The Paradox Hotel: A Novel

“Time travel, murder, corruption, restless baby dinosaurs, and a snarky robot named Ruby collide in this excellent, noir-inflected, humor-infused, science-fiction thriller.”—The Boston Globe
 
An impossible crime. A detective on the edge of madness. The future of time travel at stake. From the author of The Warehouse . . .

FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Kirkus Reviews


January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.

Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.

None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

At once a dazzlingly time-twisting murder mystery and a story about grief, memory, and what it means to—literally—come face-to-face with our ghosts, The Paradox Hotel is another unforgettable speculative thrill ride from acclaimed author Rob Hart.

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Published Feb 22, 2022

336 pages

Average rating: 6.3

37 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

jwhitney
Sep 03, 2025
We really liked this book! We had only a few critiques about the intricacies of time travel and some questions about some character motivation and behavior. Where we did find moments when we wished there could have been more background information or more clarity on motivating forces, the fun energy was more than enough to suspend our disbelief. The characters were generally very lovable: Ruby the drone was a particular favorite. And the concept generally — time travel as a tourist activity — sparked some great conversation about what that would look like! Early civilizations (provided we could reasonably ensure survival) was the common thread in our group of where we would choose to go if we could.
Cristal
Sep 06, 2023
9/10 stars
Ich mochte es sehr, die Charaktere sind super interessant und January ist einfach eine coole Socke :) auch Ruby (fliegende AI Drohne) war eine coole Idee des Autors. Ich bin schwer reingekommen in das Buch am Anfang, durch die ganzen Zeitsprünge, aber danach war es sehr spannend!! Toller Zeitreisen Krimi!

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