About the Book:
The scorching new thriller from the number-one ‘New York Times’ best-selling author of ‘The Girl on the Train’.
When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds. How far might any one of them go to find peace? How long can secrets smolder before they explode into flame?
Look what you started.
My Review:
This one has very mixed reviews but the audiobook narrated by Rosamund Pike was next level. And Jodie Comer must play Laura in the movie version!
The book centers around a young man named Daniel who was killed on his run-down houseboat in London. The main characters mostly seem unconnected with each other at first, but this book slowly reveals all of their histories and secrets and eventually, their connection to Daniel. And each one of the main characters has a traumatic, tragic past.
Laura is the most vivid character to me. She is the prime suspect in the case because she slept with Daniel the night before his death, and had a brutal fight with him. She was seen by witnesses leaving Daniel’s houseboat and had run-ins with the police in the past. Laura was left emotionally and physically damaged as a result of a car accident when she was a little girl and she is very lonely. She is unable to connect with others and often engages in violent outbursts. She has no impulse control but she is pretty sure that she did not kill Daniel. I felt very sympathetic towards Laura right from the beginning and despite her hardships, she actually maintained a dark sense of humor despite her struggles.
Daniel’s mother Angela was an alcoholic who was very close with her elderly neighbor Irene, a widow who desperately missed her beloved husband and who might also have a touch of dementia. Also thrown into this mix is Angela’s sister Carla, her writer husband Theo, and Daniel’s meddling neighbor Miriam. None of these characters are who they seem at first and all of them are unreliable.
The story alternates with excerpts from Theo’s best-selling crime novel ‘The One Who Got Away’ which Theo wrote under a female pseudonym, and which might have been plagiarized from an unsolicited manuscript that he read.
I felt sympathy for most of the main characters even though some of them were diabolical in their own way. Although the book does have a large cast of characters, the audiobook was fantastic and I was absolutely enthralled with Rosamund Pike’s narration.
Paula Hawkins weaves a dark, complex tale of damaged people and tragic pasts. Each one had the opportunity and motive to kill Daniel but I was as equally invested in their lives as I was in finding out who the killer was. The murderer’s stunning reveal was completely compelling and I find myself still thinking about this book even after it was over. I hope this book is made into a movie and highly recommend the audiobook version.
