Rating:⭐⭐
A group of seven decide to spend the night before graduation in the basement of William E. Woodend Rare Books Library in Vermont to participate in a ritual that they believe will set them free from the fear of death. Of the seven, three of them are students working as assistants in the library each hoping to secure the one permanent position being offered after graduation; another is a PhD student/TA who frequents the library for his research and also convinces one of his students to bring along a friend who would supply the drugs they would need for the ritual; and the other is a socially awkward scientist who is involved in a project for the library. After the library closes for the day, they lock themselves in the basement and commence with the ritual. In a shocking turn of events, one of them suddenly dies and the other, unable to exit the building with scheduled routine maintenance rendering them unable to communicate with anyone on the outside, are left to fend for themselves with a killer in their midst.
I was intrigued by the premise of That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk. A locked room mystery set in a library, that too a rare books library, and a ritual rooted in Greek myths – this one checked all the boxes for this bibliophile who loves Greek mythology.
The narrative is shared from multiple perspectives and moves quickly enough, but none of the characters were particularly interesting and I soon got tired of their bickering, bouts of self-pity, and overall immature behavior. The final reveal was underwhelming, to say the least, and everything in between was bizarre. I don’t mind OTT (it is expected in this genre), but in this case, the plot was simply too messy (literally and figuratively) and absurd, to take seriously.
I struggled to finish this one and in hindsight, I should have followed my instincts and abandoned it mid-read but I didn’t in hopes that maybe, just maybe…..but sadly, I couldn’t find anything that appealed to me other than the premise and the element of Greek mythology. Perhaps I wasn’t the right audience for this one.
Overall, I can’t say that I enjoyed this novel. However, I would request you to read other reviews before making a decision about reading this one.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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