Thriller – Page 28 – My Good Reads

‘The Girl on the Train’ – Paula Hawkins

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.

‘Awake’ – Natasha Preston

A really mixed bag of reviews for this, and it does seem to be something of a love it or loathe it kind of book. I received a free digital copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first thing I will say is that this is the kind of book that you will race through if you can get over the rather awful beginning. I’m some way out of my teens and perhaps just a little sceptical to have fallen for the rapidity with which Scarlett falls for the new boy in school, Noah. However, with the story being told from varying perspectives it is quickly clear that there is more to Noah than meets the eye.

As so many readers have pointed out, not having many memories before the age of four is quite normal. As we learn more about why Scarlett has ‘forgotten’ her memories we get drawn in to the world of the Eternal Light. I know very little about how cults operate, but I can’t imagine so many people would remain in this kind of environment without questioning some of the things that occur within it – certainly not based on what we learn about the group from within the pages of the novel.

I won’t reveal plot details here because one of the things that kept me reading was the way this could never be pinned down in the way you might expect. This could have been a powerful book. It’s readable, and if you stick with it you will probably enjoy it. Unfortunately, you then start to realise all the things that are nonsensical within the novel, and find reasons to pick holes in it. The ending also felt horribly contrived in order to leave the way open for a follow-on. For me this was a novel that was full of promise, that didn’t really deliver.

‘The Black-Eyed Blonde’ – Benjamin Black

This was my attempt to read something from a genre I’m not familiar with. I have only a passing interest in detective movies/novels and I admit to reading this because it was passed on to me to try, rather than it being a deliberate choice.

The story focuses on the attempts of Private Detective Phillip Marlowe to find the former lover of beautiful heiress, Claire Cavendish. Tales of dodgy dealings and double-crossings abound, and there was a certain fascination for me in reading a book so firmly placed in this time-period.

I confess to feeling completely distant from the events/characters. The ‘big reveal’ was heavily hinted at, and I found the whole thing dated in style. I’m aware this may have been intentional, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me.

I may well try ‘The Big Sleep’ or another Raymond Chandler to see if the original is, in this case, better than what comes later…

‘Center of Gravity’ – Laura McNeill

I received a free digital copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that this is not the kind of book I would normally go for, but I am so pleased I gave it a try. A marriage in decline is not a pleasant thing at any time – but to observe the rapidity of this experience was quite unsettling.

On the surface Mitchell and Ava seem to have it all. Very quickly we are alerted to the idea that not everything is as rosy as it seems, though it takes Ava some time to come to this realisation. While I was initially unsure about the telling of the story from multiple viewpoints, I found this helped strengthen my feelings for the character of Ava.

I don’t like to give spoiler details in my reviews, but I found this well-plotted and hard to put down. It felt horribly realistic at times, which might not be to everyone’s tastes, but I think it is a book that deserves to be read.

‘The Memory Hit’ – Carla Spradbery

I loved the cover of the book, and the general idea of a drug that allowed you to relive your memories was intriguing. I was full of hope for this read, and I am rather disappointed that it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital copy of the novel to review. I really wanted to like this book, and parts of it were great. The friendship between Jag and Cooper, and some of the ideas behind the memories that people relive had real potential.

Unfortunately, the events of the novel just seemed a little incredulous. I didn’t feel like I cared enough about the characters to really be affected by the events described, and the character that the story hinged upon had been so under the radar throughout that I had to remind myself who they were!

I’m going to pass this book on to my son, and see whether the intended audience has more of a positive reaction.

‘This is Where it Ends’ – Marieke Nijkamp

This book isn’t due to be published until January 2016, but this is why I signed up to NetGalley – to get the opportunity to get my mitts on wonderful new books before they hit the shelves.

I really hope this book becomes one that people talk about for the right reasons when it is published. I’m giving nothing away when I say that this focuses us on 54 minutes of every parent/teacher/students’ worst nightmare – a high school shooting.

From the off this had me completely gripped. Some early reviews have criticised the Tweets included, saying they are off-putting. I think they place us within a clear social context, but I did not find them overly distracting. The central characters who the story focuses on are all well-written and I felt like I wanted to know more about their backgrounds/what happens to them after the story.

I do not want to give away any spoilers as publication is some way off, but I would earmark this as one to recommend.

Lianne Moriarty – ‘Big Little Lies’

This was one of those books that wormed its way into my basket at Waterstones, thanks to their amazing buy one get one half price offer and a vague recollection of someone talking about something else Moriarty had written.

Three very different women come together when their children start school. Single mum, Jane, is new to the area and she is taken under the wings of Madeline and Celeste. Some of the characters were a little stereotypical, and felt like devices used to move the plot forward but the central characters were intriguing. The ‘thriller’ element of the plot was capably handled, though I think many readers will guess how all the pieces come together. I did, on occasion, find the interview snippets a distraction and felt they got in the way of the story rather than adding anything to it.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book as I was reading it but it isn’t one that I’d go back to.

‘I Let You Go’ – Clare Mackintosh

This is, definitely, a book that you want to know nothing else about – other than what is given in the blurb – before you read it.

The opening description of the accident that changes Jenna Gray’s life is heart-wrenching. I was so immersed in the book that the ‘astonishing twist’ referred to on the cover took me totally by surprise and I had to go back and re-read a section as I thought I’d missed something. Once I realised I hadn’t, I was gripped and desperate to find out just what was going on!

Sometimes a book comes along that you want to devour. This was one of those books.

‘Broken Harbour’ – Tana French

I had been introduced to this author by a colleague in work. ‘Faithful Place’ intrigued me and was certainly an enjoyable foray into crime writing. The blurb for this gave little away, but I was hooked by the idea that someone who was murdered would have, even inadvertently, done something to ‘invite it in’.

I couldn’t resist checking out reviews on Amazon, and I’m not giving anything away to reveal that the novel opens with the deaths of two children and their father being discovered, and their mother being taken to intensive care. What follows is a detailed and thorough account of the investigation into the murder case by Scorcher Kennedy, Dublin’s star detective.

From the opening pages I felt like I trusted our narrator; he was a character that I wanted to do well. He was not without his flaws, and the effects on him and his personal life of the investigation were compelling reading.

I was less sure about his partner, rookie Richie Curran, but I felt the developing relationship between the two men was engaging, and allowed French to explain some of the procedure involved in the investigation without patronising us. At times the total immersion into the experience was far from comfortable, but I could not put the book down. Once it became clear that there were two suspects, neither of whom seemed completely plausible, I was desperately trying to work out what had happened. I didn’t come close!