Ingeniously plotted ... The novel's perspective wanders among the story's key players, whose lives intersect in fate-altering ways. The building's dodgy history is yet another of Metropolis's finely etched dramas ... [Shapiro] takes her time loading the bases, and in the last inning, she hits it out of the park.
Tepid ... With flat characterization and a predictable plot, Shaprio plods toward a happy ending. This lacks the frisson of the author’s earlier books.
Through chapters narrated from the perspectives of several characters, the story of the incident—and its aftermath—unfolds slowly. Unfortunately, the characters are wooden, making it difficult to invest in their demise or salvation. The attempt to create a racially diverse cast flounders due to careless reliance on stereotypes ... A snappy plot or spirited sentences might partially salvage the stock characters, but this novel has neither. Boston readers might enjoy the close attention to city landmarks, but there’s not much else to recommend this thriller.
