Daniel Hurst – The Passenger

‘The Passenger’ by Daniel Hurst is a psychological thriller published by Inkubator Books and one I really got into. I found myself picking up the book whenever I could so I could read what was going to happen next.

Amanda is a single mum to her daughter Louise, who is being a typical rebelling teenager Amanda can do nothing right in her eyes. She is as hardworking as they come and has an orderly life with work and Louise at the forefront. Every day she makes the same commute Brighton to London as regular as clockwork. We meet Amanda on a special day this is the last day she needs to commute. Finally, she has managed to save enough to quit work and do what she wants for a change.

On her final commute home, she meets a charming stranger who singles her out and then spooks her out! He seems to know everything about her, even things only Louise knows. He delivers an ultimatum give him the code to her safe that holds every penny she has saved before the train arrives in Brighton or she will never see Louise again. Amanda is very aware that the threat has every possibility of being credible, he knows too much and she is terrified of giving him the code…because in that safe she has kept a terrible secret that will not just destroy her life but that of Louise’s too.

A psychological thriller that is just up my street this. The story begins innocuously enough with the main issues being a mother and daughter at loggerheads and soon speeds up into a book that keeps you reading until you have no choice but to put it down. The story is told by each character. Each with their personal chapter and flips from one to another. This gives us every angle to this story and also more in-depth knowledge of these characters. I felt sorry for Amanda immediately, working so hard with an ungrateful teenager at home blaming mum for everything. I get that, probably with having three girls and knowing how some kids are today…so entitled. I felt like shaking Louise all the way through until desperation showed us and even herself what she was made of.

Poor Amanda, stuck on a train with the sense of impending doom and no way out. The feeling of claustrophobia was so thick and intense right there that I felt it too. I really was cheering Amanda on, no matter why she was scared of opening the safe I was hoping all would end well and had to carry on to the end to find out.

A story that is like a snowball, growing by the minute in size and picking up speed until the very last pages. Then it races to the end as we learn everything and we see if the women have the mettle to solve a difficult and seemingly impossible situation. A book that was a brilliantly vivid and realistic story that made me as nervous as all the characters. Great descriptions of Brighton too, they gave me a great sense of place along with the tension and intensity of both women’s fears.

Yes, I would recommend this book and will be checking out Daniel Hurst’s other work also.

Thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles Blog tours and Inkubator Books for my copy of the book.