The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins)

As new books go, the buzz surrounding Paula Hawkins’s debut novel The Girl on the Train was practically deafening.  I was unable to get a review copy since it’s a UK book, and there were hundreds of people ahead of me on the library’s waiting list.  But when my book club calls, I must read, and when it finally arrived, I excitedly sat down to begin…

And I must say, I’m not quite sure what all the buzz is about.  Hundreds of 5-star reviews can’t be wrong, but calling it the next Gone Girl is a bit of a stretch.  For one, I loved GG and was fully engrossed in Nick and Amy’s story.  While this one definitely had its share of suspense and I liked Hawkins’ writing style, I was slightly let down by the ending.

The Girl on the Train is about – wait for it – a girl on a train.  We’re speaking about Rachel, a woman who rides the commuter every day, passing the same houses and seeing the same people.  But Rachel is definitely not all she appears to be, and the reader is left disoriented throughout her story (which involves periods she can’t remember), as well as Megan’s, a woman who suddenly disappears. I really enjoyed the way Hawkins interwove each character, all while muddling the readers’ perceptions of each one. 

I rapidly raced to the finish, but this is another book that really didn’t surprise me.  Hawkins leaves plenty of clues about what really happened to Megan along the way, so by the time I got to the ending, it was predictable. However, that doesn’t mean that getting there wasn’t a lot of fun!

MY RATING – 3.5 (can’t quite reach a 4, but above average enough not to get a 3)

Book Review: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton (Elizabeth L. Silver)

In Elizabeth L. Silver’s debut novel The Execution of Noa. P. Singleton, the reader counts down the months until the title character is put to death for her murder crime.  As is often the case with books nowadays, Silver switches back and forth between time periods…very effectively I might add. 

As Noa is waiting for her November execution date for the murder of Sara, she gets a prison visit from two people: Oliver, a new lawyer eager to look into her case and surprisingly, Sara’s mother, Marlene.  Marlene has had a change of heart since Noa’s trial, and even though she still believes Noa killed her daughter, she does not want her to die for it.  Noa does not want any part of clemency because of the guilt she feels over a twist I guarantee you won’t see coming. With the narrative told in present day, by Noa herself, and through Marlene’s letters to a deceased Sara, the reader is in for a treat with a multidimensional, layered tale that’s filled with suspense.

That being said, the ending was disappointing and was left way too open-ended for my liking. With the exception of one or two characters, none of them were very likeable or entirely innocent for that matter.  However, for a debut novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton is fascinating and Silver definitely kept me reading into the night…until she left me hanging at the end.

MY RATING - 4

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

I strongly suggest to author Gillian Flynn that she lock herself in a room with puppies, rainbows, apple pie, and other happy things.  The bestselling author of Sharp Objects and Dark Places has done it again with the enormously successful, grotesque (in a good way) Gone Girl.  When I say enormously successful, I was 895th on the library’s waiting list.  It’s the heartpounding account of a marriage gone bad, and like a train wreck, I couldn’t look away and always came racing back for more.

It's impossible to say much about Gone Girl without giving key parts of the plot away.  What I will say is that Flynn has created a mindboggling tale, which is dripping with suspense and twists you never see coming.  I felt a cloying sense of claustrophobia while reading Nick and Amy's story, but that didn't stop me from coming back to it night after night.  The key characters are realistic but over-the-top at the same time.

I apologize for this being short and sweet, but the less I say about this book the better, lest I give too much away.  But Gillian Flynn, seriously...puppies.

MY RATING - 5

Look Again (Lisa Scottoline)

I am the first to admit that I have not always been a fan of Lisa Scottoline's books. I know that readers love her, particularly in the Philly area, where she lives. Having the good fortune of meeting Ms. Scottoline a few years back, I know that she is unbelievably nice, even going so far as to hug her fans. However, to me, I just never thought her books were of substance. That is, until Look Again came along.

This is the story of Ellen Gleeson, an ordinary woman who came home from work one day and noticed one of those "Have You Seen This Child?" cards in the mail. One of the child looks unbelievably like her adopted son, Will. Not being able to get this out of her mind, she sacrifices family and her job as a reporter (convenient, isn't it?) to get to the bottom of it. When she does, well, you can only imagine, there is heartbreak involved.

I found this book haunting, especially the cover, which reminds me very much of Jennifer McMahon's covers. However, while the book was fast-moving and suspenseful, I tend to not enjoy books that wrap things up in the end with a neat little bow. Scottoline fans can be rabid, and this one will certainly not disappoint them. While this is certainly the best book I have read by this particular author, I still cannot call myself a fan.

MY RATING - 3

So Cold the River (Michael Koryta)

So Cold the River's book jacket uses words such as "irresistible suspense" and "spellbinding". I wouldn't go that far, but if you are looking for an original, well-written tale very reminiscent of Stephen King's The Shining, then this book might be for you.

Eric Shaw is a down-on-his-luck, back-from-LA, Chicago filmmaker who is now "reduced" to designing "video life portraits" at funerals to make ends meet. To make matters worse, he is also on his way to divorce from his wife, Claire. When he is approached by Alyssa Bradford to spend a few weeks in French Lick and West Baden to document her dying father-in-law, Campbell's, mysterious past, he can't say no. Both are small towns with deep histories in their extraordinary hotels (I told you to expect The Shining). Shaw meets many people along the way who are willing to help him, but becomes addicted to the towns' water. The water shows him visions of Campbell's life in the early 1900s. The story takes a sinister turn when Eric's visions become stronger.

The story begins strong with a penchant for pageturning. Midway through, it loses some steam, but everything is nicely pulled together in the end. I did not find it an "icy, terrifying winner", as Dennis Lehane's blurb on the cover suggests, but if you are looking for some mindless entertainment, you can find it here.

MY RATING - 3

This review can also be found at www.bookloons.com.

Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)

This is my kind of book…..psychological terror that just drips with suspense. I picked this up a few years ago when it was a feature of the bookstore I was working in. Margaret Lea gets a letter from the most reclusive writer of the day, Vida Winter. Ms. Winter is an elderly, sick woman and wants Margaret to write her life story before she passes away.

As Margaret interviews the writer, she is captivated by her gothic stories. She does not entirely trust Vida’s account, as she has toyed with previous biographers. She decides to investigate the story in her own way, and what she finds is chilling.

This is a long read, but well worth it. Read it on chilly, rainy evenings in October to get the full effect of what Ms. Setterfield wanted.

MY RATING – 5