'Girl on the Train' is a stunning thriller.

• Position: News

'S omething happened. Something bad.''

That's Rachel, the unhappy, heavy-drinking, needy "heroine'' of "The Girl on the Train,'' a first novel by Paula Hawkins, and what a stunning freshman thriller this is!

But it's not an easy read. Well, let me explain. It is an easy read in terms of grabbing you by the throat, and not letting go until you finish it, in one hit-upside-the-head afternoon or evening. (The train in question is in London, but it ain't no genteel Agatha Christie "The Lady Vanishes'' or "Murder on the Orient Express'' train adventure. This one derails your equilibrium.)

The difficulty is that the three female protagonists, each of whom explains, re-explains and justifies her actions to the reader, are vastly unlikable. The men involved aren't much (or any) better, but this is a tale told by three women, connected fatally by the loneliness and fantasizing of one of them -- Rachel. As the swiftly-paced story unfolds, and each woman reveals herself gradually, the reader feels as if baseball bats are being applied assiduously to the head. It's that intense.

I can't tell too much of the plot. There is a disappearance, a murder; and all involved are deeply involved -- jealousy, envy, insecurity, dissatisfaction, boredom, terror, liquor and the vagaries of grimy humanity fuel the search, investigation and stunning denouement.

I don't think I've ever encountered a book that is in equal parts so fascinating and...