The Paradox Hotel: A Novel

by Rob Hart

“Time travel, murder, corruption, restless baby dinosaurs, and a snarky robot named Ruby collide in this excellent, noir-inflected, humor-infused, science-fiction thriller.”—The Boston Globe
 
An impossible crime. A detective on the edge of madness. The future of time travel at stake. From the author of The Warehouse . . .

FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Kirkus Reviews

January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.

Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.

None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

At once a dazzlingly time-twisting murder mystery and a story about grief, memory, and what it means to—literally—come face-to-face with our ghosts, The Paradox Hotel is another unforgettable speculative thrill ride from acclaimed author Rob Hart.

• ISBN10: 1984820648
• ISBN13: 9781984820648
• Publish Date: 22 February 2022
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984820648

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

The Paradox Hotel is the latest novel to come from the mind of Rob Hart, though admittedly, it's the first novel I've read by him. Science fiction meets mystery in this paradoxical tale – as the title proves to be more literal than not.

The Paradox Hotel is a place where the ultra-wealthy come to party – in a different time. This is where they take flights into a distant (or not-so-distant) past. All of that time traveling wrecks havoc on the hotel, causing clocks to run backward, anomalies to pop up, the works.

It makes January Cole's job difficult, to say the least. And that was before the body turned up. Again, thanks to the duality of time travel, this is a corpse that is there and not there, creating all sorts of issues that need to be cleaned up and investigated.

Huh. If you're looking for an undoubtedly original twisting and convoluted tale, consider checking out The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. Oh! Did I mention the time travel elements? Yeah, it gets real wibbly-wobbly. This has got to be the most unique novel I've ever read – and I mean that in the best of ways.

Essentially, The Paradox Hotel is a thriller that meets classic science fiction time travel. There are a few twists, of course. But that's the bare bones of this tale, and it makes for a strong foundation to build upon.

I'll admit that I didn't like the main character, January, as much as I would have liked. And trust me, I wanted to like them. But if that is my biggest complaint about this book, then we're doing pretty good.

Overall, I'd say that The Paradox Hotel is perfect for those Doctor Who fans in the audience. It gives off those vibes, but with a few twists to make it something both different and surprising.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Paradox Hotel is the latest novel to come from the mind of Rob Hart, though admittedly, it's the first novel I've read by him. Science fiction meets mystery in this paradoxical tale – as the title proves to be more literal than not.
The Paradox Hotel is a place where the ultra-wealthy come to party – in a different time. This is where they take flights into a distant (or not-so-distant) past. All of that time traveling wrecks havoc on the hotel, causing clocks to run backward, anomalies to pop up, the works.
It makes January Cole's job difficult, to say the least. And that was before the body turned up. Again, thanks to the duality of time travel, this is a corpse that is there and not there, creating all sorts of issues that need to be cleaned up and investigated.

Huh. If you're looking for an undoubtedly original twisting and convoluted tale, consider checking out The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. Oh! Did I mention the time travel elements? Yeah, it gets real wibbly-wobbly. This has got to be the most unique novel I've ever read – and I mean that in the best of ways.
Essentially, The Paradox Hotel is a thriller that meets classic science fiction time travel. There are a few twists, of course. But that's the bare bones of this tale, and it makes for a strong foundation to build upon.
I'll admit that I didn't like the main character, January, as much as I would have liked. And trust me, I wanted to like them. But if that is my biggest complaint about this book, then we're doing pretty good.
Overall, I'd say that The Paradox Hotel is perfect for those Doctor Who fans in the audience. It gives off those vibes, but with a few twists to make it something both different and surprising.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[chymerra]

It has been a while since I have read any science fiction. It’s not that I don’t like the genre (I do); it’s just that I haven’t found any that has caught my eye. Then I started seeing reviews for The Paradox Hotel, which interested me. I figured that I would read it when it was published. So, imagine my surprise (and delight) when I got an invite to review from the publisher.

The Paradox Hotel had an exciting plotline. January Cole is the head of security at The Paradox Hotel, an exclusive hotel where the mega-rich can travel back in time. Her job is to make sure that the guests don’t do anything to disrupt the timeline and to take care of any security threats. The bidders meet at The Paradox when the government decides to privatize time travel. But, as January discovers, someone is willing to do anything to swing the vote in their favor. Can January figure out who is behind the attacks and their motive?

The Paradox Hotel had a fast-moving plotline. The entire book takes place within a couple of days of the bidders arriving at the hotel. There was a slight lag in the middle of the book, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t get past.

January was an unlikeable character in The Paradox Hotel. She was unlikable, reckless, and had a potty mouth. But, I had some sympathy for her. She had suffered an unimaginable loss in the recent past and had a traumatic childhood. I did feel bad for her because of those events, and they did help me understand why she was so unlikable. I wish I could say that I grew to like her during the book, but if I would be lying. She was a hot mess.

The author very well wrote the mystery angle of The Paradox Hotel. I couldn’t figure out who was behind the attacks or the why until the end of the book. There were so many red herrings and diverting plotlines that it made it impossible for me to pin down the exact person.

The author just as well wrote the science fiction angle of The Paradox Hotel. I was fascinated by the premise that time travel could be normalized and used as a vacation (even if it was only for the super-rich). There were brief references to people traveling to Egypt (I will never be able to listen to Walk Like an Egyptian without remembering a specific scene in the book again). I also like that the author took a creative angle with people being Unstuck. In the book, Unstuck is someone who has traveled back in time one too many times. People who are Unstuck can see past, future, and current events. There are various levels of being Unstuck, with four being the highest. January is level 2 and takes medication to control it. If she doesn’t take the medication, she can see past, current, and future events. I was fascinated by that!!

I loved the representation that The Paradox Hotel had. There were gay and gender-neutral characters. I firmly believe that January’s girlfriend was trans (the scene where January sees Mena as a child).

The secondary characters were essential to The Paradox Hotel. Ruby, January’s AI assistant, was my favorite secondary character. It reminded me of Jiminy Cricket (being January’s conscience), and a big plus, it was as big of a wiseass as January.

I wouldn’t say I liked the end of The Paradox Hotel. It was the only part of the book that I didn’t like. The author did wrap up the storylines, but I was left feeling that there should have been more.

I would recommend The Paradox Hotel to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and sexual situations.

[empressbrooke]

This book had all the things that I love - time travel, a sci-fi locked room murder mystery, a messy female main character who is angry and snarky, and a solution to the mystery that I couldn't figure out on my own. It was genuinely a lot of fun, and Rob Hart is now on my list of must-reads.