The Girl on the Train: A Novel
The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture.
The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.
“Nothing is more addicting than The Girl on the Train.”—Vanity Fair
“The Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl. . . . [It] is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership.”—The New York Times
“Marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You’ll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today
“Like its train, the story blasts through the stagnation of these lives in suburban London and the reader cannot help but turn pages.”—The Boston Globe
“Gone Girl fans will devour this psychological thriller.”—People
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?
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The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture.
The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.
“Nothing is more addicting than The Girl on the Train.”—Vanity Fair
“The Girl on the Train has more fun with unreliable narration than any chiller since Gone Girl. . . . [It] is liable to draw a large, bedazzled readership.”—The New York Times
“Marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You’ll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today
“Like its train, the story blasts through the stagnation of these lives in suburban London and the reader cannot help but turn pages.”—The Boston Globe
“Gone Girl fans will devour this psychological thriller.”—People
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?
Dr. David S. Waugh –
Excellent and unique new suspense novel
I haven’t read the other 900 reviews. I will just offer my own fresh perspective, unaffected by them. I think this is a fantastic novel. I am an avid reader of the mystery/thriller genre, and I have read so many books that I often have difficulty remembering them a couple of weeks later. For instance, I recently read Cain and Abe. A good novel by a fine writer, but I had to look it up on Amazon just now to remember what it was about.However, I will never forget The Girl on the Train. I would honestly have to say that this is the best piece of fiction that I have read in quite a while. It is totally unique. The premise is that a woman is traveling back and forth on a train to London. The track switching mechanism normally forces the train to pause in a position where the backs of homes on an adjacent street can be seen. The protagonist, Rachel, sees her own “ex-home”, where her ex-husband currently lives with a new wife, whom he acquired after cheating on Rachel. Nearby, she sees what she believes to be the “perfect couple”, frequently out on the terrace when the train goes by. Then one day, she sees Mrs. perfect kissing a strange man. The next day, Mr. Perfect’s wife goes missing.Now Rachel is a serious alcoholic, and so it is not clear what is real and what is her imagination. She has frequent “black outs”. I have to say that this author’s description of the curse of alcoholism is dead on. You feel for Rachel, but you also disdain her. Why can’t she just get her act together? It is all very complicated, and Ms. Hawkins masterfully handles all of that in the novel. I suspect she must know an alcoholic so as to portray their plight so accurately.So who killed Mr. Perfect’s wife? And how and why? And was Mr. Perfect actually perfect? These are the questions that are slowly addressed as the novel goes on, with rising tension. Rachel does some really stupid things, but we are rooting for her at every turn. The downtrodden, drunk ex-wife who just wants to interject herself into the lives of a couple she only fantasizes about based on what she has seen outside the window of a train. The train is central to the novel. It gives it form. Every chapter is a date and a time, “morning” or “evening”, coinciding with the commuter train to and from London. It sets the pace of the novel and helps to create tension. It is unique in this respect. It is a voyeur story, initially. And that sucks you into the story.There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel. I guessed who the murderer was at 61% (Kindle), but I couldn’t have guessed the final outcome of this excellent novel! I can’t recommend this highly enough. This is a MUST READ.
MagnoliaSouth –
Great story and well worth the read!
I normally don’t write reviews for books that have anything over a few. I mean, what can a single person add when there are so many? It’s all been said probably. Finding it is a problem, but it’s all been said.Either way, I feel compelled to say a few words about this book. It’s a great first novel. That is, the story. The story is very creative and her telling of it, writing excluded, is engaging and makes you not wish to put it down until you’re finished, which is fortunate because it’s a short read. I read it yesterday, in fact. I’ll add that I’m a slow reader and it took me from about 11:00 until about 2:00 a.m. with a few short interruptions. It was raining and I lazed about the house yesterday, but I digress. The point is that if you’re a fast reader, you’ll likely finish it much more quickly.I don’t understand this trend of “I look up and see *insert something here*… I am watching television… I am making tea.. I am standing in the doorway looking out…” I can’t stand overly active first person novels. No one ever talks that way. Ever. I first noticed the overuse of that voice with Hunger Games. It annoyed me so much, that I didn’t get past the first outdoor announcement scene. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got through this one, however. Perhaps because I simply had to see what was so Hitchcockian about it. I’m an enormous Hitchcock fan and it’s a sure bet that if I hear a few people call it Hitchcockian, I’m going to do my darndest read it.The second thing that bothers me is its predictability. I figured out, very early on, where this was going. On the other hand, to be completely fair, being a Hitchcock fan, I read a lot of mystery and suspense so I’m a bit more intuitive about it than say the average reader. Provided of course, that the author doesn’t cheat. This one didn’t so I applaud her for that. I hate cheats.My best example of cheats is Matlock, the TV show from the 1980s. I still liked it, but there was no way anyone could ever figure it out because only at the end did Andy Griffith say, “So when you killed her, you slammed your arm in the doorway and broke this watch, which we found at the repair shop on 49th street.” Well why didn’t he tell US about the watch and the repair shop on 49th street?! Had I known, I would have figured it out too… maybe.The point is that in this instance, Ms. Hawkins provides the bread crumbs, you just have to find the trail. That’s always a good thing.Story wise, I have one word to sum that up: WOW. It’s not just the story, but her understanding of depression, unhappiness, misery and everything else in our lives. If she hasn’t experienced all of these feelings before, then she deserves some sort of national book award for totally fooling us all.Reading books in Kindle (yes, I have a point, just please bear with me now) has its benefits and drawbacks. There’s nothing at all like smelling the new crisp paper pages of a brand new novel. You can see where you’re at, where you’re going. You can take it in public and read and it’s proof that you’re not reading some sort of smut and so on. However, Kindle has its benefits too. It’s lightweight, you can have it on your phone in fact. You can take all your books with you anywhere and such. One thing too that Kindle does, at least in a couple of its apps (I don’t think the phone) is see what other people highlighted in the book; that is, commonly highlighted. It’s always fun to see what words touch a bunch of others.The selected sentences in this book were truly great quotes on what is a grueling battle, for some of us, to get through life. For people who have either experienced it, or for those of us who have had family that has, it’s a relief to see that they’re not alone. It’s kind of a kindred spirit.As for the story itself, it’s woven very well. Trying to explain the story to my mother and daughter, both blanched and said it was “overly complicated”. That was interesting because when you’re reading, it truly does not feel that way. It’s easy to read, easy to follow and there is no confusion, but hearing myself explain it, it did sound complicated. That shows how clever Ms. Hawkins is with her writing. It’s easy to understand.All in all, I highly recommend it, even with it’s minor shortcomings. It’s a great first novel and I sincerely hope that Ms. Hawkins won’t feel overwhelmed and cursed by it. From here on out, any novel she publishes will be under much scrutiny and compared to this one. I would just like to shake her hand and whisper in her ear that it was the same for Agatha Christie and look how prolific she is today.Enjoy it everyone!
Cliente de Amazon –
Catching from the first page, like a roller coaster, one cannot keep emotions bottled. Amazing writing and storytelling. Must read.
Very nice and helpful –
Very good book and interesting to read I recommend
Hbsc Xris –
Ce roman policier est complètement atypique :Rachel, une jeune femme divorcée, en coloc, à la dérive, alcoolique prend le train tous les jours pour se rendre à son travail. Son train marque l’arrêt tous les matins quelques minutes aux abords de l’arrière du pavillon où elle a vécu autrefois avec son mari. Sur la terrasse d’un autre pavillon tout proche, elle remarque un jeune couple “glamour” qui prend son petit déjeuner les matins. Elle leur invente des noms, Jess et Jason, une histoire romantique et ils comblent le vide abyssal de sa vie. Un matin, déception, Jess est sur la terrasse, embrassant un homme qui n’est pas Jason. Quelques jours plus tard, les journaux révèlent que Jess, dont le vrai nom s’avère être Megan, a disparu de manière inquiétante. Rachel décide de mener l’enquête…… Mais qui s’intéresse aux divagations d’une alcoolique désespérée et incohérente ? Elle détient pourtant dans un coin de sa mémoire la vérité sur cette disparition.Bien écrit et captivant de la 1ère à la dernière page, j’ai été fascinée par l’histoire qui sort de tous les classiques du genre.Amatrice de policiers anglo-saxons, c’est mon meilleur roman depuis longtemps, je crois que c’est le premier roman de cette ancienne journaliste, un “coup de maître” je suis déjà impatiente de lire le second.
ADITI SAHA –
“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”—-Jodi PicoultPaula Hawkins, the British international best-selling author, has penned a mind-blowing unputdownable debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, which has shook up the whole world with its intensity of thrill, mystery and unpredictable and shocking turn of events. The climax simply nails the whole story. The story revolves around a mid-aged, divorced, loner, alcoholic, jobless woman who is a regular commuter on the morning train and just like every other day she overlooks her window and enjoys the normal human life on the other side of the tracks. Until one day, she sees something that changes her life forever.Synopsis:EVERYDAY THE SAMERachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.UNTIL TODAYAnd then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train.Rachel, the protagonist, is the regular traveler on the morning train and on her way to the city, she spies and make up fictional stories about the lives on the other side of the tracks. Among them, she has a personal favorite house and is very keen about the lives of that family, she makes up stories and has given name to the people who reside in that house. Jess and Jason, are the happily married couple whom Rachel loves to spy on. Jess is like her alter ego. Jess has everything that Rachel can never have or has forever lost it. Once upon a time Rachel used to live in the same street and had a life like Jess, with a husband named, Tom. But one day, she sees her “Jess” with a different man and that is when Rachel decides to take things into her own hand and little did she knew that her life would become so threatening and challenging from that point. And who can blame her black-outs when she is point drunk!Before penning out my review, I would like to give a standing ovation to the author, Paula Hawkins, who as per me is a genius who knows how to play with her readers’ mind. Her imagination knows no boundary or creativity or darkness that can engulf the readers with its intensity.The writing is A-class, eloquent, articulate and exceptional. The narrative felt like a drug, as the story spills out from Rachel’s POV, which is, in short, sad to read about, due to her equally sad and pathetic lonely life, it felt like right from the beginning, Rachel pulled me into this story and kept me arrested to it till the very last page. Her tone is stimulating with gaps and holes due to her uncountable black outs, that kept me guessing and pulling out my hair till the major climax. There are also two other main characters, Megan and Anna, and the chapters shift from Rachel’s POV to Anna’s to Megan’s, and the three women has an equal psychological grip on my mind with their life stories, problems and drama.The setting of Northwestern Home Counties in London is impeccable done as the author vividly captures the landscape, the lifestyle, the houses, the trees of suburban London. While reading, I felt like I was easily transported to such a landscape in my mind’s eyes. The author even captures the condition inside a jam-packed train compartment and how the people adjust to stand under the steamy and sweaty conditions, and the demeanor of the people those travelling everyday to their work place on a train strikingly.The characters are excellent and thoroughly well-developed. The main three characters are depicted with end number of flaws and how their shortcomings become their own enemy. The characters are psychologically challenged and their life is not an ideal one. But the author has impressively captured the realism in their demeanor. All the three women are self-centered and selfish, whereas their boldness knows no limit. All the three characters are so evocative, interesting and sad that it eventually made my heart grow fonder for them.I’m not a feminist but still I loved reading this women centric book that depicts the women as the hero of the book, while trying to project a negative image on the male-dominated society.PS: Never read this book while travelling on a train , it might come to haunt you!The story is so psychologically twisted and so brilliant, that Dreamworks production has own film rights on this book, which is directed by Tate Taylor, featuring Emily Blunt as Rachel, Rebecca Ferguson as Anna, Haley Bennett as Megan, Justin Theroux as Tom, Luke Evans as Scott, Lisa Kudrow and many more. And the film is slated for an autumn release this year.
Barbara S. –
Ho scaricato questo ebook sul mio kindle paperwhite e l’ho letto in poco tempo perché la storia è avvincente e curiosa.L’ho letto molto prima che uscisse il film in america e in italia e devo dire che la storia come spesso accade è molto più interessante in versione originale quindi consiglio di leggere questo libro, scaricandolo sui vostri ebook preferibilmente per l’ecologia e anche perché l’esperienza di leggere su kindle (nel mio caso) è davvero unica, niente riflessi, in spiaggia è comodissimo…ma questa è un altra recensione. buona lettura a tutti, salviamo gli alberi!!