Digital Reads Reviews

The book was a double whammy, things happened when I least expected. And boy, did it shake me in my boots. I still had goosebumps while writing the review.

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

2 girls, Carrie and Violet, met and decided to share a cabin on the Trans Siberian Express to travel to Russia via Mangolia. Sounds good? I thought so too. What can go wrong, you ask? Actually, now that I ponder about it, nothing much did go wrong, but nothing went right too. There was just a vague feeling of wrongness that lingered in the air.

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

Was it all a mirage, you ask? Well, the surface was smooth initially until cracks, tiny ones, marred the smooth tapestry of this new friendship. Secrets were hidden which bubbled like lava beneath the skin till it erupted, and tables were turned. Quite a shocker!!

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

My first book by author SJI Holliday, and I was completely blown away. I read the book over a single afternoon without stopping for a break. This was Violet’s story told more from her POV. As I started reading, I could see that something kept bothering me. There was an underlying, unwritten story happening between the lines. My thriller-y mind kept poking me to read it.

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

The sheer talent of this author was seen by the way she foretold the story. Devious minds soon revealed their secrets in ways I least expected. A cat with nine lives was the apt line for this. But what would happen when the nine lives were done. Who saved the cat the tenth time?

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

There was a constant partying happening in the book with drinks and drugs and other stuff. I could negate those. There was something burrowed in the psyche of this book, a hidden message, and I wanted nothing more than to get to it at all desperate costs.

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

The book took every part of me and squeezed me dry with its suspense. I flew through the pages feverishly almost as if nothing was more important than getting to the truth. AND IT SIMPLY SHOOK ME UP!!

Never talk to strangers on a train in a strange land

I received a free digital copy of the book from the author, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Holliday grew up near Edinburgh and spent many years working in her family’s newsagent and pub before studying microbiology and statistics at university. She has worked as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry for over 16 years, but it was on a 6-month round-the-world-trip that she took with her husband 10 years ago that she rediscovered her passion for writing.

Her first novel, BLACK WOOD was published in 2015, the second, WILLOW WALK in June 2016, and the third, THE DAMSELFLY in February 2017. Her most recent novel THE DEATHS OF DECEMBER (as Susi Holliday) came out in Nov 2017. Her next book, THE LINGERING, was released in November 2018.

When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending … a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday

Carrie’s best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they’d planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend’s place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

Publication Date: 14th September 2019

Publisher: Orenda Books