Platform Seven – A dark and thought-provoking​ thriller

Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted. The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he’s alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic – he’s as far away from the night staff as he can get.

Louise Doughty leads her unnerved readers into dark territory.’ – Hilary Mantel

The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Louise Doughty

Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted. The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he’s alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic – he’s as far away from the night staff as he can get.

What the man doesn’t realise is that he has company. Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he is about to do as she tries and fails to stop him walking to the platform edge.

Two deaths on Platform Seven. Two fatalities in eighteen months – surely they’re connected?

No one is more desperate to understand what connects them than Lisa Evans herself. After all, she was the first of the two to die.

Duffy’s thoughts on Platform Seven

WOW. Just Wow. Louise Doughty transports you to a dark, cold and bleak train platform where a young woman lurks in the early hours. She observes the train staff on the night shift and then spots a man who heads to platform seven, away from the watchful eye of the train guards and to the platform edge. She knows what he is about to do, but she is powerless to stop him.

As the sun rises she observes the commuters as they go about their daily lives, unaware of what happened just a few hours earlier and flickers of her own life and memories begin to return. Lisa Evans, yes that’s her name, but how did she end up here and why can’t she move on?

Louise Doughty’s writing is tight without one unnecessary paragraph, chapter or character. This is a carefully created and thoughtfully delivered thriller which envelopes you in the thoughts and feelings of Lisa Evans. Her story will resonate with many and by the last page, she and Andrew had a piece of my heart. I shed a tear as I read the last few pages and was left with many thoughts rattling around in my head a melancholy book hangover.

A thriller as dark as Peterborough station at 4am on a cold winters night. Platform Seven is an exceptional read and one which will stay with me for a good while. One of my favourite reads of the year.

Read if you enjoyed The Lovely Bones and Tom Houghton