Another one from the NEW shelf at the library. This story read like a movie to me...in fact I found myself picturing the story just like a movie in my head, which I usually don't do when I'm reading. It takes place at a motel where the few guests are snowed in and there is murder, mystery, and all the rest. I did't love it, but it certainly kept me interested and was easy to read.

brief synopsis with no spoilers: Sara and Nate, a young couple, give a stranded motorist, who has a terrible cough and seems very sick, a ride during a winter storm; the blizzard forces them to take shelter at a remote motel on a rural highway; after registering at the motel, which has only a few other guests, Sara discovers that Syl, the man whom they were helping, has no pulse; then, Nate discovers $2 million in Syl's suitcase; did they strike it rich, or is the money cursed? you won't believe the twists and turns that this tale takes, and you won't see the ending coming, not by a million miles, so you'll have to read it to find out what happens; this is really a great read and a captivating story, and it is all the more amazing because it is the first novel that this author, John Rector, has written

This was a neo-noir novel, heavy on the noir. I can't say I enjoyed the character of Sarah all that much, she was a bit of a whiney butt. It could be because she was a pregnant 18-year old running away from home put in a stressful situation, but still, every time she opened her mouth I wanted to slap the whine out of it.

Still all and all it was a 31/2 star book and I would read John Rector again.

Nate and Sara are driving through snowy America, hoping to make a fresh start in Nevada. Along the way, they are persuaded to pick up a hitchhiker called Syl who offers them $500 to take him to Omaha. As a blizzard sets in, they are forced to stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere and things abruptly take a turn for the worse. Their hitchhiker is no longer breathing and his backpack contains a sizeable amount of money - enough to give Nate and Sara the fresh start that they badly need. However there's a body to dispose of and then there's the question of who Syl was so desperate to get away from in the first place...

Right from the start this book grabs you and there's a strong sense of menace which builds throughout. I could almost hear the creepy soundtrack playing along, ratcheting up the tension. In the second half the plot becomes increasingly improbable and I also felt that the author missed the opportunity to really build up the villain more than he does. Nevertheless it's a highly readable thriller which is very hard to put down. I devoured it in a day.

This is my first John Rector novel. He has a sparse writing style that's very similar to Neil Cross and indeed this reminded me of Cross's books.

Fast easy read that you want to be a great explosive ending. Instead it just sort of fizzled out like a weak candle leaving me so disgusted with the ending that I nearly threw the book across the room. Now there's 3 hours I can never get back. Complete waste of time and really, just not that good.

Outstanding.

I read this as The Couple in Room 13. It was a 99p Kindle book. Quick, tense, enjoyable with a twist.
As usual stars out of 5 is difficult, too good for 2 so had to give 3, but really a solid 5/10.

An excellent and disturbing read. I could not put it down!

I found the setting wonderfully claustrophobic and I loved the way little twists were eked into the plot throughout the book. I thought the characterisation was great as Rector has assembled a good mix of the psychopathic, the natural victims and I liked the way that no-one was essentially good being prey to very essentially human foibles e.g greed. The dialogue was crisp and sharp and reminded me in style of Denis Johnson's 'Nobody Move' and Castle Freeman's 'Go With Me' but retaining the filmic qualities of 'A Simple Plan' meets 'Identity'- a great little debut.

If I have learned anything from watching movies, it's that if you Find Money in circumstances that involve dead people, you must absolutely not talk yourself into keeping it to build a better life. Turn it over to the cops, leave it in the downed plane with that dead guy, bury it in the woods, but for god's sake don't take it with you because someone is always going to follow you & try to kill you messily in order to get it back. Happily, though, none of the characters in books like these know the things that I know, so they make their justifications for their foolish choices & I get to read snappy little noir-ish business like this. It's pretty easy to see exactly where all of this is going from the first page, but this is still well-written & tight enough to entertain, especially if you read it with your feet up on a hot day so you can marvel at how it could ever be that cold.