotions and feelings. When one of the women suddenly disappears without a trace, Rachel believes she saw something, and inserts herself into the investigation.

What did Rachel supposedly see on the night this woman vanished?

Will her daily observations of “Jess” and “Jason” from the train be significant?

By inserting herself into the investigation, is she doing more harm than good?

Will her drinking help or hurt?

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Hawkins crafts each chapter like a diary, where each character experiences something different. There are flashbacks, but Hawkins tries hard to keep the characters in the present, especially as they start to intertwine and get caught in different webs.

I actually appreciated the flashbacks, since it was made obvious with the headings, and I didn’t have to flip pages back and forth. Much better than other books (I’m looking at you, Allegiant)! Hawkins masterfully built the worlds around these characters, and was able to tell multiple stories in a clear, consistent way.

This book being classified as a “psychological thriller” was almost an understatement. The characters were quickly embedded in my brain, and I found myself thinking about the story during the work day, and on my way home from work.

I flew through this book, repeating, “One more chapter, one more chapter.” I looked forward to reading this book nearly every night. I stayed up way too late earlier this week, but I couldn’t put this down!

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I’m definitely looking for more psychological thrillers to spice up my reading life, so any recommendations are appreciated!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂