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With her debut novel The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins grabs the reader’s attention and holds it until the end. Lives are intersecting, overlapping and filled with jealousy and betrayal. The story is told from three perspectives: Anna, the housewife who is not who she appears to be; Rachel, the young woman with a history of blackouts; and Megan, the glamourous wife with plenty of secrets. Rachel is “the girl on the train” in question. Unbeknownst to her landlady, Rachel has lost her job as a result of alcoholism but continues to commute twice a day on the train to London. With each journey she must pass the home of her ex-husband Tom, his new wife Anna, and their baby. Rachel also spots along her route another happy couple living near her old home whom she has named (without their awareness) “Jess” and “Jason”. On her daily commute she imagines the idyllic life they must have. This all changes in a split second as lies, deception, extra-marital affairs and violence begin to unravel supposedly perfect lives.

The Girl on the Train has an excellent plot twist and certainly keeps the reader intrigued as the chaotic events of the novel unfold. The story develops slowly; it took at least three chapters for any major events to take place. The characters, while deliberately wrought as unlikeable, lacked the depth necessary to make their worst qualities feel worth engaging with. However, Hawkins weaves a story of lies and deception together with great skill. It has been dubbed the next Gone Girl, which is perhaps an unfair comparison. Hawkins aspires towards breakneck thrills and achieves them to some degree, but her debut falls just short.