The Stranger on the Train: A Novel
Emma Turner is struggling to get home on the London underground with her 13-month-old son, Ritchie, in his buggy, along with shopping bags and a purse, when the train takes off without her. A woman on the same car takes Ritchie in hand, waiting for Emma at the next station and offering further help—until she takes off with the child when Emma is in the bathroom. Police, initially sympathetic, become less inclined to believe Emma’s claim of kidnapping when they learn what she—a distraught, isolated 25-year-old single mother—told her doctor just weeks earlier. Emma’s only true ally is Rafe Townsend, a former cop who kept her from injury on the subway platform and uses his contacts to help track down the woman who took Ritchie. Readers may occasionally want to slap Emma, to keep her from behaving against her own best interests, although her background provides some explanation. But this first novel is driven less by character than plot, and the roller-coaster ride, starting with an all-too-plausible incident, is compelling enough to grab and hold interest. --Michele Leber