The Forgotten Room

March 23, 2015
In bestseller Child’s chilling sequel to 2012’s The Third Gate, Gregory Olafson, the director of Lux, “the nation’s oldest and most prestigious policy institute,” summons “enigmalogist” Jeremy Logan to the group’s headquarters, a mansion in Newport, R.I. Ten years earlier, Logan was expelled from Lux for his unconventional methods, but now Olafson needs his help on a case: computer scientist Willard Strachey inexplicably attacked his assistant before committing suicide in a particularly gruesome way. In a recording of Strachey’s last words, he complains about voices that “taste like poison.” Logan suspects that Strachey’s behavior may be connected to his overseeing renovation work on an abandoned wing of the mansion. The paranormal investigator subsequently discovers a hidden room containing some odd equipment. Near the fireplace is a burned scrap of paper bearing the words Project Sin; the sound of disturbing music adds to the room’s eeriness. Child makes the most of the creepy setting, his unusual lead character, and an intricate plot. Agent: Eric Simonoff, William Morris Endeavor.

May 1, 2015
Jeremy Logan, the enigmalogist who has starred in three previous novels, is asked to look into the apparent suicide of a noted researcher who worked at America's oldest think tank. Logan soon discovers evidence that the man didn't kill himself, including a mysterious, boarded-up room that the dead man apparently went to great lengths to conceal. Although Logan is known professionally as an investigator of the supernatural, the story here is more of a scientific mystery, with a decades-old think-tank project apparently linked to strange goings-on in the present day. A solidly written, very imaginative story for those who prefer a soft blending of mystery and paranormal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2014

In this stand-alone from Child, who also coauthors the Pendergast series with Douglas Preston, enigmalogist Jeremy Logan (he specializes in investigating inexplicable phenomena) probes strange happenings at the Newport, RI, mansion that houses the Symposikon think tank. Logan's last sighting: 2012's The Third Gate, which debuted at No. 4 on the New York Times best sellers list.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2015

Yale professor Jeremy Logan, an "enigmalogist" specializing in solving problems of a seemingly inexplicable or supernatural origin, receives an urgent invitation to a Newport, RI, mansion where a distinguished member of a respected think tank has committed a highly bizarre suicide after days of increasingly erratic and even violent behavior. Hints of a research project, "Project S," which was mothballed in the 1930s, and a "forgotten" room in the complex indicate connections to the death. But before Jeremy can identify the link, the institute is rocked by violent catastrophic incidents that revolve around the room and the project. Jeremy wonders whether the mysterious venture has started up again. VERDICT Successfully mingling science and history with the potentially paranormal, Child's latest solo thriller shows off the author's skill at immediately grabbing and holding the reader's attention. Jeremy, who appeared in The Third Gate and Deep Storm, is a quirky but believable character. He develops into an intriguing protagonist as he works through an electrifying plot that is one of Child's best yet. Fans of James Rollins, Steve Berry, and Matthew Reilly will love this book. [See Prepub Alert, 11/3/14.]--Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.