Books: The Girl On The Train, By Paula Hawkins

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - There seems to be a trend on the book market. Novels written in first person, alternately told by different persons. Recently I read the bestseller "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, a story about a missing woman told by husband & wife (driveby).

Now the bestseller lists are lead by the novel "The Girl On The Train" by Paula Hawkins (amazon). This "girl story" is also told in first person, but in this case, three women, Rachel, Megan & Anna, report their story. The frame of the story focuses on a forlorn woman who is commuting between London`s suburbs where she notices that some strange things are going own. She gets herself involved which starts a chain of bad events (This is a spoiler free blog). There is not much action, but all characters in the novel have their dark secrets and problems which made me increasingly curious and kept the tension till the last page.

Hawkins uses a simple language and focuses on the characters which are well described. She uses a lot of psychology and outlines the problems, secrets and vices of the characters, including alcoholism, stalking and much more, which mingle into a menace.

"The Girl.." is a dark mystery story & psychological thriller and deserves the top position on the bestseller lists.