Lincoln Child's fourth novel in the series of enigmalogist Jeremy Logan's investigation is a chilling tale in which he is summoned to probe into the situation on how a well-to-do computer scientist committed suicide so horrifically within the confines of Lux, a think-tank mansion in Newport.
Logan's scrutinization leads to a long-dormant wing of the estate, into the ingeniously hidden secret room, that he uncovers to be a time capsule, filled with eerie machinery and obscure references to a top-secret experiment known as "Project Sin". As Logan attempts to unravel its meaning, he begins to discern what transpired in that room and why the frightening project was abandoned and sealed off many years ago. He progresses to fall into another paranormal conundrum at the cost of losing his own sanity in the process.
It is a great stand-alone book and does not require the reading of the earlier books of this series to actually enjoy the mystery. It has enough meat of content and the prologue promises an intriguing journey ahead, but half-way through it though, the story dwindles to a common mystery novel where the cat's out of the bag too soon to a reader's liking. The characters also didn't behave logically, failing to take the obvious course of action on many occasions.
While the supernatural is always hinted at in all of Child's novel, its presence always lacks the terrifying intensity. Even so, the final confrontation in this book spanned several chapters, which was very well-written and manages to catch up pace towards the end. Overall it is just to say that it's interesting enough while reading but quite easily forgettable once completed. So, anyone starting new with mysteries can pick this one up without wanting to get into too many complications of over-explanation and still enjoy a good thriller.
Happy Reading!!!
