Free-view: the paris apartment

Welcome to the first installment of FREE-VIEW! My book review series will ALWAYS be spoiler free!

The first contestant up-to-bat is a book I read not too long ago, but am dying to talk about – Lucy Foley’s THE PARIS APARTMENT.

I loved this book by the time I was done with it. As it were, I am a sucker for a good mystery/thriller. It speaks to how much my tastes have evolved as a reader, because the Cyan of Christmas Past would definitely need a few pictures to stay immersed.

The Paris Apartment revolves around our main character Jess, a social basket-case from England, who came to Paris to visit her brother Ben, who’s a journalist working in the city. When she shows up to his luxurious apartment complex, he’s not there – and based on the phone call they had just before she arrived, his absence is nothing short of suspicious.

I’m not gonna lie to you, it took me a few tries to get into this book. It has a bit of a slow start, and I wasn’t instantly hooked. But when it gripped me, the grip did not relinquish, and I was immersed.

Perhaps the best decision Lucy Foley made in the creation of this story is the way she decided to tell it. While Jess is our story’s protagonist, this story rotates POV’s. You’ll see the narrative unfold from behind the eyes of nearly every other main player in the book.

I adore a rotating-POV narrative structure. It’s easy to mess up, but when done correctly, like Foley did, it can add a plethora of layers and complexity to an already duplicitous story. Each of the characters in the story have a different level of awareness as to what’s really going on in this titular apartment, and those layers are peeled back page-by-page.

Let me address one more thing about this book. I don’t think it’s any sort of spoiler to say this, but if you’re even the least bit skittish about being spoiled, skip the next paragraph.

I didn’t see the plot twist coming. AT ALL. That gets major points for my rating, because I pride myself on being very good at being able to detect how mystery/thriller books will turn out in the end. But major credit to Foley, because there was no point in the book where I saw any of the reveals coming. It was a masterclass in creating suspense with a rotating-POV narrative structure, and I loved reading it. Highly recommend!

THE PARIS APARTMENT by Lucy Foley – RATING: 4/5 STARS