"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins is a mystery novel that revolves around three central female characters - Anna, Megan and Rachel whose lives are intertwined with jealousy, betrayal and contempt.
Rachel, an alcoholic who is unable to cope up with her failed marriage takes the train in and out of London everyday and notices the lives of people living along the tracks when the train stops at the signal. She begins to notice a happy couple and builds an imaginary world about them in her mind. But, she notices something off one day and that changes everything she had imagined. She realises that she knows too much about the couple only when the lady in the house goes missing one Saturday night. To top that, she was in the same street that night but she is not able to remember anything that happened as she was drunk. Does she have any connect with the disappearance of the lady? Did she notice anything odd that would be of importance in the ongoing investigation? Is she responsible in anyway for what happened?
The novel is a slow-burn thriller that takes time to build up the suspense, but it gives a feeling something bad is going to happen until the point when it actually happens. The non-linear narrative is confusing at times with the timelines going back and forth, narrated by three different women. But, the novel stays focused and doesn't deviate much holding the attention of the readers all through.
Though the novel becomes predictable towards the end, the intense scenes, the backstory of each character, the justification behind their actions, the uninterrupted flow of events in this unsettling thriller make it a compelling read.
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