The Girl on the Train, By Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers

Doubleday

Published: 15/1/15 (Hardback)

ISBN: 9780857522313

Rachel travels everyday on the same commuter train. The train always waits at a particular signal stop overlooking the back gardens of a row of houses where she once lived. Rachel invents a perfect life for the perfect couple she  compulsively watches during these stops.  There is, however, one garden she cannot bear to look at. It reminds her that her life is not perfect like 'Jess' & Jason's'.  Until one day everything changes.

What did Rachel see ?

Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' meets SJ Watson's 'Gone Girl' !

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is narrated in the first person by its three main, 'strong', characters; Rachel, Megan (Jess) & Anna.  Fabulously flawed, and pretty unlikeable, but utterly compelling they each give us their personal account of the events as they unfold.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping and compulsive debut psychological thriller from Paula Hawkins. It had several twists and surprises which kept me reading well into the early hours.

I highly recommend 'The Girl on the Train'.  A gripping, psychological thriller that will hold you captive until the end.

I have had great pleasure in recommending this title to customers visiting the bookstore and look forward to doing the same when released in paperback later in the year.

Disclosure: Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an unbiased, honest review.

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Eight Minutes by Lori Reisenbichler

 

Eight Minutes by Lori Reisenbichler

Release date: February 17, 2015

Summary:
On the night that Shelly Buckner finally became a mother, she very nearly became a widow. Her husband, Eric, seriously injured in a car accident on the way to the hospital, was dead for a full eight minutes before being revived—all while Shelly was in labor. Those eight minutes changed everything Shelly thought was possible.

Three years later, their son, Toby, brings home an imaginary friend. But he’s no ordinary playmate—John Robberson is a fighter pilot and Vietnam vet. As Toby provides unlikely details about John’s life—and Toby’s tantrums increase—Shelly becomes convinced that John was real and now wants something from Toby. But her husband has his doubts, and as Shelly becomes involved, even obsessed, with finding out the truth, their marriage begins to disintegrate. Torn between protecting her child and keeping the peace with her husband, Shelly desperately searches for a way to finally put John Robberson out of their lives.

My Thoughts:
A decent enough easy read about souls and reincarnation and the effects one lost soul has on the family involved.

The pace was steady and unhurried and kept me interested throughout. However, the last few of chapters, I felt, just fizzled out.

Readers of 'Her Fearful Symetry' by Audrey Niffenegger should enjoy this fun read.

I look forward to recommending 'Eight Minutes' to customers visiting our bookstore.

Disclosure: I received a digital review copy for my, honest, opinion.

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