That Night in the Library

Seven students on the cusp of graduation and their futures. A locked library. A Greek ritual to eradicate the fear of death. These elements promise a twisty, dark academia thriller in which seven somewhat-strangers try to find the killer who lurks among them as the bodies pile up. Jurczyk (The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections) gestures at a commentary on privilege, looking at who gets to enjoy the luxury of the rare books, but the insight is surface-level at best. The characters are flat and easily confused in the fast-paced, short, multiple-point-of-view chapters, leaving the audience without a person to root for or miss once they are killed, and the mystery can be messy and muddled, lacking in plotting and pacing. The whole novel takes place over the course of one night, but the final scenes of rescue are so rushed that it gives little time for processing. All this bloodshed—and there is a lot—leads to an anticlimactic reveal that will leave a bad taste in the listeners’ mouths. Hannah Cabell attempts to give each character a separate tone and style of speaking but narrates the whole book in what sounds like a stage whisper, which is not distinct or clear. She does pull off the chanting and singing during what little there is of the ritual, lending it slightly more credibility in an already absurd story.