Reviewed by Mystereity Reviews on
It’s 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world.
Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland’s largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees, and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault’s safe-deposit boxes were lost.
In the years since, Cleveland’s wealthy businessmen kept the truth buried in the abandoned high-rise. The ransacked offices and forgotten safe-deposit boxes remain locked in time, until young engineer Iris Latch stumbles upon them during a renovation survey. What begins as a welcome break from her cubicle becomes an obsession as Iris unravels the bank’s sordid past. With each haunting revelation, Iris follows the looming shadow of the past deeper into the vault—and soon realizes that the key to the mystery comes at an astonishing price.-via Goodreads
Although a great premise and an interesting story, I just didn't connect with it. I really liked Beatrice's story, set in the late 70s, but the present day storyline bogged things down. As it was, I waded through the first 1/3 of the book and felt it had already gone on too long, but by 2/3 of the way in, I was pretty much over it and flipped through to the end of the book to read the ending, which didn't tie up a whole lot and was unsatisfying.
Overall, it was worth a read, thrilling with lots of suspense. But I just couldn't get into it for some reason. I'd say if you're a reader with more patience than I have, and you enjoy a taut mystery, then you'll enjoy this book.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 5 January, 2017: Finished reading
- 5 January, 2017: Reviewed