Central Park

by Guillaume Musso

Other authorsSam Taylor (Translator)
Paperback, 2021

Status

Available

Call number

843.92

Collection

Publication

Back Bay Books (2021), 336 pages

Description

From the #1 international bestselling author: a woman wakes up on a Central Park bench with no memory of how she got there in this "unpredictable and moving psychological thriller that keeps you holding your breath" (Métro) Alice, a fierce and respected Parisian cop, wakes up on a Central Park bench with no memory of the night before, handcuffed to a complete stranger--a musician named Gabriel. Disoriented, dazed, and with someone else's blood on her shirt, Alice works furiously to reconnect the dots. She remembers clubbing with her friends the night before on the Champs-Élysées. Gabriel claims he was playing a gig in Dublin. Was she drugged? Kidnapped? Why is the gun in her jacket pocket missing a bullet? And whose blood is on her clothes? Over the next twenty-four hours, Alice and Gabriel race across New York in search of answers, stumbling upon a startling set of clues that point to a terrible adversary from the past. Alice must finally confront her memories of hunting the serial killer who took everything from her--a man she thought was dead, until now.   From France's #1 bestselling author, Central Park is a taut and suspenseful thriller that will keep readers riveted until its final shocking twist.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Ameise1
This was a very gripping listening which I couldn't stop. Alice a Paris detective woke up chained to a man she has never saw before. More surprisingly was that this was in NY at the Cetral Park whereas her memory went back to last night's party with friends in a bar in Paris. She was suspicious
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because her shirt was full of blood, a phone number written in her hand and the guy seemed also injured. Her police instict cried to solve the puzzle why she was in NY. The story took me fast-paced from one place to another. Always when I had the feeling that I knew where the plot was heading a new sudden twist showed up. It was astonishingly how the two strangers who didn't trust each other very well found their way through the incidents.
The outcome took me by surprise. I wasn't thinking of such a brilliant turn.
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LibraryThing member ftbooklover
Alice wakes up on a bench in Central Park handcuffed to a strange man. Just the night before, Alice had been partying with three friends in Paris, so how did she end up in New York? The man she is handcuffed to, Gabriel, says he is a musician and was playing with his band in Dublin the night
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before. He is also clueless as to how he ended up in New York. Alice is a police detective in Paris and quickly realizes that she must contact her partner, so she and Gabriel steal a cell phone. When she reaches her partner, she asks him to check security camera footage in the garage where she parked her car, at which point, her memory of events ends. She and Gabriel must acquire transportation so they steal a car and try to figure out how they will get some cash.

The premise of Central Park is fascinating, and the story constantly keeps the reader guessing as to how this whole situation occurred and who might be responsible. Clues and red herrings are parceled out throughout the book, making it impossible to tell who Alice should trust. In the last few chapters of the book everything is revealed, leaving this reader feeling let down and unimpressed. Although the first 3/4 of the book are riveting, by the end, this story seems like a waste of time. Not recommended.
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LibraryThing member xlsg
I read this in French, not my native language, so I can't comment on the beauty of the prose, but from a character/plot perspective it left me really unsatisfied. I'm also unconvinced about the language the characters' dialog is supposed to be in as it is set in US but the main character is French.
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Occasionally the author will use English words but usually it is written with French dialects.

[SPOILERS BEYOND - DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN TO READ THIS BOOK.]

I am quite willing to suspend belief in my fiction reading and I don't mind plot twists, but I need some believability and I don't like "tricks". A male psychiatrist manipulates a female amnesiac patient (written in first person so we get her perspective only and don't realize that some of her memories are inaccurate in the end) into believing they are both being pursued by a serial killer. During the course of a single day the two of them (the cop and the psychiatrist who passes himself off first as a musician, then as a cop, and then she believes to be the killer), steal a phone, then a car, she tries to kill him and then they fall in love and everything is okay...
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2014

Physical description

336 p.; 8.38 inches

ISBN

0316590967 / 9780316590969

Barcode

127
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