Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we will be discussing a novel of suspense called The Doorman by Chris Pavone. I read Pavone’s most well known book, Two Nights In Lisbon, about three years ago and it received a lackluster review and star rating. Unfortunately, The Doorman did nothing for me either and will be following suit. This will definitely be the last book I read by this author but let’s chat about it anyways! Before we begin, I will be putting a trigger warning on The Doorman for general violence and sexual assault. Now, let’s get to it:
The Bohemia apartments in New York City are home to the richest of the rich. People so rich that money means nothing to them. It is home to award winners, celebrities, CEOs, and anyone that falls under the category of the “one percent”. Of course, even people with an endless supply of cash have problems and secrets too. They just have the means to cover it up.
In the most expensive suite of the Bohemia, we have Emily and Whit Longworth and their two small children. Whit made his fortune in military equipment and provides supplies for both the good and the bad. Emily has a passion for art, but put a lot of her own self aside to become the definition of “stay at home mom”. Now, she handles PTA meetings, board meetings for places she donates to, and managing the staff that keeps her luxury penthouse pristine. Oh yeah, she also hates her husband’s guts.
A far more modest apartment in the Bohemia is Julian, his wife Jennifer, and their two teenage children. Jules is co founder of an art gallery and has even provided pieces for the Longworth’s suite. He is a freshly turned fifty year old man who lives life as simply as possible and with as little strain as possible too. Julian has a heart valve condition that could kill him instantaneously should he push himself too much. The thing is, he can’t afford the live saving surgery and he might not be able to save his marriage either. Julian and Jennifer’s relationship has come to a standstill and with his own mortality on the line, Jules decides to live dangerously. An affair can’t cause his heart to get any worse, can it?
Finally, we have Chicky. Chicky isn’t a resident at the Bohemia but a doorman to the residents. He sees all, he hears all, and spends his days manning the gates with a huge smile plastered on his face. For as happy as Chicky’s demeanor is, he has his own problems. Chicky is in debt. We’re talking debt debt from hospital bills for his late wife, back rent, and his children’s education. He is on the verge of eviction and the loan shark who he turned to is not waiting patiently for his money back. Chicky’s life is on the line every day and nothing can be done unless he gets a small fortune and fast. An amount that a resident at the Bohemia wouldn’t even miss.
As the stories of our three key players interweave, big changes are in store for all of them and our final character: New York City, itself. Black men are being murdered by the police and the long overdue revolution has finally taken to the streets. On the night of the biggest protest yet, militia style counter protesters arrive. What started out as a safe and peaceful protest has turned to violence as the counter protestors spew their hatred and wield weapons. In their own way, Emily, Jules, and Chicky are all in the thick of the protest and everything will change tonight. For the better? Read The Doorman to find out! Or don’t!!!!!!!
From start to finish, I was ready for The Doorman to be over lol but I powered through. Similarly to my review of Two Nights In Lisbon, I quite liked the story line of The Doorman. Once again, however, my main issue came from Chris Pavone’s writing. The Doorman read like a book that was specifically made for people who live in New York City. It was constantly bogged down with sprawling litanies of different locations both well known and obscure, restaurants, and an endless array of street names. It turned what could have been a relatively straight forward read into something convoluted and generally uninteresting if you are like me and had NO idea about anything or any place Pavone was writing about.
Not only did Pavone name drop every single location that ever existed in NYC, he was just name dropping willy nilly. There were SO many characters that just popped in with no introduction or explanation and if he did finally get around to it, the minor characters in question had already been forgotten. These unimportant additions took away from the key players themselves who all felt close to a cohesive whole but not there yet. At the blessed end of the book, I didn’t feel any type of way about anyone except Whit and not in the good way because he actively sucked. I refuse to not finish anything that I start reading and it was such a happy moment when I could shut The Doorman for good!
Overall, I am going to rate The Doorman with a three out of ten stars. Two lower than Two Nights In Lisbon. I absolutely would NOT recommend this book so skip on it for sure and use your summer reading time to dive into something you really enjoy!
What are you currently reading? What should I read next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
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