... a strange novel that smashes together some of the best elements of science fiction and crime to deliver a story in which time is broken — and some crucial events that have a huge impact on the present haven't happened yet. And they may not happen at all ... as funny and entertaining as it is dark and complex. Any narrative dealing with the concept of time traveling is bound to get complicated, but Hart handles it well — and even the experts in the story accept that they don't know everything ... While there are enough science-fiction elements here to make this a novel that comfortably fits into that genre, the many crime fiction elements present make it a hybrid narrative that instead inhabits the interstitial space between science fiction and crime ... This wildly entertaining combination, along with Hart's relentless pacing, make this a rare hybrid that has something for everyone. Hart's preoccupation with the future, which he started exploring in The Warehouse, his previous novel, takes center stage here, and the result is a tale of loss with a noir heart and a soul made of hard sci-fi that does each genre justice without ever allowing one of them to overpower the other.
Done right, the combination of two archetypal genre stories into something new can work brilliantly ... The Paradox Hotel offers a memorable case study in how to bridge two genres in a way that satisfies readers of both ... Throughout The Paradox Hotel Hart creates a sense of a place on the cusp of being irrevocably changed—and of a style of living that may have exceeded its viability ... In the end, The Paradox Hotel succeeds as both a mystery and as a story involving time travel. Do you want head-spinning theories on the flow of time and what it might do to people and places? You’ll find both in abundance here. But you’ll also find a resourceful, haunted protagonist pushing herself to the limit to uncover the truth behind an impossible case.
Inventive action, breakneck pacing, and a delightfully acerbic yet achingly vulnerable first-person-present narration distinguish this speculative noir stunner, which meditates on grief while exploring issues of inequity and determinism. The worldbuilding can feel hand-wavy, and the supporting cast is so large as to occasionally confuse, but on balance, Hart delivers a riveting read likely to win him scores of new fans ... Funny, thrilling, poignant, and profound.
... stellar ... The twists keep coming without simplifying January’s mental struggles in this impressive melding of creative plotting and three-dimensional characters. Hart remains a writer to watch.
