This debut novel resembles Jumper, a great film. THE BOOK OF DOORS is unusual in the tale, given to Cassie Andrews by an elderly customer in her New York bookstore. The man passes away quietly, and the young woman bookseller doesn’t realise how precious this gift will be.
Together with her irrepressible flatmate Izzy, Cassie discovers the joy of using the Book of Doors to visit other countries, opening any door to step out into a square in Italy, a Japanese restaurant, or a Manhattan rooftop bar. Izzy becomes concerned, though, saying that such a book would permit crimes, and using it must be paid for somehow. Her words come true all too quickly, and sinister forces start shadowing the two friends.
Stepping through a book to another world is a standard fantasy trope, but since the Book of Doors takes people to other real places in our world, this must be classed as urban fantasy. Rare book collectors take on an alternative meaning as Drummond Fox, The Woman, Lund, Azaki, and Dr. Hugo Barbary enter the scene, all seeking any books of power, and willing to be extremely unpleasant in their methods of acquisition. If I warn that other books of this nature include the Book of Pain, Control, Desolation, etc. you’ll get the picture that this is not a YA story. Occasional strong language and almost random violence mean this is definitely a tale for adults, maybe those who can’t bear to leave YA adventures behind but want a more grown-up version.
More gently-themed Books include Luck, Illusion Safety, Memory, Mists, and Joy. But we see that it’s not so much the content as what people do with it that counts. For me, the fun locations and charmingly made volumes are the best part. I don’t read horror, and THE BOOK OF DOORS by Gareth Brown is edging on horror, a modern American version of Charlie Fletcher’s Victorian London fantasy horror stories.
A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness.
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.
But this is no ordinary book…
It is the Book of Doors.
Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.
Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.
But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force—in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman—is at the very top of that list.
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