Tubing

K.A. McKeagney’s debut is set in modern day London.  The protagonist, Polly, lives with her surgeon boyfriend, and has clearly had a troubled upbringing which has led to her self-harming and having eating disorders. 

Polly’s life is running fine, until late one night on a tube journey home she has an encounter with a mysterious stranger.  There is instant chemistry between them and they end up sharing a passionate kiss before going their separate ways. 

Unable to shake the mystery man from her mind, Polly tracks him down, desperate to have more contact with him.  When she does, she ends up caught in a dangerous game, meeting strangers on trains for erotic encounters. 

Her personal life is spiralling out of control with both her relationship and her job at risk, but she doesn’t seem to care as she desperately seeks more time with this mystery man. But when she witnesses a horrific act, making her realise how much danger she is in, with her job on the line and life at risk, she slowly realises that these two worlds are a lot closer linked than she thought.

It took some time for me to get into this book.  I found myself asking a lot of questions around the plausibility of the plot? Would anyone notice encounters like this taking place in plain sight? There are also a lot of graphic sex scenes, but without realising I soon found the book had gripped me and I compulsively read on as Polly’s life fell apart. There were plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout. 

There is a good number of characters in the book and strangely I didn’t like many of them.  If you are looking for something a little different then look no further. Imagine The Girl on the Train meets Fifty Shades of Grey – if that interests you then go and grab a copy of Tubing. It’s an accomplished thriller with an original premise that is definitely worth a read.