Thank you Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Examiner in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: September 10, 2024
Summary:
Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this innovative pause-resister follows a group of students in an art master’s program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling “new queen of crime” (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett.
Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master’s program before the university cuts her funding. The students are nothing but trouble from day one.
There’s Jem, a talented sculptor recently graduated from her university program and eager to make her mark as an artist at any cost. Jonathan, who has little experience in art practice aside from running his family’s gallery. Patrick runs an art supply store, but can barely operate his phone, much less design software. Ludya is a single mother and graphic designer more interested in a paycheck than homework. Cameron is a marketing executive in search of a hobby or a career change. And Alyson, already a successful artist, seems to be overqualified. Finally, there is the examiner, the man hired to grade students’ final works—an art installation for a local cloud-based solutions company that may have an ulterior agenda—and who, in sifting through final essays, texts, and message boards, warns that someone is in danger…or already dead. And nothing about this course has been left up to chance.
With her trademark “unique and exhilarating” (Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot) voice, Janice Hallett weaves a fresh and mind-bending mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.
My thoughts:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I love Janice Hallett’s books. I’ve now read 4 of her books and each once is my new favorite. Three words to describe her writing style are: clever, creative and fun. And those words apply to each and every one of her books.
This latest one once again utilizes that unique writing format that I’ve come to love, and now expect, from Hallett’s books. I feel that really no one else can tell a story quite like she can using mixed media, and here we have snippets of texts, WhatsApp messages, emails, diary entries and essays. What I particularly loved about this latest book is that it really makes you work. I found myself constantly rethinking all I had put together as new information is presented…this is my favorite type of read and it really got me. I did not see the twists coming and believe me, I was paying attention!
I loved the set-up of this book. We are told straight-away that a crime might have happened but we have no idea who might have been hurt or what exactly happened. I loved having that hang over me while I was reading. It made me read with purpose and it also had me put my detective hat on and work “with” the Examiner. I also loved that while we do get to know each of the characters, nothing is quite what it seems with them. This proves to be the case time and again throughout this book…something that I absolutely loved!
I’m not sure how Hallett has managed to create such interesting backdrops for her stories each and every time but this one really kept me completely engaged. And there is such a personal tie-ie here – you definitely are going to want to read that Author’s Note for sure…but only AFTER reading the book. There are most definitely some spoilers there if you read it first.
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