The book is not what it seems. A Parisian detective wakes us handcuffed to a musician from Dublin, in Central Park, NY. How they got there, seemingly overnight, and why, are questions they set about finding the answer to. There is no question of going to the local police as the Parisian finds herself covered in blood though she herself is uninjured. Also, she is carrying an unknown gun. They decide to find answers on their own.

There follows a set of adventures of discovery and mystery, with a complete twist at the end that is totally unexpected.

I gave this tantalizing thriller four stars, for the plot alone.

Alice, could you have some chill? Why is she so incredibly unlikeable?? I was not rooting for her. In the first half, 70% of the book, I was there, I was in it - things were a little slow at times, Alice sucked, but ok. But the last part of the novel was just...WHAT. So not for me.

While the premise of this book was really intriguing, I just couldn’t get into it. This was an unfortunate case of poor translation. The conversation was stilted and awkward; I could tell that it would’ve flowed nicely in French, but it just did not have the same effect in English. The characters were not likable and came off as a bit robotic, again because of their strange conversations. I wish I could’ve read this book in French because I think I would’ve enjoyed it, but unfortunately, as it was, I did not love this book.

DNF-Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a complimentary digital ARC. I have to agree with what others said about this book. It was all over the place, and I feel like it relied on a frenetic pace to keep the reader engaged and not noticing how flimsy the story was. The concept of a French police officer waking up in Central Park handcuffed to a stranger seemed like such an interesting plot concept, but through reading a spoiler review I was glad I didn't spend time slogging my way through this book.

Too over the top to be even remotely believable, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters and writing.

This started off fairly interesting but just got more unbelievable and ridiculous. The writing is poor and that ending! Terrible. I am shocked that this author is so popular in France.

In Central Park, Musso takes his readers down a wildly winding mystery. When two strangers wake up handcuffed in the middle of Central Park, it is imperative that they learn how they got there and who is responsible. I did not find either of the main characters particularly likable and it took a long time for me to really get into the story despite the twists and turns. I also felt that the story tied itself up into too neat of a bow and ended in a way I thought was completely unnecessary. Overall, I think this book would make for a fantastic movie, but the book fell short for me.

I was excited to receive this book because the author has such a following in France, and I thought the set-up of the story was fail-proof. I don't know if it's the cross-culture origins of this book, but I was puzzled by its uneven storyline. In places it is fast-moving and entertaining and then there is a major whiplash for the reader. I didn't enjoy that and didn't like Alice, the French policewoman who is the protagonist. I felt she made rookie mistakes and was rude and even obnoxious.

Captivating and fun mystery/ thriller. Loved this novel. So many unexpected twists and turns - the fast pace takes the reader along for quite the weekend in New York! The car chases themselves are a thrill ride in more ways than one. Also loved the unexpected romance.

First published in France in 2014; published in translation by Little, Brown and Company/Back Bay Books on March 16, 2021

Alice Schaefer is a 38-year-old police detective in Paris. Feeling sorry for herself, she goes out with the girls and gets toasted. The next thing she knows, she’s waking up in Central Park, handcuffed to a stranger. According to her watch, several hours have passed, but how could she have possibly made it to Central Park without being aware of passing through customs or immigration? She doesn’t have identification or money, but she does have blood on her blouse. The guy to whom she is handcuffed tells her that he was playing jazz in a bar in Dublin the night before and has no idea how he ended up in her company. The guy has something carved into his arm and Alice has some numbers written on her hand.

The idea behind Central Park — waking up in an unfamiliar place with no memory of arriving there — is a familiar basis for a thriller plot. To make a novel like this work, the author must create an original explanation for the gap in the protagonist’s memory. Then the author needs to sell the reader on the plausibility of that explanation. Guillaume Musso deserves credit for concocting an explanation I didn’t expect but fails to make the explanation remotely credible.

The story is entertaining if the reader doesn’t stop to think about it. Alice embarks on a series of adventures to (1) free herself from the handcuffs and (2) figure out why she was handcuffed to a guy in Central Park in the first place. She doesn’t go to the police because, being a cop, she believes that involving the police without knowing why she has blood on her blouse will only make her life worse. She eventually gets some investigative help from her best friend in Paris, Seymour Lombart, leading to predictable confusion about the identity of the jazz pianist to whom she is joined at the wrist. To add to the confusion, she finds a GPS tracker in her shoes. She also finds a small object implanted under her skin and does not understand how or when it got there. That’s a lot of unlikeliness for Musso to explain.

Alice’s backstory includes the usual tragic events that shape thriller heroes. She was estranged from her imprisoned father. She had a whirlwind romance with a man who died. She was tracking a killer named Erik Vaughn when she had an unexpected opportunity to arrest him. She took the initiative to make the arrest without calling for backup because that’s what thriller heroes do. Vaughn got the jump on her and stabbed her in the abdomen, changing her life in predictably tragic ways. Vaughn’s fate after that crime is uncertain, as it must be to make the plot work. Alice’s dismal life is supposed to earn the reader’s sympathy, but it features the same package of woes that are common to thriller characters. The package fails to generate real emotion, and the ending is such an obvious attempt to manipulate the reader’s emotions that I rejected it entirely.

Alice is remarkably slow-witted for a police detective, given her failure to ask a couple of obvious questions that would shed light on her situation. The story moves in unexpected directions but rarely follows a credible path. As the explanation of Alice’s plight slowly unfolds, my reaction was, “Really?” That’s not a positive reaction. The plot depends on a remarkable breach of professional ethics that, to avoid spoilers, I won’t explain. Suffice it to say that rational people don’t behave in the way that the book’s characters behave.

Suspension of disbelief is critical to a plot like this. My disbelief heightened with every new chapter. The story has the merit of being interesting — the plot kept me turning pages — but my disappointment at the reveal keeps me from giving Central Park an unqualified recommendation.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

I became absorbed into this mystery immediately from page one. As The reader follows the clues given by each of the main characters, he is swept headlong into trying to solve the mystery of how these two people became handcuffed together. As the tale unfolds and the evidence is presented, the reader begins to form quite a case to support the suspected conclusion. The author, however, has other plans and a totally unexpected twist occurs.

Being a big fan of Guillaume Musso's work, I was very excited to dig into Central Park. The book starts out with an absolute killer opening, and takes you on a mystery thrill ride for almost 300 pages. The crisp tension does not let up, and it feels like the most intensive episode of "24".... French-style. I couldn't put the book down. I will caution that you will not see the end coming, and I am still processing it. It's a surprise and it certainly caught me off guard, as I believe it was meant to. Definitely expect the unexpected, but also enjoy the ride there - it is a blast of a book.

Alice, a French cop, wakes up to find herself handcuffed to an unknown man in Central Park in New York City after a night on the town in Paris. By the time they have freed themselves from one another, they have decided to work together. Alice eventually connects with her friend, another policeman in Paris, who provides some information that helps her make sense of what is happening. It seems that a murderer from Alice’s past has resurfaced and is out to get her if she and Gabriel don’t find him first.

The plot climaxes around a huge twist, with memory playing a major role. Musso fills us in on what is truly going on through a combination of Alice’s returning memories and a character’s personal descriptions of events. The pace has been breakneck up to this point, giving the reader little time to question the evidence that has been developing. All of a sudden, however, the plot skids to a stop and Musso uses one of his characters to explain how all of the craziness makes sense.

The writing, which is most apparent at the very beginning of the book before the pace of the plot ramps up, almost feels like an outline. The author uses partial sentences continuously and gives us the background of the characters and trajectory of the plot without much development. While this will not appeal to those who love character-driven thrillers, readers who appreciate a fast-paced immersive experience and don’t mind a bit of disorientation will very much like this book. For me, having read and appreciated Musso’s previous THE REUNION, I look forward to his next book assuming he takes the time to flesh out the outline.

OK, so you’ve read the book description. Pretty wild setup, right? I’ve been reading crime fiction and thrillers for 50 years and I can’t say I’ve ever read one where two characters, one a (French) police detective, wake up handcuffed together on a Central Park bench. That’s pretty wild, right? Even more so when they tell each other that Alice, the cop, was in Paris the night before, and Gabriel was in Dublin the night before playing a jazz set.

That’s the setup for a crazy race around New York and then a breakneck road trip to New Hampshire and Maine, all in an attempt to find out who did this to them and whether it’s linked to a horrific crime in Alice’s past. Alice is a tough and bossy character, but as she tells Gabriel about her past, she becomes more relatable. The settings are vividly described, and the pace is furious.

And then, all of a sudden, what was an entertaining if highly unlikely action thriller turns into, well, something entirely different. It happens so fast it’s like whiplash. I can’t say what the change is without being spoiler-y, but I’ll just say that while the action thriller was hold-onto-your-seat-and-suspend-your-disbelief fun, the changed story is absurd in a slap-your-forehead way.

If I look at this mathematically, about 80% of this is a fast and fun ride, followed by 20% crash and burn. While I was disappointed at the turn the book takes, it was only a four-hour read and I was entertained for most of that time.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Central Park.

I love mysteries and police procedurals, especially if the big bad is a cunning serial killer so I was pleased when my request was approved.

The premise was intriguing and the action started immediately; it was dramatic, suspenseful and eerie.

Alice, a detective from France, wakes up to find herself handcuffed to an American man named Gabriel. Their wallets and ID are missing. But, Alice has blood on her shirt and a handgun that does not belong to her.

What happened?

Gradually, Alice discovers the serial killer she had been tracking a few years ago has resurfaced and is hell bent on finishing the job he failed earlier: killing Alice.

Yet, as the unlikely duo race across New York City to find the killer, Alice discovers strange clues that help her come to terms with her own fate.

Central Park is similar to Shutter Island, and for those who have read the latter, I don't need to say anything else.

I liked how the main part of the story took place in NYC (though I'm biased since I'm a native New Yorker) and how all the little clues tied up in the end.

What I didn't like: Alice.

I found it difficult to believe she was a competent detective. I understood she had suffered two terrible tragedies in her life, but as a predictable cliche, she put her work before her family and paid for it dearly.

She was aggressive, rude and violent; I understand she and Gabriel are in a precarious situation but just because you're having an awful day doesn't mean you can shove people around, I don't care what you do for a living or where you're from.

I also doubt Gabriel's methods are ethical, but, hey, this is a book so suspension of disbelief is necessary.

A part of me appreciated the twist at the end, yet at the same time I felt cheated out of a mystery, a pair of detectives hunting a serial killer.

But, what really annoyed me was the ending and the sad thing is...I saw it coming.

If you're an American reading a foreign book, presumably you might want a foreign setting. But no, this one is set somewhere as American as New York city. And without the foreign flavor what you get is a fairly standard sort of suspense thriller. Entertaining enough, but nothing outrageous. Thanks Netgalley.