The river line vs The Vanished Messenger: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Espionage, Spy Fiction, Fiction
The river line
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Includes the plays The River Line, The Flashing Stream and The Burning Glass Charles Morgan was a distinguished novelist before he moved onto stage drama, with his reputation as a major dramatist established by his…
The Vanished Messenger
“There were very few people upon Platform Number Twenty-one of Liverpool Street Station at a quarter to nine on the evening of April 2 - possibly because the platform in question is one of the most remote and least used in the great terminus.”
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There were very few people upon Platform Number Twenty one of Liverpool Street Station at a quarter to nine on the evening of April 2 possibly because the platform in question is one of the most remote and least used in…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Vanished Messenger has the widest readership — 69 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| The river line | The Vanished Messenger | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (24) | 3.8 (69) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (16) |
Reception
| The river line | The Vanished Messenger | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 24 | 69 |
| Editions | 11 | 241 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | — | 85 |
| Reading it now | — | 21 |
| Written reviews | — | 8 |
| Wikipedia attention | 71 | — |
| Pages | 210 | 245 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The river line or The Vanished Messenger?
The Vanished Messenger has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Vanished Messenger 3.8/5, The river line 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: The river line or The Vanished Messenger?
The river line is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The river line (210 pages, ≈ 3 h 53 m); The Vanished Messenger (245 pages, ≈ 4 h 32 m).
Which is harder to read: The river line or The Vanished Messenger?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The river line: Challenging; The Vanished Messenger: Challenging.