A modern day homage to Murder on the Orient Express. Well, kinda.

A writer orchestrates a real life train trip where her main character along with her family in friends are throw into a twisty plot.

It's a slow burn, character driven mystery told from multiple points of view and multiple timelines. I am always up for a little Ms. Christie.

Extremely slow burns are not my favorite type of book so it took me a while to really get invested in this one. It is quite layered and complex but there is a payout at the end.

If slow burn mysteries with unlikable characters are up your alley, you need to check this one out.

The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis offers a gripping twist on the classic mystery. Ginevra Ex, a reclusive author known for turning real-life people into fictional characters, invites Rory on a luxurious Mediterranean train journey. The trip quickly takes a dark turn as Rory realizes her brother, best friend, and ex-fiancé are also on board, all invited by Ginevra and each hiding their own secrets.

I enjoyed the atmospheric setting and the intricate plotting reminiscent of classic whodunits. The evolving drama aboard the Orient Express, with its opulent surroundings and mounting tension, mirrors the intense and engaging storytelling of Goldis's previous works. The blend of family intrigue and the high-stakes mystery creates a compelling read. While the suspense and setting are captivating, the plot occasionally feels a bit overstuffed with twists. Despite this, The Main Character delivers a satisfying and atmospheric mystery that keeps readers guessing until the final reveal. It’s a solid choice for fans of intricate plots and richly detailed settings.

The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis is an homage to Christie-esque mysteries. There is a train, there is Italy, there is a murder or two. A very readable novel that is a well-crafted page turner.

I loved this one. It felt like an adventure and also like i was right there with it he characters. Excellent writing. Thank you for this one.

Though I was excited to get a copy of Main Character given the summary, I couldn't really get into it. The writing is good but the story never really took off for me. I'm not sure whether it's just a matter of right book/wrong time for me, but it just wasn't a favorite.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to The Main Character. I really really wanted to love this one, but sadly it just fell so short. I have a full review on my Youtube channel, but my biggest gripe was it felt like two seperate stories between two of our main characters. It felt like the author was trying to weave in too many side story lines and it just didn't mesh well together, on top of there not being a lot of shocking moments.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in return for my honest review.

This book is an auspicious tribute to Agatha, Christie and her classic "Murder on the Orient Express." What's impressive Is that relative newcomer, Jaclyn Goldis for only her second novel has succeeded where many would have failed. Yes, there is a murder on a train, but the characters are well developed, the plot is expertly devised, and personally I kept wondering who was killed on the train. I had my guesses throughout the book, and every time I turn to a new chapter, my guesses seem to evaporate. It is that well written and that much fun to read. Here we follow an author, Ginevra Ex, a highly successful writer, but whose last book was a dismal flop. In order to regain her status on the top of best seller lists she brought in former LA news anchor Rory Aranov who she interviews for three months in Rome. This is Genevra's modus operandi for all of her books. She finds a person, digs into their background, does extensive research on that individual and then that person becomes the "main character"for her new novel. Rory is someone different because Rory had interviewed Ginevra multiple times whenever she came to Los Angeles to promote her books, so there was a degree of familiarity when she was asked to be interviewed to be a main character in an upcoming book. Our book begins with.Ginevra finding a dead body, and then we go back in time to figure out what went on and what happened on this train? You see this was no ordinary train, this was the fabled Orient Express with a segment that ran from northern Italy down through Cinque Terra, to Rome and end up in Positano. It was designed as a three day vacation for Rory, but that first day when she went to the Club Car she was startled to find her brother Max, her best friend Caroline, and her former fiancé Nate all aboard the train. She had no idea they would be there and even they had no idea why they were there, even though they all told her that this was Ginevra's gift to all of them for being used as characters in her upcoming book. The book then goes back-and-forth with separate narrators for each chapter, and we eventually find out that there are secrets, mysteries, betrayals and much more among our assembled group. We also get to find out the background of Rory's father and his journey from Russia to America.. Along the way Rory receives a letter which exposes some of the issues and betrayals among her group of friends. This drives Rory to take certain actions because she thinks one and one equals two, when in fact, not everything is as evident as she believes. Each stop along the way is filled with danger, intrigue and revelation. By the end, all questions are answered, who was found dead, how they died and the mysteries all these individuals carried with them. It's a very well done book, with authentic characterization and plotting. And when you consider that this is the authors second book you're impressed by what she's been able to conjure up for all of us and can't wait for her next book!

2.5, rounded down - unfortunately, this book dragged for me, and that took away the allure of the plot and overall story. And I felt the ending kind of came out of left field - you think the story wraps up, and then you get a few more random chapters that were a little scandalous, but just not needed. I appreciated the author's note at the end, and how she developed Ansel's character using her own father's experiences - as someone who is very close with their own father, I thought that was a very touching and beautiful tribute as to the trials and tribulations he went through as he was growing up. But outside of that, I remember just feeling like this book was a chore to pick up. I've stated this some of my other 2 star reviews, but I just don't DNF - however, if I did, this would have been a contender for doing so. In addition to the unnecessarily long storyline, one of the characters were likable, so not being able to root for anyone also put a damper on the reading experience. Speaking of the characters, there were way too many for what this plot was trying to accomplish. One pro - the way the author describes the setting(s) was done well. It seemed well researched, or maybe she pulled from experience - either way, it worked.

I adored the setting and set up of this book, though I admit it took me a minute to get immersed in the story. Perhaps this was due to the multi-POV and hopping from person to person so quickly at times it was hard to keep straight. There was also quite a bit set in the past, which was okay, but I felt like the blurb didn't quite encapsulate how much of the book was historical. Overall, I enjoyed it though!

Thank you NetGalley and publish for this ARC!

What a great book!!! I could not put this down!! I loved all the twist and turns and all of the characters worked so well together! I highly recommend this book!!

I really enjoyed how Jaclyn Goldis weaves together this story. The historical fiction elements of the Rufusniks is great! Plus, loved the Jewish rep.

A lavish, three-day trip aboard the Orient Express as it travels from Cinque Terre to Positano by way of Rome. Traveling on the famous train along the Italy’s Mediterranean coast is a trip of a lifetime for four of the passengers. They are guests of a world-famous author, who has used one of the passengers, Rory, as the main character in her next book.

The Main Character has that locked-room atmosphere, with characters that are hiding secrets from each other. Their relationships are tangled and their motives unclear. All of these elements should add up to a compelling mystery. No doubt, the premise is quite unusual and definitely imaginative. I really like the approach the author has taken.

The characters have depth and each one is interesting in his or her own way, even though I didn’t find any of them particularly sympathetic. Meanwhile, the setting is stellar and the descriptions make the book an enjoyable excursion through parts of Italy.

The story is told from different points of view and at times this becomes a little confusing, as the perspective seems to change abruptly. There’s also the addition of the nine-year-old daughter of one of the passengers, which seemed unnecessary and it affected the pace and focus of the story.

I enjoyed The Main Character but I waffled back and forth as to how much I enjoyed it. In the end, it was a 3-star read for me. NetGalley provided an advance copy.

This was a really good book, much to my surprise. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. It was well written and kept my attention. I would definitely recommend this book.

The story is set on the Orient Express while traveling through Italy. I loved the descriptions of scenery throughout the story. I added some pictures from my trip to Cinque Terre, where part of the story takes place.

Rory is the main character for Ginevra’s upcoming new book. Ginevra invites the most important people in Rory’s life for this trip of a lifetime, all expenses paid. What is Ginevra’s motive for this? Soon we begin to learn everyone’s secrets and the reason they are brought together.

The author is paying homage to Agatha Christie. It is an original mystery, but I felt like the execution was lacking in parts of the story.

The ending was pretty abrupt & you are left wondering about all the loose ends. It was an overall enjoyable read though!


Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis
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After being interviewed by a famous author, Rory has been gifted a lavish train trip along the Italian coast. She is surprised to find that her brother, her best friend, and her ex are all on the trip as well. Which is uncomfortable after a truth the author revealed during the interview.
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What I liked:
-I really did not see where this book was going and it was just chock full of fun surprises! What a twisty little web Goldis weaved!
-I loved that this is set on a train. I’ve always wanted to go on a week long train trip. Hopefully one that does not end in murder, though. 😅
-What an interesting premise as well. An author who writes her main characters based on a person she specifically interviews for that purpose.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was an excellent popcorn mystery/thriller that kept me guessing. I loved that I didn’t see where it was going and just when I thought it was all out of reveals, it pulled out one last one.

Rounding up to 3.5 ⭐️
I think the premise of this book is very unique.
An author writes books using a “main character” who is a real life person with real life stories of hers or his own.
Rory is the current main character, and is gifted a trip on the orient express. Everything seems to unravel once on the trip, when Rory finds there are some other guests she didn’t know were coming on her adventure.
I thought there was some petty drama involved and I thought the story took a minute to develop, but for the most part it was different and entertaining.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Rory is the newest main character for New York Times bestseller Ginerva Ex. Ginerva has made a name for herself by basing her main characters and plot after other people. She interviews people and then writes her best sellers based on people’s lives with murder involved. Ginerva invites Rory to the Orient Express and seemingly invites her brother, best friend, and ex fiancé. Rory had lost her job and her fiancé after he breaks off their engagement out of the blue. Nate, her ex fiancé, wants to get back together and throughout the trip he tries to get Rory to get back together with him but she decides to remain friends with him. Her best friend Caroline works for her brother Max at a company that is trying to find a way to help their father. Rory finds out that Caroline is embezzling from her brothers company when in truth Max is paying her to keep quiet about how the drug is truly working and harming people instead of helping. Caro also slept with Nate by accident and both of them regret it. Caro tells Rory and Max during dinner and they are both heartbroken. Turns out that Ginerva is Max’s biological mother and she has loved and helped them out for their entire lives and that she fell in love with their father but her evil twin sister kept them apart. Ginerva confronts Osolo her sister after Max dies from Rory hitting him in the head with a bucket because he was trying to kill Caro so that she wouldn’t tell about the drug and also tried to push her off the colosseum and make it look like suicide. Ginerva pushes Osolo off the balcony of the hotel suite she is staying at because Osolo caused Ginerva to lose the family she should have had and her great love with Rory’s father. Ginerva asks to help pay for Rory’s father’s care and the company that Max started.

The Main Character is a perfectly serviceable mystery. While it didn’t totally draw me in, and the characters weren’t terribly relatable, it was still a decent way to pass the time on a summery afternoon of reading.

Thank you Jaclyn Goldis, Atria Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is a trapped on a train murder mystery with interpersonal drama. A rich, highly acclaimed author has a new book ready to be released, the manuscript is made. The way she writes her stories is a bit unconventional. She seeks out individuals to be her main character. She gets to know them and their friends, family, acquaintances on a very personal level. Then she writes a murder mystery based off of bits and pieces of the said persons real life scenarios. In this story, she treats her (in real-life) main character of her latest book a trip on a train, The Orient Express. Brother, Best Friend and Ex appear. Later on a murder commences. Who is it? And more importantly, whodunit??

I appreciate the Author’s Note in explaining how the story connects with her family’s story. That the character Ansel and the backstory is loosely based on their father and his parents. I knew that there must be a personal connection with the author upon reading these chapters. I can tell there was a lot of care put into that time period, and bringing light on the history (Soviet Union, USSR, KGB, Moscow 1980s) to readers. I do think this Author should have written a Historical Fiction based on Ansel and Ginevra instead, as it is clear that is where the focus of the attention and passion truly was with this story.

I will be honest and say that I had many issues with the book. I found the story was incredibly drawn out. I found myself reading in short spurts, putting it down and didn’t feel a drive to move forward with my reading journey. The detailed descriptions of the setting locations, the scenes and the characters that were paragraphs long - it was too much. It was so much to the point I was losing interest in the story and where it was going to go. I couldn’t see a main story with a beginning, middle and end. I kept getting sucked into Nate, Max, Rory, Caroline and Ginevra as individuals and what locations they were at, rather than progressing the main story.

I did not get anything out of switching character POV every chapter. It took me out of the story having it switch each chapter and there being so many POV’s (five characters, one including a before/after time period POV). Normally I enjoy multi-POV stories, especially with Mystery & Thriller genres but this story did not need it. I would have felt more satisfied if it was just Rory and Ginevra.

There was so much backstory and not enough of present day. The backstory became the main story - there were so many chapters upon chapters worth of it. It made it feel like I was reading a separate novel all together, one in which was a Soviet (Moscow 1980s) Historical Fiction family drama/love story.

The Covid anecdotes were unnecessary, it didn’t add anything and I would appreciate steering away from pandemic for new releases now.

A main issue I had was the many, many nicknames and nickname acronyms given to the characters - to be blunt I found it irritating. Rory (Ror, LS, MWD), Max (Maxie, Maximillion, BB, MWS), Caroline (Caro, C) and BA. This was, I must emphasize this, extremely overboard! Also, I don’t understand why the entire book Caroline is written under Caro for every thing she does (ex. “Caro asks”, “Caro says”). I understand if a character says the nickname Caro in their dialogue, but to then have Caro written for everything Caroline does or says under a character’s POV observations seemed out of place. There are 45 sentences that have “Caroline” and the remainder of the book she is written as “Caro”- in dialogue and otherwise. Caro is written well over 100 instances. As a reader, it was excessive.

I found the ending was drawn out and yet, at the very end, it completely rushed out the Ginevra and Orsola meet up. I think it would’ve been a stronger ending if it was left wrapping up everything together with Rory/Ginevra/Ansel.

Thank you Atria Books (Emily Bestler Books) and NetGalley for this eARC!

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.