It is with much regret and many apologies that I found that I just could not finishing reading this novel. I reached 27% but I could not bear picking up the book anymore, so I called it a day. It just refused to engage my interest and it was a tough and laboured experience. I am not sure I can exactly pinpoint the reasons why it didn't work out for me, but it just did not. I do not like giving up on books, and I would like to reiterate my apologies that on this occasion I just felt I could not continue. Many thanks for the ARC.

Writer Joel Dicker is staying at the Hotel Verbier in Switzerland where there is no room 622. He soon finds out that this is due to a murder that happened in the room, which no one has been able to solve. As he digs into the past to discover the truth he finds suspicious goings on at the country's largest private bank.

A phenomenal book, easily one of the best stories I have read in a long time. Joel Dicker is a very talented storyteller and Robert Bononno has done a beautiful job with the translation from French to English.

I loved how the banking industry provided the backdrop to the story, to me it felt glamorous with all of the secrets and lies involved. I took an immediate liking to the characters. I felt invested in their lives and they even made me laugh out loud.

The plot itself is so intricate with many twists and surprises, it really is superbly clever. I guarantee you will find it mindblowing at times.

This is so much more than a thriller. It will have you rooting for your favourite characters and desperate to find out how it all ends.

A romp through time and place. The enigma of the missing room is woven into a tale of death, the end of romance and affairs. A really interesting look at the creation of a tale through the eyes of the novelist and there is a sense of everything falling into place in the last few words as things are unpicked and the un obvious made obvious,

I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t connect with the characters or writing style. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good book, of course—everyone has different tastes so if the description appeals to you, give it a go.

TLDR

That's what I should write about this book. It was too long. It felt like it was written to be transformed into a TV script. It had unrealistic dialogue; who talks like that? Or was it a case of "lost in translation"? It was repetitive . And in the end I had the impression that even the author didn't really know how to conclude the mystery.

This is a great book, it´s what you could expect when reading Joël Dicker. The idea of following an author whilepreapering his new novel, the metaliterrature, is a cool thing and very original, even if its fiction, it makes you feel somehow closer to Dicker. Also, the way the it changes the times in which history occurs is easy to follow.
About the characters, they are the best. Even when you dont like them, you understand each decision they made. The life they live its so real, and thats because none of the charaters is plain.
The only thing i didnt enjoy that much is the plot itself. I understand that fot that level of detail on the charcters it cant be just action, but sometimes it was a little to heavy and boring for me. The good thing is that eitherway every chapters ends intriguing and you want to continue reading the book.
I woould recommend this novel to people who like mistery but not the rush that you can usually find in thrillers. This one is more like a slow read but with a lot of details.

I really cannot understand why this book isn’t rated 5 star by everybody. I know it’s long and that it’s a book just can’t rush. It’s not a fast food burger it’s a gourmet dinner. You need a proper palate to realise this book just needs to flows over you. It’s beautifully written. Read it.

2.5 rounded down

I’ve just been on the choo-choo train to the land of disappointment especially as I really really enjoyed The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, The Baltimore Boys though it has to be said less so The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer.

It’s 6:30 am on Sunday, the 16th of December and at the Hotel de Verbier in the Swiss Alps an employee delivers breakfast to room 622 and discovers a dead body. Subsequent enquiries lead to no arrests.

A few days prior to the murder Macaire Ebezner is in Madrid and anxious to get home to Geneva where the expectation is that he will be named president of Ebezner bank except he isn’t, as Lev Levovitch is, who is having an affair with Macaire’s Anastasia.

In June 2018 writer Joel heads to the hotel to recover from the ending of a love affair and along with fellow guest Scarlet Leonas they set out to investigate the Enigma of room 622.

Convoluted much? If we add in long winded (600 pages or so) and constantly dizzyingly zipping about in nonlinear timelines the result is a lot of eye rolling from me! The plot takes us to Switzerland and points west and south via a circuitous route at a snails pace which ultimately means you cease to care very much about enigmas. Let’s chuck in on/off love affairs which go on so long it begins to feel like a worn out record, some stereotypical bankers who definitely act like a like a word that rhymes with banker, some incredibly cheesy dialogue and much repetition of said dialogue that I nearly pass out from boredom. Some comments make me cringe they’re so bad.

I don’t know if it’s meant to be a take on a French farce but that’s what it feels like with similar (not) humour.

However, I think some of the issues are due to a poor translation which you can’t blame the author for. There are some fairly good twists towards the end although you have to wait a long time for them but at least they are unpredictable. Unfortunately they’re not sufficiently dynamic for me to raise the rating .

Where is the author that gave us Harry Quebert because the bottom line is he’s missing here?!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Maclehose Press, Quercus for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review. Apologies I didn’t enjoy it more.

I found this book a bit hard tp get into, I found the pacing really slow and I also found the contant slightly confusing. I think some people will love this book, and I wanted too, however, I just couldn't become engaged in it.

Having read and loved The Truth about Harry Quebert, I was looking forward to reading The Enigma of Room 622, as the summary sounds different and unusual. It opens really strongly hooking you in however once it moves to the hotel and we meet Scarlett, things for me fell apart as I found Scarlett the most irritating character ever plus the plot became ridiculously far fetched. The writing felt quite simplistic which could possibly be due to the translation, I'm not sure. Sadly I couldn't get along with this at all, however it could be me, some other reader might absolutely love it, here's hoping for Dicker's sake.

I was so excited to be given the chance to read The Enigma of Room 622, by Joël Dicker. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it at all. I didn't connect with the characters, and found it very slow

A decade old murder case.
A room that no longer exists.
What is the key to this mystery?

I found this book really difficult at first to understand what was going on and who was who. It was only around 30% through I began to recognise who was who. The storyline itself was okay, not particularly exciting enough or suspenseful for my liking. I did enjoy some of the revelations revealed nearer the end of the book, but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I'm afraid this book just wasn't for me.
I liked nor believed in any of the characters and at times it just seemed overly similar.
No depth at all.
On top of that, it's fairly long, so I definitely didn't feel like the pay off of getting to the end was worth it.