The Book Of Doors by Gareth Brown Book Review

 The Book Of Doors 

By Gareth Brown 

Published Year: 2024

Page Count: 436 pages 

Medium Used: ipad Air 

Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Magic, Magical Books, Action, Suspense, Thriller, Science Fiction,Time Travel, 2026-read. 

Rating: 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀

I couldn't put this down. I started it as a means to break my boredom and sleeplessness by reading one or two chapters in a well received work of science and speculative fiction. This book hooked me right away. It kept me up way longer than I expected. The first chapters I read on my phone but then i had to switch to a bigger screen. I couldn't leave out the time I was charging my phone. That good this book was. Definitely try it if you happen to like all the magic books could deliver. 

The first thing that came to mind as I kept devouring this book was how thorough the author was while writing it. He was very careful and thoughtful about not having any loopholes, flaws and weaknesses in his plot. Had a question or a doubt about something? Yes, he had it addressed by the end of the book! I was shocked to learn that this is his debut novel because it was so so so impressive. He didn't overdo anything  - even if there was time travel and magic involved, it was fully comprehensible. A jolt of thrill and adrenaline coursed through my body everytime I correctly guessed which of the magical books in the possession of the protagonists was going to be used to deal with the miscreants. But still the ending came as a pleasant surprise. I whole heartedly wished for a sequel to the book.

Coming to the story, there were special books which were created by unknown people, from an unknown place, for unknown purposes which bestow special powers onto their owners. Like the book of doors which could transport the holder through any door. Like the book of shadows which kept a person or a place hidden in the shadows. Like the book of despair which removed hope and happiness from the holder but cast them into throes of gloom and doom. And there were many other books like these. Cassie used to work at Kellner Books Library and a regular visitor to the library, Mr. Webber, left her a special book called the book of doors before surrendering to cardiac arrest in the library. She and her roommate, Izzy, learned the speciality of the book. They learn that they can pass through any door - to any place - with the book and materialize at the destination in no time. Naturally, they played with it a bit. Cassie toured through Venice, Prague, Paris - revisitng the sites and restaurants she had once enjoyed as a younger woman, after her grandfather's death.  Izzy became wary of such raw power and tried to keep Cassie away from the book. Later Cassie learned that the book could also act as a portal into other times - any door is every door. We could naturally extrapolate and conclude that there would be people hunting for these books and others who would want to use them for the benefit of humanity. 

Drummond was someone whose family had been trying to secure these books by collecting them, into their library - the Fox Library -  for over a century. When his friends were murdered by 'the woman' a decade ago to get at their books and the library,  he pushes his library into the shadows and wanders as a hunted and hidden man. 'The woman' was the incarnation of evil and she hungered not for food but for collecting and possessing these special books. She killed to get them rather than buy them or procure them through the book sellers. Hugo Brabury was among the evil forces trying to get his hands on the books to inflict pain on the world and enjoy. He had had a distorted childhood and a twisted mind. 

This book was so complex and so well handled by the author. I must clap him on the back and promise to read every book that comes out from his marvelous mind. I also love time travel a lot. I love it even more if it is mixed with love and emotion. Here the love is not romantic in nature. There are no butterflies floating inside these people who are fighting to secure the books and keep the evil ones at bay because they are very mature and focused.  Cassie and her grandfather share a deep bond and her  visit to his bedside to give him a few minutes of Joy before his death brought happy tears to my eyes. I could see Drummond and Cassie settling down .. but without adventure, I fear theirs will be a mundane existence. Looking forward and highly hoping that there would be more books in this line of work!