If you haven’t heard of The Girl on the Train by now, I’m quite surprised you found this review. The smash-hit thriller from Paula Hawkins has had everyone talking since its release in 2015, and for good reason: The Girl on the Train is the kind of mystery novel that can hook even the most staunch thriller-haters, including this reviewer.

The Girl on the Train centers on Rachel, an alcoholic whose life has taken a few turns for the worst. She’s lost her husband, who is now remarried and a new father, and she has recently been fired from a well-paying job in the city. Unable to tell her roommate about the job loss, Rachel continues to follow her daily commute schedule, which takes her past the home of a young couple, Megan and Scott, whose life together she romanticizes. When Megan goes missing, Rachel throws herself into the middle of the investigation, determined to learn who killed the woman she idolized.

Two years after The Girl on the Train took the world by storm, one worries that it will soon be lumped in with any number of other “Girl” novels — such as Luckiest Girl Alive and Gone Girl — and written off as a publishing fad. The explosion of woman-centered thrillers may well be fad-like, but it’s important to note here that Hawkins’ novel, like those of Jessica Knoll and Gillian Flynn, deserves the attention it has received. The Girl on the Train grabs you around the neck and doesn’t let go until you’ve heard all it has to say.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Image credit: Davide D’Amico