PanThe San Francisco ChronicleIf a sharply written and swiftly paced final chapter with a startling reveal compensates for the time you spend reading a cluttered, slow-moving thriller, you may walk away satisfied with Paula Hawkins’ Into the Water ... Against these unevenly drawn characters, Erin Morgan, an inspector transferred from London to the village, stands out for her force, candor and keen eye ... Hawkins tells the story from rotating points of view, a popular narrative structure in thrillers that’s wearing thin. The idea, of course, is for the characters to undercut each other’s stories so the reader can’t tell who is trustworthy ... The reader soon begins to feel he’s in a long holding pattern ... There’s a mastery of storytelling here that leaves you hoping that Hawkins gets back on the mark next time out.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
