The word of mouth on this book was pretty intense. It was on almost every list for mystery/suspense and was touted as a “must read” by many sources. So I read it. My response is “Meh,” as my millennial daughters say with a signature shrug and eye roll.

The set up is quite good: A sister, Jess, comes to Paris to crash with her half brother, Ben, while she recovers from a bad job break up and sorts out what she wants do with her life. But when she arrives he is not there, and the longer she stays and the longer he remains missing, the more suspicious she gets of everyone in the building.

There is the old friend, the socialite, the tightly wound girl who is about to crack, and the concierge who is creepy and seems to see everything. But Jess senses something is wrong within this deeply dysfunctional group of people. With the subtlety of a bulldozer, she begins to ask questions, but her efforts to investigate backfire and she is threatened and soon becomes the hunted.

Although the plot set up is quite good, the characters in the book are just ugly. Jess is whiney and entitled, Ben, her brother is a manipulative sociopath, his friend is weak and deceptive, the girl who is wound up should really be in a mental health facility, the socialite is all image and on and on. There is not one person that has any redemptive qualities and as I was reading it I kept asking myself, “Why do I care?” In the end, with some dramatic revelations that seem a bit disingenuous, the mystery is resolved.

So do I recommend this book? I think I need to qualify my answer by saying that right now, during my recovery from knee surgery, I do not have the patience I once had for books like this. Maybe at one time in my life I might have gone along with the disingenuous plotting, and the dramatic, somewhat incredulous ending, as creative and fun, but not anymore. So with that caveat in mind read this book at your own risk!

Brenda”s Rating: *** (3 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book? See above.

Book Study Worthy? Maybe?

Read in e-library format.