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A review by saareman
The Examiner by Janice Hallett
4.0
Examining the Examiners
Review of the NetGalley eBook ARC downloaded July 27, 2024 of the Atria hardcover / eBook / audiobook to be released September 10, 2024.
I have read several of Janice Hallett's contemporary epistolary novels now, so I am quite accustomed to the style which uses emails, text messages, chat groups, transcribed recordings and such, instead of the old-style format of handwritten or typed letters to tell a story. That also comes with the knowledge that there will be unreliable writers and surprise twists. Even with those expectations and my attempts at close reading, I was still surprised by some of the later revelations in this book.
Discussing almost any details here would be a spoiler so it is best to stick to the setup only. An Arts Tutor at the fictional Royal Hastings University has set up a Master of Arts program in Multimedia. The tutor is rather desperate for it to succeed in order to ensure their future employment and they have handpicked the initial 6 candidates which include emerging and professional artists but also business professionals. The program is meant to reinforce the connection of creative arts to the business community and the final team project is an installation / presentation at a telecommunications corporation. The "Examiner" element is that the university has a panel which is doing a post-mortem analysis of the course. For that purpose they have access to all the chat group texts which are recorded in the University's own custom chat board called Doodle.
It soon becomes evident that this is not going to be a harmonious group exercise as the candidates start batting heads almost from the get-go. One seems to be set on accusing or informing on the others. Two of them (who are otherwise apparently married) seem to be having an affair. The tutor themself seems to have some sort of personal relationship with one of the candidates as their private correspondence (even the so-called "private" chat texts are accessible to the examiners) is constantly signed off with by apparently amorous "kiss-kiss" messages. One and then later perhaps another of the candidates simply disappear, although the others insist on denying it. In short, no one is exactly who they seem to be at first. The game for the reader is to try to deduce at least parts of the truth before the author's reveals. I'll admit that I was fooled in almost every instance.
I especially enjoyed the book due to a personal bias as it includes a sub-plot of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). One of the artists involved wants to introduce a binaural sculpture to the final installation project such as the binaural microphone heads used in many ASMR videos on YouTube. As I've mentioned in several past reviews*, I am an actual ASMR experiencer as I have had the sensation since childhood. It is comparatively rare though, but many non-experiencers still enjoy the videos or recordings for their calming and relaxing effects.
So 4-stars for another twisty puzzler by Janice Hallett, and for ASMR fans perhaps even a 5-star as this is one of the relatively few examples of #ASMRinFiction to enjoy. Janice Hallett now joins the ranks of [a:Virginia Woolf|6765|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419596619p2/6765.jpg] and [a:Doris Lessing|7728|Doris Lessing|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1457477725p2/7728.jpg] in incorporating the "weird sensation" into their fiction. ⚡
Review of the NetGalley eBook ARC downloaded July 27, 2024 of the Atria hardcover / eBook / audiobook to be released September 10, 2024.
I have read several of Janice Hallett's contemporary epistolary novels now, so I am quite accustomed to the style which uses emails, text messages, chat groups, transcribed recordings and such, instead of the old-style format of handwritten or typed letters to tell a story. That also comes with the knowledge that there will be unreliable writers and surprise twists. Even with those expectations and my attempts at close reading, I was still surprised by some of the later revelations in this book.
Discussing almost any details here would be a spoiler so it is best to stick to the setup only. An Arts Tutor at the fictional Royal Hastings University has set up a Master of Arts program in Multimedia. The tutor is rather desperate for it to succeed in order to ensure their future employment and they have handpicked the initial 6 candidates which include emerging and professional artists but also business professionals. The program is meant to reinforce the connection of creative arts to the business community and the final team project is an installation / presentation at a telecommunications corporation. The "Examiner" element is that the university has a panel which is doing a post-mortem analysis of the course. For that purpose they have access to all the chat group texts which are recorded in the University's own custom chat board called Doodle.
It soon becomes evident that this is not going to be a harmonious group exercise as the candidates start batting heads almost from the get-go. One seems to be set on accusing or informing on the others. Two of them (who are otherwise apparently married) seem to be having an affair. The tutor themself seems to have some sort of personal relationship with one of the candidates as their private correspondence (even the so-called "private" chat texts are accessible to the examiners) is constantly signed off with by apparently amorous "kiss-kiss" messages. One and then later perhaps another of the candidates simply disappear, although the others insist on denying it. In short, no one is exactly who they seem to be at first. The game for the reader is to try to deduce at least parts of the truth before the author's reveals. I'll admit that I was fooled in almost every instance.
I especially enjoyed the book due to a personal bias as it includes a sub-plot of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). One of the artists involved wants to introduce a binaural sculpture to the final installation project such as the binaural microphone heads used in many ASMR videos on YouTube. As I've mentioned in several past reviews*, I am an actual ASMR experiencer as I have had the sensation since childhood. It is comparatively rare though, but many non-experiencers still enjoy the videos or recordings for their calming and relaxing effects.
So 4-stars for another twisty puzzler by Janice Hallett, and for ASMR fans perhaps even a 5-star as this is one of the relatively few examples of #ASMRinFiction to enjoy. Janice Hallett now joins the ranks of [a:Virginia Woolf|6765|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419596619p2/6765.jpg] and [a:Doris Lessing|7728|Doris Lessing|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1457477725p2/7728.jpg] in incorporating the "weird sensation" into their fiction. ⚡