The Blue Hour: A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Moment and Five Days comes a "completely absorbing and atmospheric" (Philip Kerr) novel about a woman whose husband disappears without a trace amidst the stunning, labyrinthine world of Morocco.Robin knew Paul wasn't perfect. But he said they were so lucky to have found each other, and she believed it was true. When he suggests a month in Morocco--where he once lived and worked, a place where the modern meets the medieval--Robin reluctantly agrees. Once immersed into the swirling, white-hot exotica of a walled city on the North African Atlantic coast, Robin finds herself acclimatizing to its wonderful strangeness. Paul is everything she wants him to be--passionate, talented, knowledgeable. She is convinced that it is here that she will finally become pregnant. But then Paul suddenly disappears, and Robin finds herself the prime suspect in the police inquiry. As her understanding of the truth starts to unravel, Robin lurches from the crumbling art deco of Casablanca to the daunting Sahara, caught in an increasingly terrifying spiral from which there is no easy escape. For fans of thought-provoking page-turners such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Douglas Kennedy's The Blue Hour is a roller-coaster journey into a heart of darkness that asks the question: What would you do if your life depended on it?
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The Blue Hour Review: A Captivating Thriller…
This book captivated me from start to finish! Paula Hawkins has a real talent for creating atmospheric thrillers, and The Blue Hour did not disappoint! This book had me glued to the pages, eager to uncover the truth behind the mysterious events surrounding Eris Island and the late artist, Vanessa Chapman.
Here's what I loved:
The Setting: The isolated and haunting atmosphere of Eris Island was the perfect backdrop for this dark and suspenseful tale. The descriptions of the wild seas, the rugged landscape, and the looming presence of the old pines created a sense of unease and added to the overall tension of the story. The constant threat of the tide cutting off access to and from the island heightened the sense of isolation and danger.
The Characters: Hawkins crafted complex and compelling characters, each with their own secrets and motivations. Grace Haswell, Vanessa Chapman's devoted companion, is a particularly intriguing figure. Her love for Vanessa, her protectiveness, and her own hidden darkness make her a fascinating and unpredictable character.
The Mystery: The discovery of a human bone in one of Vanessa's sculptures immediately grabbed my attention. Was it Julian, her missing husband? The book skillfully weaves together multiple storylines, exploring the mystery of Julian's disappearance, the truth behind Vanessa's art, and the complex relationship between Vanessa and Grace.
The Writing: Hawkins' writing is sharp and engaging, and her use of alternating perspectives kept me guessing throughout the story. The inclusion of Vanessa's diary entries added depth and insight into her character, revealing her thoughts, fears, and desires.
The Themes: The Blue Hour explores compelling themes of obsession, grief, the dark side of human nature, and the power of secrets. It also raises questions about the nature of art, the relationship between artist and muse, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love.
Overall: The Blue Hour is a gripping and unsettling thriller that stayed with me long after I finished reading it. If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train or any of Paula Hawkins' other books, you won't want to miss this one!
The full Deep Dive review of this book can be watched from our YouTube channel...
https://youtu.be/qS-I4EOkuGE
“Grace thinks of herself in a lot of different ways. Like anyone, she could describe herself with any number of adjectives: conscientious, hardworking, loyal, strange, lonely, unhappy, good. She is a doctor, a friend, a carer. She is a killer. She says the word quietly to herself, sounding it out. It sounds absurd, melodramatic. Protector, she thinks. Mercy killer. But kill three, she heard, and that makes you a serial killer. She almost wants to laugh. It’s ridiculous, it’s like saying you’re a unicorn. Three strikes and you’re in.”
They met over a broken bone, Grace and Vanessa, and being the artist that she was, Vanessa started to use broken bones in her work. “I like to think that’s significant…I was always there for her, from that very first time we met, when she broke her wrist. I was the person she relied on–she’d get lost in her work and forget to eat, so I brought food. I cooked for her. I fixed things when they broke, or if I couldn’t fix them myself, I found someone who could. I fetched and carried for her. I made her life easier. I listened when she talked…I protected her. And I was there to pick up the pieces, after everything fell apart.”
“The light is failing, shadows gathering and thickening.” Their French neighbor Marguerite has a phrase for it: “l’heure entre loup et chien, the hour between a wolf and a dog. The time at which one thing might appear to be another, when something benign might appear threatening, when an enemy might come calling in the shape of a friend…In that blue hour, with night encroaching, the sky beginning slowly to fill with stars, Grace wept a little, fearful of what she had done and of what she had still to do.”
“All is fair in love and war, and friendship is love, too, isn’t it? And a kind of war sometimes as well.” Love affairs, friendship, enmities. Paula Hawkins’ The Blue Hour is a bone-chilling masterpiece.
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