The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child

Published by Doubleday on May 12, 2015

Jeremy Logan is called upon by a think tank named Lux to investigate a computer scientist's oddly gruesome suicide. Logan was once kicked out of the same think tank because his academic specialty -- ghost hunting -- was not viewed as an intellectually rigorous pursuit. Can you imagine?

Before he died, the suicidal scientist had been acting batty -- talking to himself, behaving with uncharacteristic rudeness -- behavior that started after he was assigned the task of overseeing the remodeling of a wing of the mansion in which the think tank is housed. Other residents in the think also reported hearing voices and perceiving strange phenomena.

The dead scientist stumbled upon a hidden room before he died, hence the novel's title. Logan's task is to figure out how the forgotten room relates to the scientist's death.

The Forgotten Room tells a decent story, although one that lacks a "WOW factor." The story is based on impressive research that ties brain chemistry to Renaissance church music -- at least, it impressed me, which is not difficult given my lack of knowledge about either subject. The plot is reasonably clever, but it failed to excite me. The novel's surprises are not very surprising and the ending is predictable. Almost no attempt was made to develop characterizations or motivations regarding the novel's villains.

My reaction to The Forgotten Room was more "HUH" than "WOW," meaning I was interested but not absorbed in a plot that left me wanting more. The Forgotten Room is an easily forgotten novel that nevertheless has modest entertainment value.

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