Evil in All Its Disguises

January 14, 2013
In Davidson’s creepy third outing for travel writer Lily Moore (after 2012’s The Next One to Fall), Lily checks into Acapulco’s Hotel Cerón just as a snake coils itself around her foot. Her discovery that the hotel is owned by Pantheon Worldwide, her ex-fiancé Martin Sklar’s company, is another ominous sign. The nearly deserted hotel begins to feel more like prison than a resort, particularly after fellow writer Skye McDermott, who was behaving oddly, disappears. Meanwhile, Martin’s right-hand man, Gavin Stroud, who’s in charge of the Cerón, and tour organizer Denny Chiu promise to shift Lily to a non-Pantheon hotel, but the move is always postponed. Eventually, Lily discovers that she’s bait in a trap, but unsure who’s the hunter and who’s the prey or whether she can trust anyone. Smoothly sinister characters and a creepy Poe-like atmosphere keep the pages turning, though a ragged climax and an overlong denouement disappoint. Agent: Judith Weber, Sobel Weber Associates.

Anticipating a relaxing getaway at a lavish Acapulco resort, travel writer Lily Moore is instead unsettled by trouble in paradise that she can't quite identify. The vast hotel is eerily vacant, a fellow writer has suddenly disappeared, and an old rival makes a surprise appearance as the general manager. When Lily attempts to leave the resort, she begins to suspect an elaborate trap. Narrator Hilary Huber supplies refined accents for most of the Mexican characters. As she delivers subtly dark portrayals of one potentially evil person after another, the listener's suspicions become as jumbled as Lily's. Huber adeptly personifies Lily's increasing confusion as she attempts to replace her growing fear with her hallmark cleverness as she unravels the hotel's secrets. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine