The Girl on the Train

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The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Riverhead Books: 2015, 325 pages

Reviewed by Sheryl Walters

Rachel, a recently divorced and depressed woman, takes a commuter train each work day and observes her old street from the window.  One day she notices something odd and subsequently involves herself in a mystery.  This book definitely seems to be written for Gone Girl fans as it has some similarities.  However, the character development is a bit shallow and I found it hard to follow at first because the chapters switch from different characters in first person.  That being said, it did keep me interested and I read it in one day.  I found the ending predictable but not disappointing.  

The Hangman's Daughter

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The Hangman's Daughter

Oliver Pötzsch

Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg: 2008, 448 pages

English version published by AmazonCrossing in 2010

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The first in the Hangman's Daughter series, the historical fiction novel is set in Germany in 1659.  Jakob Kuisl comes from a long line of executioners; he himself is the current hangman in the town of Schongau.  When a young boy is fished out of the river, dying not from drowning but from a brutal attack, the people notice a crude tattoo on his shoulder.  The townspeople are convinced that it is a witch's mark and that the local midwife murdered him.  Jakob is not convinced and neither is the young physician Simon or Magdalena, Jakob's headstrong daughter.  As more children are found slaughtered with the same mark on their shoulders, the main characters race against the clock in order to save the midwife and save the town from the hysteria that will surly bring a bloodbath if it is not stopped.  Readers should be aware that there is violence, including scenes of torture but it is not excessively gory.

Ripper

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Ripper
Isabel Allende
Harper: 2013/4, 496 pages
Reviewed by Jessie Park

Indiana Jackson is a holistic healer who believes in essential oils and how the planets affect her future.  Amanda Martin is her teenage daughter who is set to go to MIT and spends all her time on Ripper, an online gaming community that focuses on solving crimes.  Over the course of several months, San Francisco experiences several seemingly unrelated murders.  Amanda and her Ripper colleagues, which includes her grandfather Blake, meet online and try to solve the cases, becoming more convinced that they are all done by the same twisted person.  Amanda and Blake have the inside access since her father, Bob Martin, is the homicide police chief.  Things become personal when Indiana is kidnapped and Amanda is dead sure that the kidnapper is the same murderer the Ripper players have been chasing.  It's a race against time as Amanda and the Ripper players try to solve the murders and shed light on the murderer's identity while Bob rallies the police force to find his ex-wife before it's too late.  Adding to the action is Ryan Miller, Indiana's best friend who is also in love with her.  He's a highly skilled ex-Navy SEAL who will stop at nothing to ensure her safety, even if he's the number one suspect in her disappearance.  This is not a light read but it does pick up towards the middle as much of the book goes into the backgrounds of the characters.  There is violence throughout the book but it is not intensely gory.

The Girl on the Train

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The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Riverhead Books: 2015, 336 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Touted as "the next Gone Girl," The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller set in the suburbs of London.  Rachel is an alcoholic who lost both her job and her marriage.  She rides the train into London every morning so her roommate won't find out that Rachel lost her job.  From the train, she becomes obsessed with a couple who she often sees sitting on their deck, drinking their morning coffee, inventing personalities and even names for this idyllic couple.  When the wife goes missing, Rachel becomes way too involved in the investigation into her disappearance, putting herself in danger.  This book alternates chapters from the points of view of three women: Rachel; Anna, Rachel's ex-husband's new wife; and Megan, the woman who goes missing.  It had enough twists to keep me riveted and I would highly recommend it to fans of crime novels/thrillers.

The Inner Circle

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The Inner Circle (Culper Ring #1)

Brad Meltzer

Grand Central Publishing: 2011, 449 pages

Reviewed by Ellen Dickman

This book was an enjoyable read if you like suspenseful action.  Beecher White, the main character, is an archivist who has a passion for his work in the National Archives, but it would probably be described as an ordinary, if not typically boring, job.  His life is turned upside down when an old friend, Clementine Kaye, asks him for assistance locating an archival file.  In a mishap, Beecher is thrown into a national security issue that has him solving messages and codes in an effort to protect his own life as well as creating new and unexpected alliances.  The story has many twists and turns and unexpected outcomes as Beecher questions friendships, co-workers, and even the President of the United States.