Review of THAT NIGHT IN THE LIBRARY by Eva Jurczyk (New Release)

 2 Stars

This book was not for me. I finished it only because I felt obligated to do so.

On the night before graduation, seven people gather in the basement of their university’s rare books library. They plan to perform a drug-infused ritual which will have participants “emerge unafraid of the horror of death.” Of course, a death occurs almost immediately. Since there is no one else in the place, one of them must be the murderer. They are effectively locked in together for the night with no contact with the outside world until the morning so tensions rise and panic ensues.

A major problem is that all the characters are easy to dislike. They are all self-absorbed and pretentious and just annoying. Because they are so unpleasant, I couldn’t connect with any of them. Though back stories are provided, I found it difficult to distinguish one character from another, and I didn’t care for any of them. I certainly didn’t care who might die next. Perhaps what is most unbelievable is that seven supposedly intelligent people would agree to gather with a group of virtual strangers for some bizarre ritual. Were the drugs the appeal? None of them seemed to have a fear of death so there seemed little motivation to attend. Then they act so irrationally and make such stupid decisions that even the effects of their taking acid don’t fully explain.

Interactions between characters feel contrived. One character accuses another of being a murderer but then ends by saying directly to the accused, “‘No offense’”?! Another character, when trying to determine the identity of a killer thinks, “There’s something about a person who wears glasses that makes them improbable as a villain”? One character dislikes strangers but agrees to spend a night with strangers?

A locked-room mystery lends itself to the creation of suspense, but that is not the case. Pacing is part of the problem. Some sections are very slow. And then there are the irrelevant tangents. The random story of the man who donated the money for the rare books library serves no purpose. The story of Demeter and Persephone, which inspires the ritual, is told twice?! Why would all workers in a library be forced to apply for a job even if they weren’t interested? And the reader is supposed to believe that the library doesn’t have smoke detectors or fire alarms linked to the fire department? The result is that the reader is anything but breathless with anticipation!

As I stated at the beginning, I often felt like abandoning the book. Rather than a thriller, it becomes more of a plotless, mindless horror requiring a great deal of suspension of disbelief. There is an interesting twist at the end, but there is so much drudgery to get to that ending. I can’t recommend this book. No offense.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.