"We were stopped at a traffic light that was generally acknowledged to be the slowest traffic light in Merrick. Whole days would pass and this traffic light would stay red. Kingdoms rose and fell, presidential administrations came and went, and the light obstinately refused to change.” ― James Siegel, DerailedDerailed is a dark, dark book. It is also a book I really did not like.I maybe in the minority here. (Have not looked at the reviews yet). but I did not care for this mystery/thriller. The

Romance A Thon: Read a forbidden romance Alright I'll admit I'm stretching it by calling this a romance but it does have a forbidden relationship in it...and I just wanted to read a thriller. Leave Me Alone! God! this book is bad! This book has the perfect title because it definitely went off the rails. How would I explain the plot of this book? Imagine a dumpster is traveling on a train, when the dumpster catches fire causing the train to wreck. I'm kidding but only a little. Charles is an ad e...

Charles, a married man with a good job has his life "derailed" when he meets a beautiful woman on the train, and decides to have an affair with her. This affair ends in the most horrible way possible, and his life is turned upside down when he finds himself in a spiral of lies to protect himself and his family.The only reason that this did not get 5 stars is because I managed to figure out the plot twist very early on, and I am not usually able to do that. Even though it was somewhat predictable...

4.5 stars I loved this! Just a great thriller. Even though I had already seen the movie this book still kept me in suspense. Definitely skip the movie and read the book instead, it's so much better. I felt all sorts of conflicting emotions for the protagonist, Charles. In the end, despite his many faults, I found myself rooting for him. I won't say more since this is best read unspoiled.

Surprisingly, I disagree with most readers: I liked the film best. Still, a great thriller!

James Siegel, Derailed (Warner, 2003)I saw the 2005 film version of Derailed a while back, and was unimpressed, to put it kindly. When a friend of mine lent me this novel a couple of months ago, I didn't put two and two together until reading the jacket copy. Of course, I assumed the book would be better, since they almost always are, and dove in anyway.Charles Schine is an ad executive whose life is going along swimmingly until one fateful week when everything seems to go wrong. He loses the fi...

Some books are so good that you can't put them down. But some books are soooo good that you can't continue reading them because you don't want to know what's going to happen next. This one falls in the second category! Brilliant first novel!

read it before the movie came out. save your time and just read the book. it keeps you hanging..........

In essence, Derailed is the story of an affair gone wrong. A rather average husband and father, Charles meets Lucinda on the train and is sucked into a torid affair. Yet when they finally venture to a hotel room, a man follows them, beats Charles up, robs them, and rapes Lucinda. In the aftermath, Charles is blackmailed, a man is killed, and his family is threatened. Yet was Lucinda who she really claimed to be?If I had to select one word to describe this novel, it would be contrived. Or implaus...

4 starsI saw that this was turned into a movie and so I decided to read it as I am planing to watch the movie (Jennifer Aniston was in it :)).I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic! The narrator was so good, I wasn't confused on who was speaking. Also, I love the extra touches such as the special effects.Some parts dragged though. This is kind of a short book but at times, I just wanted it to be over.Maybe the main reason why is that the male MC made stupid decisions again and again an...

Derailed is a classic, cautionary tale with enough suspense and plot twists, to keep a jaded reader like me turning pages. Charled Schine is is an advertising executive with job troubles, a sick daughter and a preoccupied wife, trapped on the commuter treadmill. When he meets a dropdead gorgeous woman on the train from Long Island to NYC, sparks fly. She's just what his bruised ego needs. They meet for dinner, have an affair, and then the blackmail starts. Derailed is a well-crafted novel. Siege...

Lee Child's blurb for this book says it is "literally impossible to put down"; I did not find this to be the case, having no trouble detaching it from my hand. But I did read it in three or four sittings, which for me is pretty absorbed. It snares you very competently with a tale of a married man, a decent fellow under stress, who in a moment of weakness is drawn into an affair with a beautiful stranger. Bad things ensue and he's off down the slippery slope to mayhem and murder. Very well execut...

This is one of those stories where you watch the protaganist dare a bit, then dare some more, then get just a bit too far in to get out, but you sort of hope he will manage. Then he begins to struggle to get on top of things and...it all goes awry. Kept me reading to the end, which is more than some books do these days.Couple of days after I wrote this, the movie turned up on TV - enjoyed the story again with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. Gets into the action quicker than the book, but still

I read the book first...took two days. Then I saw the movie...took about two hours. Save yourself two hours and just read the book. The book had so many twists and turns that the movie couldn't and didn't convey. There were a lot of things omitted in the movie and a lot of things totally changed that except for the title and the main characters you wouldn't recognize as the same story. That is why I'm a reader.

I picked up this book at a train station, mostly because of the quote on the front from Lee Child ‘Literally impossible to put down’ as I am a big fan of Child’s books and I am pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint.Charles has become a bit discontented in his married family life and one day on the train, he meets a married woman who has also hit that point in her marriage. Charles switches the train he gets each day to match hers and their train journeys turn into drinks, lunches and dinners....

Unsettling is the first word that comes to mind with this book.I'll admit it, I watched the Clive Owen/Jennifer Aniston film before reading it (my book cover is the paperback copy before the movie tie-in version was issued) so I had a rough idea about how the book was going to be. Well, suffice it to say, the book was in fact better. It was a pretty good adaptation, but I loved this book. Very enjoyable and well-written.

Average thriller. Plot a little slow and meandering and characters were somewhat weakly developed. I really didn't like the conclusion. I would like to read another book from this author before passing judgment. At just over 360 pages this one ran too long.

Great read!

Subject matter did not interest me especially when the female character had to be subjected to such brutality for fir purposes of a story line. Don’t waste your time.

If you're looking for a quick page turner then this is it. I watched the movie years ago & I remember loving it. I heard from a friend that the book was better so when I finally stumbled upon the book (thanks to paperbackswap.com because I could NOT find this book in all the libraries I checked) I delved right in & could barely put the book down.There were a few things I wasn't too crazy over (like insinuating Christians are abortion clinic bombers, but whatever, if that is his opinion of Christ...

My rule is three tries and forget it. I tried three times and forgot this book except to write this review. Sure, I wanted to like it so as not to waste my time. Didn't work. This book is contrived with characters that are mostly names. They don't have much substance. They are shallow and superficial. It's as though the author only tells us a bit about them because he needed people in the story. Emotion seems fake or fabricated. Ugh. So one star from me. Wasted paper, wasted words. Oh, I did not...

It was, just as 2 stars indicate, okay.I found it very shocking in the beginning. Almost to the point of not wanting to continue. And, believe me, i've read some brutal stuff. But this was kinda just sick.Then comes the mystery/drama/suspense part... which I actually didn't find all that gripping. There were twists that were good and some that were ridiculous, but overall it kept my attention and I did read about the last 1/3 in 1 sitting.There's a second book... I won't be reading it most likel...

I was curious about the book because I had watched the movie last year. The book, as always, was much better than the movie. I liked the movie just fine, but the book adds so much more. I plan to read more by James Siegel. Good strong characters and a plot that kept me turning the page.

Excuse me - New York Times bestseller? Now a major motion picture? Page 43 - tosses book across the room.

I thought this was a really good book. Twisted and sorta messed up. It held my attention the whole time and I finished it in a few days. I recommend it!

Loved the movie and have to say loved the book more, great story with plenty of twists and turns keeping it interesting.

One of the best thrillers I have ever read.Unique writing and stylish.Very Skilled Storytelling. Read this one.

Great, great book, not so great movie, though, as is almost always the case.

I bought this book way back in 2008 because I had watched the movie. I always want to read a book after I watch the movie adaptation because the book is (almost) always better. By the time I finally pulled this book off the shelf to read, I realized I had almost zero memory of the movie, other than the fact that Clive Owen's character has an affair with Jennifer Aniston's character. Normally I wouldn't have much sympathy for a man who cheated on his wife, but the author made me actually care abo...

"I wanted to tell her something, about love and life and how it can be fleeting if you don't hold on - that you have to jealously guard what's important to you - but I couldn't find the right words."*I have seen the movie more than a decade ago, so luckily I barely remembered anything. The plot in a nutshell: Charles's life gets derailed when he makes a mistake by having an affair with a beautiful stranger that he bumps into on his morning commute. He's married and works in advertising, has a si...