Book Review: Paula Hawkins, Into the Water

Into The Water is the latest psychological suspense novel from Paula Hawkins, and its publishers will no doubt be hoping that it is as much as a runaway success as its predecessor, The Girl On The Train. If it does attract a similarly broad readership, it will be well-deserved. Hawkins has not opted for the easy option – à la Dan Brown – of churning out the same hackneyed plotlines and characters to keep the masses happy. 
Instead, this is a much more ambitious novel – one that is a little reminiscent of both The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend. Hawkins unfurls a gripping and layered story, even if the prose may be a little clunky. Still, while Hawkins might never win the Booker, she certainly knows how to keep the the reader’s interest piqued. Indeed, this sinister novel about a family drowning in secrets might just be the blockbuster of the year. Expect the cinematic adaptation to follow in short order.