Goodreads Synopsis

An impossible crime. A detective on the edge of madness. The future of time travel at stake.

January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.

Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.

None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

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Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! All opinions contained in this review are my own.

When the publisher sent me an email asking if I would like to read The Paradox Hotel, I read the synopsis and was instantly hooked. A murder mystery set in a hotel with a body that only our main character, January Cole, can see. And, oh yeah, there’s time travel. Like, yes, please! Sign me up!

As i mentioned, this story follows an ex-time detective named January Cole who is now in charge of security at the Paradox Hotel. This hotel caters to the richest of the rich but there is something else unique about the clientele. Everyone staying there have also booked trips to the past. That’s right, time travel is a very real thing in this story and it’s January’s job to make sure these entitled time hoppers are safe inside the Paradox, among other things. Then a huge summit of trillionaires who are bidding to buy the time travelling technology and the hotel along with it descend on her domain way earlier than expected. And, to top it all off, she finds a body in one of the guest rooms that only she can see.

This book was an absolutely wild ride! I picked this up, intrigued but not sure what to expect, and found myself flying through the pages. The plot was well-structured, with no spots that seemed to lag or move too fast. I will say there are time jumps in this, which totally make sense with what is going on in the plot, but can be a little confusing. There’s a certain way the author signals that a jump is about to occur but, before I figured it out, I will admit I was lost 😂 Once I realized what was happening, though, I was completely re-invested in the story.

I know that this is going to make me sound like a bad sci-fi fan, but I’m kind of glad that this book didn’t focus on the ins and outs of how the time travel works in this world. There were a few moments where brief descriptions were given and I’m not 100% if they were scientifically sound, but that was okay with me. That was because I was far more interested in the stories of the characters populating this hotel and less so in the timey-wimey stuff. Rob Hart has created an incredible cast of diverse characters that were a pleasure to read! I will warn you right now: January Cole is an asshole. She’s sarcastic, emotionally unavailable, and sometimes just downright cruel to people who simply want to help her. She frustrated me to no end… but I loved her character. She was vivid and interesting and felt so real! It was incredible watching her journey through grief and pain throughout this novel. I also really enjoyed the secondary characters we meet along the way. No one felt one dimensional or like a caricature, which can be hard when there is such a large cast!

Final thoughts: I now need more books that mix science fiction and murder mystery because I loved this one! The plot is engaging and kept me interested throughout, though I will admit to getting lost a little bit at the beginning. If you’re looking for a sci-fi that focuses more on the science, this might not be for you. But if you’re looking for one that focuses on complex characters, struggles with grief and illness, and a mystery that will keep you guessing, I think this might be a good pick for you!