The main character was off the rails, but the mystery kept me speeding along the twisted track.
Summary:
For all her time spent commuting, Rachel is stuck on her ex-husband. She's depressed, divorced, unemployed and a serious alcoholic. About her only relief is watching the picturesque house and imagining the life of its ideal couple as her train goes by... until she sees something that breaks her dreamy depiction of them entirely. Piecing together her own scattered memories with reality, Rachel inserts herself into the investigation of a disappearance and possible murder, but is she helping or hurting the situation and everyone involved?
Verdict: 7.5/10
To begin with, I didn't like any of the characters. It's told from the perspective of three different women with Rachel being the main focus, and yet, I'm annoyed by all of them. (Why do I always hate characters named Rachel? Just once, I would like a level-headed and likable Rachel.) Rachel is an alcoholic, Anna is self-centered, and Megan borders on a nymphomaniac (not for younger readers or viewers if you're planning to watch the movie). And the men aren't any better. Three main guys with a corrupted psychologist and two possible emotional abusers. I'm all for characters having flaws, but there should be some redeeming qualities or some show of competence. I found myself yelling at the book like a tv soap opera because the character was making a stupid choice.
Characterization aside, the storyline was great. Having an unreliable witness as your narrator added extra mystery to everything. You're puzzling out Rachel's memories while trying to see how it fits with the investigation at hand, if at all. And the final reveal chock full of jaw-dropping action.
Not many mysteries balance themes well, but this one covered addiction, nostalgia/imagination playing into a grass-is-greener mentality, and motherhood. All three women are in the same life-stage and yet have entirely different approaches and mindsets because of their experiences in being or trying to become a mother. Hawkins adeptly interwove those threads throughout and shows how each role can provide or remove a person's purpose. Everyone needs a purpose, and when that purpose is removed, these women scramble to find themselves again, which we see the most with Rachel but with the others as well.
This novel was a page-turner. I ended up listening to the audiobook when I wasn't reading because I didn't want to put it down. And the voice actors did a fantastic job.
After a bit of a slow start, everything took a quick and thrilling dive. And I won't spoil anything but that final image was haunting. One of my pet peeves is when a serious or dark story tries to have a happy ending where everything is fixed. A clean-cut end would just feel out of place here. Hawkins showed how the events may be moving forward but they leave their scars on those left behind.
I won't say it's my favorite mystery of the year, but it was very entertaining and kept the story driving through the action. If you can look past the characters, it's a decent thriller.
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