Into the Water by Paula Hawkins/ Review by Sharon Marchisello
INTO THE WATER
By Paula Hawkins
Riverhead Books
$11,85
ISBN 978-0735211209
Publication Date: May, 2017
BOOK OF THE DAY
Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Nominee
Into the Water, the latest novel by Paula Hawkins, author of the international bestseller The Girl on the Train, was nominated for a Silver Falchion award.
For more than three centuries, the Beckford Drowning Pool has seen the demise of "troublesome" women. From Libby Seeton, accused of witchcraft in 1679, to Katie Whitaker, a popular, well-adjusted 15-year-old high school student who unexpectedly commits suicide, the river has swallowed inconvenient women and their secrets along with them.
Nel Abbott was always fascinated with the river's power and the women who met their ends in its quiet bend beneath a cliff. She begins researching the questionable suicides and compiling their stories into a book with the help of psychic Nickie Sage. But then Nel herself becomes a victim of the water.
When Into the Water opens, Nel's estranged sister Jules returns to Beckford to settle the estate and look after Nel's hostile 15-year-old daughter Lena. While packing up Nel's things and perusing her writings, Jules finds the missing pieces to their broken relationship and is able to unravel some of Beckford's mysteries.
Master of "the unreliable narrator," Hawkins tells the story through the eyes of 10 different characters, all looking at events from different angles, alternating between first, second, and third person. Woven through the narrative are excerpts from Nel's unfinished manuscript. Just like the characters, sometimes the reader doesn't know whom to trust. The pace is steady through to the twist at the end.
Into the Water is the second novel by Paula Hawkins, whose debut psychological thriller, The Girl on the Train, was published in 50 countries, sold 20 million copies worldwide, and was made into a major motion picture. She currently resides in London.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease. She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and cat, does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, and writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitnesshttps://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
PAULA HAWKINS 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 almost 20 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a major motion picture. Hawkins was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in London.