The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

                                       

Hardback:  310 pages                                                                                                 
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Publisher: Doubleday 2024
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: The moon woke me, bright and close. It shed such a strange light over the sea, a dark kind of daylight, like looking at the negative of a photograph.
Review Quote: ‘Vivid, extremely tense, unnervingly unputdownable. This is a superb, powerful read.’ Independent
Main Characters: Vanessa Chapman, James "Beck" Becker, Grace Haswell, Sebastian Lennox, Julian Chapman, Sir Douglas Lennox, Lady Emmeline Lennox, Helena Fitzgerald, Graham Bryant, Nicholas Riley, Isobel Chapman
Setting: Scotland, Eris, Scotland (United Kingdom)

My Opinion: 

Having read all of Paula Hawkins novels so far I can safely say that I have enjoyed this one the most.

In 'The Blue Hour' we have a mystery revolving around deceased artist Vanessa Chapman. The puzzle is slowly revealed to us by her close friend Grace Haswell with the help of James Becker.  James works for the Fairburn Foundation where he is in charge of all the artworks by Vanessa that were donated to them on her death. It is a tense and atmospheric story, the latter mainly due to the remote setting of Vanessa Chapmans home being located on the island of Eris in Scotland, which is completely cut off from the mainland for many hours a day and hers is the only house on the island. The tension is because of the secrets that all the characters have and that are only slowly revealed to the reader.

A chilling and dark novel that in my opinion is well worth reading.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Eris, an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day.

Once home to Vanessa. A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.

Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.

But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.

And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge . . .

Previous Reviews:  The Girl On the Train. Into the Water.  A Slow Fire Burning

Author Profile and Photo from Amazon

 

 Courtesy of Phoebe Grigor

PAULA HAWKINS worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, Paula moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has sold more than 23 million copies worldwide. Published in over fifty languages, it has been a Number 1 bestseller around the world and was a box office hit film starring Emily Blunt.

Paula's thrillers, Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning, were also instant Number 1 bestsellers.

Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

 Author Official Website    Paula Hawkins - Amazon Page

 Goodreads Author Profile.    

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

                                                                

Hardback: 298 pages

Genre: Contemporary Thriller

Publisher: Transworld, Penguin Random House.

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: Blood-sodden, the girl staggers into the black.

Favourite Quote: “I did become sadder, and sadness gets boring after a while, for the sad person and for everyone around them.”

Review Quote: A treat: utterly readable, moving in parts and saturated with the kind of localised detail that made The Girl on the Train so compelling . . . [It] will be seen, rightly, as a return to form; a London book from an excellent writer on London, and a tender portrait of characters that stay in the mind long after you've finished reading. ― Guardian

My Opinion: Another gripping tale from Paula Hawkins, this one is a complicated mystery with a cast of damaged characters. Their suffering it seems is mainly caused by people keeping disturbing secrets. The story line is full of intense twists and turns which prove this very point from beginning to end.

The title 'A Slow Fire Burning' is perfect as the first half of the book was, I found rather slow and complex. Don't give up though as the pace quickens as you get to know the characters and become immersed in their lives. Everything starts to fit into place; however, I did find I needed to concentrate. 

Recommend to fans of the author and those that generally enjoy a cryptic mystery.

My previous reviews of her books  The Girl on the Train    Into the Water

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

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.

Author Profile: 

                                            Courtesy of Amazon and Phoebe Grigor

Born and brought up in Zimbabwe on 26th August 1972, she moved to London in 1989, she now splits her time between there and Edinburgh.  Paula worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. She is the author of two #1 New York Times bestselling novels, Into The Water and The Girl on The Train. An international #1 bestseller, The Girl on the Train has sold 23 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a major motion picture. Into the Water was also a Sunday Times and New York Times #1 bestseller, selling 4 million copies worldwide. Her latest thriller, A Slow Fire Burning, was published in 2021. 

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Author Official Website    Wikipedia - Paula Hawkins     Paula Hawkins - Amazon Page

Goodreads Author Profile

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Hardback: 353 pages                                                                                                 
Genre:Psychological thriller, 
Publisher: Doubleday 2017
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentence:There was something you wanted to tell me, wasn't there?
Favourite Quote: “Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.”
Review Quote: “Thrilling… we [are] kept guessing until the sobering conclusion.” —O Magazine
Literary Awards: Nominated for https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-mystery-thriller-books-2017

My Opinion:  I did not enjoy this novel quite as much as The Girl On The Train, but I think it was always going to be hard to follow! The theme of Into The Water is an interesting one and told from an unusual viewpoint with every character speaking for themselves. Though because of this with so many characters it took me a while to get into the story, but once I had it became more interesting.
When a single mother turns up dead at the bottom of a river, soon after a teenage girl suffered the same fate, long buried secrets emerge. The past catches up with the present, but one's memories can be deceptive.
Recommended to fans of her first novel but be warned the style of writing is very different, so don't try and compare, just read this sinister and atmospheric novel without letting your expectations cloud your enjoyment of this author's writing.


Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help.

Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.

But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped.

And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .


Video Trailer for 'Into The Water ' Courtesy of YouTube

Author Profile

Paula Hawkins was born on August 26th 1972 in Harare, Zimbabwe. She moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. A journalist for fifteen years prior to turning her hand to fiction,  The Girl on the Train was her début novel, Into the Water, her second.  An international bestseller, The Girl on the Train has been published in 50 countries and translated into over 40 languages. It has sold over 18 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a major motion picture.


Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Audio Trailer - YouTube   Amazon - Author Page   Paula Hawkins - Official Website.

Goodreads Author Profile     Paula Hawkins - Twitter      Instagram Account     Facebook Profile

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

Hardback: 316 pages                                                                                                 
Genre:Psychological thriller, 
Publisher: Doubleday 2015
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentence: There is a pile of clothing on the side of the train tracks.
Favourite Quote: “Life is not a paragraph, and death is no parenthesis.
(This is a reference to an E.E. Cummings poem within the author's work)”
Review Quote:  "Really great suspense novel. Kept me up most of the night. The alcoholic narrator is dead perfect." (STEPHEN KING)
Literary Awards: Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2015), 
                                Waterstones Book of the Year Nominee (2015)
My Opinion:  What a good read this was, a clever angle to tell the story from. However I did guess the result fairly early on which surprised me when I discovered I was right! An enjoyable read that I can recommend to anyone that likes a good psychological thriller, but I cannot really understand exactly why it gained so much notoriety in the media.

Since reading this novel I have seen the film and was very disappointed in the adaptation. 

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

A début psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying début




Audio Trailer for ' The Girl On The Train ' Courtesy of YouTube

Something a little different in this review, an audio extract rather than a video one, which may tempt you into reading the novel in full.


Author Profile

  

Paula Hawkins was born on August 26th 1972 in Harare, Zimbabwe. She moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. A journalist for fifteen years prior to turning her hand to fiction,  The Girl on the Train is her début novel.


Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Audio Trailer - YouTube    Amazon - Author Page     Paula Hawkins - Official Website.

Goodreads - Author Profile    Paula Hawkins - Wikipedia    Twitter - Paula Hawkins