If you’ve read and enjoyed Gone Girl then this would seem to be the book that people push you towards. I can see why – it’s touted as a thriller, has a flawed narrator, leads the reader up the proverbial garden path on more than occasion and there are some rather gruesome moments. While I enjoyed Gone Girl, my feelings towards this are less secure.
The general premise is straightforward enough. Rachel catches the same train to and from work every day. On the way she passes what she sees as the ideal couple – who she christens Jess and Jason. One day she sees something from the train that leads her to question whether their relationship is as good as she thinks. Then Megan – the real name of the woman she has christened Jess – goes missing and is discovered dead.
Unfortunately, I really disliked Rachel at the opening of the novel and I wonder if this is a deliberate ploy to get us to reassess our feelings towards her as she gets caught up in events that are way beyond those she imagined from her seat on the train. Her alcoholism and selfish disregard for all around her is irritating, though quite realistic. The characters that she interacts with seemed too one-dimensional and I also found the use of multiple narrators meant the story was quite difficult to piece together clearly.
I got a niggling feeling that the character of Tom was more pivotal to the plot than we were being led to believe quite early on and the red-herring of Scott (Jason in her alternative world) was irritating. As the book progressed I felt desperately sorry for Megan, but it felt as though so many ingredients were being thrown in to this pot by the end that I just wanted it to end.
A great holiday read, but I really don’t think it deserves the hype.