This started off great but gradually fizzled out for me. The withholding-things-from-the-reader bits got tiring when it became the main driver of the suspense. I felt increasingly distant from the story the longer it went on.

 

 

Energy: Conniving. Imposing. Duplicitous.   

 

🐺 Growls Over-withholding near the end (literally as someone is about to reveal the big past secret the text skips over it abruptly. Then we watch the characters gasp and make decisions based on that big reveal but we’re completely out of the loop, so I got bored).

 

🐕 Howls Take character notes. There are a lot of characters, and at first it was hard to keep them all straight (I did get a feel for them eventually).

 

🐩 Tail Wags Making it clear that the characters aren’t exactly friends so we can dive into the tension right away. Not being sure whether we should root for Alfred and his scheming. Insufferable friend group so it’s fun to watch them squirm. The hotel setting and ‘off’ vibes Alfred's giving.

 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a Victorian mansion converted to a hotel in a campus town near the White Mountains.  

Perspectives (7): A Hitchcock stan who recently opened a Hitchcock-inspired hotel and invites former college film studies friends for a stay. The eighty-something housekeeper and Alfred’s confidante. The five friends – a former restauranteur struggling with substance abuse; a parent and sexual health entrepreneur; a freelance security specialist; a rich soon to be richer heir to their grandfather’s fashion brand; a hedge fund manager unsatisfied in their marriage. 

Timeline: Current (2010s or 2020s). October.

🔥 Fuel: If all the friendships are so strained, why did they all agree to stay at the hotel together? What happened between them in college? What is Alfred’s motivation for reuniting with them? 

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief

 

Smoke and leather. Bacon and thyme. Crows. Movie memorabilia. TUMS. Velvet pouch. Attic vents. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Alcohol abuse (recovery/sobriety; maintenance; temptation/cravings). Alcohol use (recreational, intoxication, hangovers). Car crash (fatal; very brief mention). Loss of parent (as child; as adult). Brain aneurysm (very brief recall). Body shaming (height). Pregnancy. Voyeurism. Sexual content (on page; brief). Infidelity, unrequited love. Divorce. Cancer (brief mention; early diagnosis; terminal). Death, corpse (discovery of). Betrayal. Academic dishonesty. Nicotine (cigarettes; very brief recall). Suicide (implied). Loss of spouse. Murder.

 

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Chinese ancestry. Pale and ambiguous skin tones.

 

📚 Format: Library Paperback