Paula Hawkins’s gripping debut, The Girl on the Train, is a psychological thriller at its best, chilling from the first page to the last. The book is written in first person present tense and told in alternating narratives on a circumvolving timeline that still manages to flow seamlessly. The writing is tautly elegant and vivid.

This story does not hinge on a fast-paced plot. There is no real action until the end. Instead, it is a layered tale of betrayal, told in such a way that the reader is caught up in the unfolding, eagerly turning to the next page. The tale relies on introspection that builds on each additional narrative. The narrators themselves are perfectly unreliable and flawed: a wallowing drunk, a bored and immature liar, and a chillingly selfish former mistress.

Part of the narrative became rather tedious and began to bog down the story, and the “whodunit” was an easy one to guess, but the layered, riveting tale culminated in a brilliant climax and brief, haunting denouement. The Girl on the Train is an impressive debut, a psychological thriller for the keeper shelves.