The Girl on the Train

This book has become the one that everyone seems to be talking about right now, the thriller which has been hailed as the next Gone Girl and Before I Go To Sleep.

It's story is an interesting one as we are told that Rachel spends her days travelling back and forth on the train and in doing so she people watches from the windows, taking particular interest in the home of a couple she calls Jason and Jess. She watches their house from the train each day and has made up imaginary lives for them.

Rachel though is a complicated character, something the book cover doesn't outline. She's an alcoholic and is still obsessed with her ex-husband and his new wife Anna whom she phones continually and has on occasion harassed. She's unstable and her obsession with Jess and Jason may well come from the fact they live a few doors away from the home her ex and his wife reside in and the home that was her marital home, bought in happier times.

Written from the perspective of Rachel, Megan (Jess) and Anna this book develops at quite a pace and when Rachel wakes one Sunday morning hungover, hurt and with no memory of the night before it develops a dark undertone. She's grappling with something she saw from the train, her blank spot in her memory and the fact everyone sees her as nothing more than a drunk.

The book doesn't blow anyone away with its twists and turns, I found I had figured out the big plot reveal quite early on. It didn't totally surprise me. That being said it did offer plenty of options for whom the bad guy could be.

It was written exceedingly well and whilst none of the female characters was without her own unique issues they were all endearing. Rachel especially incited sympathy as her story progressed and we began to understand her issues and from where they came.

For a debut novel it is brilliant, it was gripping and deserves the talk its receiving. It holds its own against those other thrillers which dominated the book charts last year. It will be talked about a great deal more in the months ahead I'm sure.