Todd Ritter (Riley Sager) is a global thriller sensation by now, and this is the fourth time, I am picking up his work. I love his writing style and his ability to create a tense, atmospheric setting, even while narrating a routine story.
Larsen has just joined her new job as an Apartment sitter in Bartholomeow, a residential complex inhabited by the rich and the influential.
The job is great, the perks awesome, but there is a small glitch- the place is hiding some terrible secrets. Jules try to get into the bottom of it all, only to realize that her life may also be at stake. What follows, is her investigation into the past of the place and the truth behind the disappearances happening there.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, this time also Sager has succeeded in creating a tense, atmospheric setting. The Novel proceeds in break neck speed and manages to engage and entertain for almost 3/4 th of it. But what lets it down is it's over dramatic climax portions and the big reveal which happens towards the end (silly and illogical!) C'mmon, you have built a really interesting premise, but why spoil it with a terribly under written climax which is so full of loopholes? The core suspense is also a stale one, which has been told in 'n' number of books and films over the last three or four decades!
On the whole, though I loved the setting and the initial few twists and turns, I found this one to be an extremely mediocre Novel, thanks to the poorly written climax and the clichéd core theme.
Overall, though this one is much better than similar attempts from Lucy Foley et al (The Paris Apartment ), but I wish it had a better thought out climax!
-nikhi
menon
0 comments:
Post a Comment