The Paris Apartment

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Jess who is not very close with her brother, Daniel. As a child, while she' suffered being moved from foster family to foster family because her father left and her mother couldn't care for her, Daniel, was much luckier. He ended up being placed with a supportive family and, as an adult, has made something of himself. Jess is still struggling. But Jess isn't sure that luck is all it's about for Daniel. Jess and her mom joked that Daniel was the kind of person who could talk his way into or out of anything. But, it seems that Daniel's luck is about to run out. Jess has recently had to escape her old job and life in England, and she's grateful that when she needs him, Daniel is there to help her out. He's invited her to stay in his apartment in Paris. But when she arrives, Daniel is nowhere

to be seen, his cat has some blood on his belly and Daniel's posh apartment seems to be giving many hints that something went terribly wrong. Jess gets to know some of the residents of the apartment building and wonders if maybe they had something to do with Daniel's disappearance. Told alternately from Jess's perspective and then Daniel's, this suspenseful story is about the power of familial bonds, and the power they hold over us.

I loved the descriptions of the apartment building, the apartment and the cat. I loved those more than the characters. I'm not sure why, but I didn't connect with any of them. Reading this book felt like I was observing from the outside looking in, which makes the experience of reading less enjoyable. I like to feel a connection to the characters or the storyline, but I felt that for neither this time. It was an okay read, and the ending did surprise me, which I liked.