THE ARCHIVIST

4 stars out of 5

If I had to describe my impression of this book in a single word, it would be pretentious. As a journalist/editor, I was taught never to use a $20 word when a 50-cent one would do. Right from the git-go, this rule-of-thumb got turned on its head and never righted itself throughout the 700 pages (yes, I had to look up several words, the meanings of which I couldn't discern through context alone). Also off-putting to me is the length; with the exception of the Harry Potters, a couple of James Micheners and a Stephen King or two, anything more than 400 pages and I'm inclined to run the other way.

So all that said, I was surprised at being drawn in almost from the beginning and even more shocked when my enthusiasm grew as the pages trudged on. Even before the halfway point, in fact, I just didn't want to put it down, and for a book of this length, I finished it in record time.

At the heart of the story are two professional archivists - Nadia Fontaine and Emily Snow - both hired to organize the "papers" of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Raymond West at his alma mater, Regents University, where he's also a professor. But at different times; Nadia, who came first, drowned while surfing, deemed an accident by police. Emily followed, chosen because of her expertise and the need to finish Raymond's collection in time for the opening of the $25 million upgrade to the college library's eighth floor, where the collection will be housed (also, hopefully, coinciding with the announcement that Raymond has won the year's Nobel Prize for literature). Of even more importance, though, is that those big bucks are coming from none other than Raymond's starchy wife, Elizabeth - so stepping on toes by anyone on the library staff, in particular the Special Collections Department, is, well, frowned upon.

As Emily starts to make sense of her predecessor's work and assess what still needs to be done, though, she notices that several items that should be in the collection are missing. But why? Were they simply mislaid, and if so, where? Or were they deliberately removed, and if so, why? Aided in secret by her closest friend at the library, Joel, Emily gains access to what's called the "Dark Archives" - and tumbles headlong into evidence of a torrid love affair between Raymond and Nadia. That puts Emily in sleuth mode, trying her best to get to the truth about the missing papers and Nadia's untimely death.

At almost every juncture, she gets pushback from the library powers-that-be, all of whom seem intent on stopping her from throwing a monkey wrench into the plans for the library makeover and embarrassing the college and Raymond's wealthy wife even though they have no idea how much she's already learned. Even Emily isn't totally sure what it all means, but she's convinced that no matter how the chips fall, Nadia's story - as recorded by both Nadia and Raymond - needs to be made public despite the family's wishes. That, in turn, brings Emily's ethics into serious question and, ultimately, threatens to destroy not only her career, but her very life.

In the interest of full disclosure - and other readers' sensitivities - I will note that the book has plenty of graphic sex (culled from Nadia's super-detailed accounts of her trysts with Raymond). Also, I'll hope that Moleskine and Societe paid for the extensive product placement (if they didn't, the companies darned well should ante up for all those mentions). I'd also concede that the story could have been told in fewer pages by leaving out what some might deem irrelevant details (such as descriptions of clothing, where and what a character ate and drank). From my perspective, though, those details help shape the story and add substantially to character development (in other words, I'm fine with it). Finally, I think this could be a great motion picture or, maybe even better, a TV series.

All that comes together to make a very enjoyable, thought-provoking and at times scary tale I'm really glad I took the time to read. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Oh, and for the record (which I'm including only on my book blog here), one of the main reasons I requested this book is the author's name - much the same as when I first read the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Boxx. My maiden name is Pickett, and I have a cousin on that side of the family named Rex (different last name, but close enough for horseshoes).

The Archivist by Rex Pickett (Blackstone Publishing, November 2021); 700 pp.