Marisha Pessl's Newest Blockbuster Thriller

If you love thrillers, horror, or mysteries, you have to read Night Film by Marisha Pessl. Scott McGrath, disgraced journalist, receives a tip about the death of the daughter of the man who ruined his career. This man is cult horror film auteur Stanislas Cordova, who has not left his backwoods estate in thirty years and holds a mythical status among his followers. Of course McGrath believes that the death was not just a suicide and investigates, digging deeper and deeper into Cordova's past. Piece by piece the web of myths, dark deeds, and shrouded history is unraveled, but who knows if he will ever find the truth.

Pessl uses fantastic, lyrical descriptions and weaves together a tapestry of websites, newspaper articles, pictures to make Cordova and his films real. The mythos behind Cordova and his night films is so tightly crafted that I began to think I could find them somewhere on the internet. Pessl skillfully builds the creepy atmosphere of her novel one piece at a time to ratchet up the tension, until something has to snap - and snap it did. I had to put down the book at one point because I was so freaked out. But aside from the horror aspect, it is an excellent mystery with pieces doled one at a time to reveal a larger picture which may never be fully explained. This hybrid of many genres is an excellent read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and haunt you for days after you finish it.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian