Book Description:
An ordinary journey. A shocking secret. And the perfect murder…
Breathlessly, I rush into carriage 3 just as the train doors slam behind me. It’s the same train I get home every night – the 18.53 – and I always sit in the same seat, with the same people. Each journey is fairly uneventful. Except this one…
A passenger drops dead and shockwaves ripple through the train. The lights go out and we’re left waiting in darkness, trapped until further notice. Is it an accident, or something more sinister?
The unwritten rule is you don’t talk to your fellow commuters, but the group of people huddled around me all seem like nice, normal people. I just hope they don’t notice my dishevelled hair or smell the alcohol on my breath. Because my life is far from perfect and there are things I’ve done I’m not proud of.
But as we all get to know each other, I wonder if I can really trust them? Or are they all hiding dangerous secrets…
Was someone in carriage 3 involved in the passenger’s death? And if so, how far will they go to stop the rest of us finding the truth?
An absolutely addictive psychological thriller that will keep you up late into the night. If you love Behind Closed Doors, Gone Girl and The Perfect Couple, you’ll be gripped.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Woman In Carriage 3' by Alison James.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Alison James, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 22nd May 2023.
This is the fifth book I have read by this author. I have previously read Alison's 'Her Sister's Child' , The Exile (with James Patterson), 'The New Couple' and 'The Guilty Wife' which I highly recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'An absolutely addictive psychological thriller that will keep you up late into the night. If you love Behind Closed Doors, Gone Girl and The Perfect Couple, you’ll be gripped.' I am a fan of 'Gone Girl' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Alison and if this is half as good as 'Her Sister's Child', 'The Exile', 'The New Couple' and 'The Guilty Wife' it is sure to be an epic read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 43 chapters and an epilogue and is spread over 4 parts. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in London, England 🏴. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Hattie Sewell, Julian Cobbold, Neil Waller and Lewis Handley. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVED THIS FAST PACED PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER!!!
WOW!!! If you are looking for a psychological thriller filled with twists then this is the book for you. It starts of as a slow burn and then builds up into a fast paced, intriguing, page turning psychological thriller that will have you hooked. I just could not put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting!! It is absolutely ram packed with secrets, lies, romance, deceit crime and so much more. This book takes us on a locked room mystery and I absolutely love a good old locked door mystery as it makes the suspect list so much shorter and sometimes even harder because of that reason!! Hatty is a complete party animal who always takes the same train and sits in the same carriage. After an incident on the train one day leading it to come to a standstill she gets to know her regular commuters sharing the carriage. Hattie discovers their names are Julian, Carmen, Lewis, Bridget and Casper and they all start chatting and even set up a WhatsApp group to keep in touch. Hattie becomes attracted to Casper and it doesn't take long before they are meeting up off the train and becoming closer although Hattie finds out he is married but that he wants to leave his wife. Things start looking up for Hattie until one member from their carriage drops dead and things start taking a turn for the worse!! Will Casper leave his wife? Is Julian who he says he is? How much of what Carmen says is true? Who can be believed and who is hiding secrets from the rest of the group? To find out just grab your copy today and get stuck in to this rollercoaster train ride of a lifetime!! I'm not going to go into the storyline any more as I'm worried ill give something away and I don't want to spoil it for future readers. I do want to say a HUGE WELL done to Alice on the plot which is absolutely unique as well as intriguing. I love the idea of strangers meeting on a train which leads to murder, secrets and everything you have rammed into this gritty thriller. I was able to picture everything perfectly thanks to Alice's vivid descriptions and evocative writing skills and she created the scenery perfectly. The fact this book is written from so many perspectives gives us a huge insight into what is going on but still doesn't give too much away to guess who is behind it all which I was not expecting at all so a HUGE well done to Alison!! Jan's amazing narrative skills added to Alison's fantastic story telling ensures you are really sucked into the storyline from the start to the very end and I cannot wait to get stuck into more books written or narrated by these amazingly talented people!!
It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture
Clear your schedules and get ready for a rollercoaster ride of drama!!
This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Jan Cramer who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Jan did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Alison but also to listening to more books narrated by Jan!
The characters were well realistic, well defined and jumped out of the pages. Jan's voice and Alison's descriptions really brought them to life. One of the things that shocked me the most is that I actually really didn't like the majority of them!!! Now when this normally happens I just cannot get into the book but Alison has managed to cram a fantastic book full of unlikeable characters while ensuring the reader still loves the storyline!!! It is very rare for me to find a book like that so yet again I have to say a huge well done to Alison!! The main character is Hattie and OMG there were so many times I wanted to shout at her, and in fact I did a few times gaining some very funny looks!!! I just found her to be so pathetic at times as well as irresponsible and so disregard to her parents!!! I just felt like she acted like a spoilt brat at times and I just really didn't click with her at all!! I can't say much at all without ruining it for others but there was a great mix and every single one of them had a unique if unlikeable personality. Regardless of how I felt about them they were perfect characters for this fantastic page turner!!!
Well done Alison on another successful psychological thriller and here's to many more 🍷🍹 🥃!!
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and first chapter of Alison''s 'The Man She Married' which promises to be just as addictive as this book and is one I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself!!
Overall a unique psychological thriller that will have you up until 2am finishing it!!!
Genres covered in this novel include Women's Psychological Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Suspense Thriller, Psychological Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Noir Fiction, Womens Psychological Thriller, Mystery ,Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Psychological Suspense and Thriller amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'Gone Girl' , 'The Girl on The Train', 'Behind Closed Doors', 'The Wife Between Us', Liane Moriarty, 'Our House' , 'The Woman in the Window', 'The Housemaid', Lisa Jewell and anyone looking for an explosive thriller filled with bombshells you won't see coming!!
330 pages/8 hours 1 minute.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited, £8.99 in paperback and £16 for the audiobook (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio:
Alison James was born in the Cotswolds but spent most of her formative years abroad. She studied languages at Oxford, then became a journalist and author, returning to university after her two children to take a law degree. After a three-year stint as a criminal paralegal, she worked as a commercial copywriter and then a TV storyliner, before coming full circle to write fiction again.
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Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BXM14TYYsocial
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