Review: The Forgotten Room by Lincold Child

The Forgotten Room (Jeremy Logan, #4)
by Lincoln Child
Release Date: May 12th 2015
2015 Doubleday
Ebook Edition; 304 Pages
ISBN: 978-0385531405
ASIN: B00N6PCYVE
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
In this newest novel Logan finds himself on the storied coastline of Newport, Rhode Island, where he has been retained by Lux, one of the oldest and most respected think tanks in America. Just days earlier, a series of frightening events took place in the sprawling seaside mansion that houses the organization. One of its most distinguished doctors began acting erratically—violently attacking an assistant in the mansion's opulent library and, moments later, killing himself in a truly shocking fashion. Terrified by the incident and the bizarre evidence left behind, the group hires Logan to investigate—discreetly—what drove this erudite man to madness.
     His work leads him to an unexpected find. In a long-dormant wing of the estate, Logan uncovers an ingeniously hidden secret room, concealed and apparently untouched for decades. The room is a time capsule, filled with eerie and obscure scientific equipment that points to a top secret project long thought destroyed, known only as "Project S." Ultimately, the truth of what Project S was . . . and what has happened in that room . . . will put Logan in the path of a completely unexpected danger. 

My Thoughts
The Forgotten Room is the fourth in the Jeremy Logan series.  Jeremy is a professor who tends to work with the strange and often supernatural, so I began this novel with quite a bit of anticipation; however, the result what quite different from what I expected.  The story started out quite strongly, and was quite mysterious and intriguing, and although the concept of the story was interesting and thought-provoking, for whatever reason, the second half of the novel didn't quite have that same intensity as the first half, nor that mysteriousness that made the first half so much more attention-getting.

First of all, Professor Logan is quite quirky and rather interesting, and I really enjoy watching him in action.  Because of rather strange events occurring at Lux, a luxurious and very respected 'think tank', the very same one that Jeremy left a decade earlier, help was needed to solve the conundrum that was vexing quite a few people, even leading to the death of a well-respected researcher.  As Jeremy delves into the mystery which has quite a few people confused and upset, he discovers a secret room, decades old, of which he has no idea of its use.  And this kind of thing is right up my alley; I enjoyed the search through archives and old records, looking up secrets from the past, trying to discover the use of the room.  And even though I found this part quite interesting, for whatever reason, this is also where things started to slow down and I think maybe too much information was given, rather than leaving it up to the reader to discover slowly.  Kind of like reading the end of the book when you are only on page 85.  

These novels are not necessarily known for their great writing styles, but they are fun, and the atmosphere definitely lent an element to this one.  I mean, you can't get any more cliched than rain, rain, and more rain, then throw in a nice hurricane to boot, stranding everyone who remains behind at the mansion, flooding, broken windows, and the other myriad things that can happen during such an event.   The action and suspense, and the interesting characters, also lend quite an atmospher, and make these novels worth the read.

Verdict
The Forgotten Room is one of those novels that is fun to read and I did enjoy it quite a bit. I do have to admit that I got lost about halfway through though, probably because of too much information being released at once, rather than it being given piecemeal, which was a bit disappointing. There wasn't a lot of character development, but that is not why I read these novels; I like them for the paranormal aspect, and in this, I was to be disappointed, although the concept that did eventually play out was intriguing in its own right.  It's just not what I wanted or thought it would be.  And while you don't necessarily have to read these books in order, it does help in order to get a sense of what Jeremy Logan is all about.  However, the actual mystery was a bit of a disappointment and the motive and the concept didn't quite ring true in this one.  That being said, it was still an entertaining and quick read.