I Need You to Read This: A Novel
“such a propulsive page turner it’s almost impossible to put down as the tension builds . . .”
“’I always take the stairs when I go between the newsroom and the mailroom, I hope you don't mind, I like the exercise,’ Lucy says pushing open a heavy fire door at the end of the hall. It leads to the landing of an old stairwell with an elaborate wrought iron railing. The staircase wraps around an open atrium about 20 feet wide.
“’This must be the old part of the building?’ Alex asks, trying to be conversational as they descend.
“’It is, yeah, isn't it cool? Actually, this was once the building's main stairwell but was converted after the renovation. It’s a shame it's not used much these days because it's actually quite beautiful I think.’
“Alex supposes she's right. With a bit of dusting and some better lighting, a coat of fresh paint on the chipped metal work, it would be gorgeous. But as it is the dank smell, and the flickering yellow green light make it more creepy than charming.
“Alex leans over the railing to look down and gasps. Around the central space the loop of the staircase repeats for what feels like forever, ending a million miles below at the tiniest patch of checkered tile floor.
“’I just I just love history, don't you? Did you know that the architect who made this place actually was petrified of the elevator? It was a new invention then of course. He just straight up didn't trust it that's why this stairwell is so nice. I'll never understand why he would kill himself by jumping from the top floor. That’s never made sense to me.’”
Hidden away on her own volition for seven years in her New York City apartment, writing boring copy for a pharmaceutical company, Alex Marks’ only “friends” are Janice, the owner of the Bluebird Diner across the street and Raymond, a retired police detective who often has burnt toast crumbs spread across his T-shirt.
Alex is in hiding, from what we can gleam by the letters “Lost Girl” writes to Dear Constance, a long-term advice column written by Francis Keen for The Herald, a fading New York newspaper edited by the legendary Howard Dimitri. Is Alex the Lost Girl and if so, what exactly happened to her? The answer to that is played out as the book progresses. After Francis is murdered and the case unsolved after a year, the newspaper runs an ad for a replacement. Alex, after too many glasses of wine, applies by taking a test and answering questions that readers had posted to Constance.
If there’s one thing Alex knows about herself is that she has a knack for really understanding and connecting to people, seeing beyond their veneers, their words, and their bluster. But still it’s a surprise when she is offered the job at a salary twice what she is making. She is shown into Francis’ old office, tucked away in an out-of-the-way old part of the news building, now a hybrid of Art Deco splendor and modern architecture and given stack after stack of letters seeking advice.
What should be a dream job come true is anything but. Beset by performance anxiety, Alex is sent a threatening note, assaulted by a man in a bar, and realizes that Dimitri may be a handsome legend, but he has dark secrets including a penchant for affairs with much younger women, drinking late at night in his office, and an angry wife whose family owns not only the paper but the building in which it is housed.
Even the building has its secrets—unknown corridors, vast empty spaces, and a foreboding atmosphere. Late at night, while Alex reads letters from unhappy people looking for answers to their lives, she hears footsteps and feels the energy of someone just outside her door. Armed with her letter opener she steps out to find no one there.
A saved matchbook found tucked away in Francis’ desk drawer and what seems to be a warning note, sends Alex along with Janice and Raymond to The Nest, a hidden away jazz bar where they hope to find the answer. Raymond is certain that Alex’s life is in danger, most likely from the person who murdered Francis as well. Can the three of them solve the mystery of who killed Francis and why before misfortune overtakes Alex? And what about this new man in her life who claims to be a banker who works in the building across the way from Alex’s office. Is he as wonderful as he seems? Or is her past repeating itself?
What will happen? This book is such a propulsive page turner it’s almost impossible to put down as the tension builds as the questions in Alex’s mind increase, and she seems to be hurtling toward the same fate that overtook her predecessor.