Summary:
A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.
Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother’s sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she’d never return.
With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.
Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.
My take: 2.5 looks
This was a frustrating read for me. The author switched from first person to third person, depending on the chapter, and not in a consistent manner. I didn’t understand the vibe that this switching back and forth was supposed to instill.
Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the main characters, or is an excerpt from a book that is being written about the river, which is prominent enough to also be a character. The chapters are short and to-the-point, and, for me, not nearly enough detail is given to develop a relationship with any of them. The tension between some of the players is not palpable, the respect between some of them is a bit tenuous, and some of the relationships are just plain confusing.
There were also things that just didn’t make sense. Several people noticed Jules talking under her breath, moving her mouth without making sounds, or whispering or muttering to herself. What was this about? Was she talking to Nel? Was she “simple”, as Patrick accused? Why was this mentioned time and time again?
When Louise is talking about how Katie is found: “When they found her, she was surrounded by flowers, some of them still clutched in her fist. Like Ophelia.” Really? Who did this? She committed suicide by drowning, so how is it that she was somehow posed?
The only person I was curious about was Erin. When she went back, I wanted something more poignant to happen. Once again, a character with potential fizzled on the page.
In the end, it was obvious who did what to whom. The big “reveal” at the end was merely a blank being shot from a gun. All noise and no impact.
Not recommended.
