Book Review: Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh #HotelArcadia @ProfSunnySingh @PointBlankCrime @RandomTTours

Synopsis

Sam is a war photographer, famous for her hauntingly beautiful pictures of the dead. After a particularly gruelling assignment she checks into a luxury hotel, hoping to unwind with a few days of solitude.

Abhi, the hotel manager, never wanted to be a hero; he just wants to avoid disappointing his father and brother any more than he has already. But when gun-wielding terrorists run amok through the hotel, and his five-year-old Billy is found alive under the bodies of his parents, Abhi and Sam are forced to work together to protect him from the mounting violence.

As the threat of danger moves closer, the bond between this unlikely trio grows ever stronger. If they make it out alive, none of them will ever be the same.

My Review

Sam is a war photographer who checks into a luxury hotel after an assignment. Abhi, is the hotel manager and five year old Billy is also staying at the hotel. When the hotel is infiltrated by terrorists can Sam, Abhi and Billy survive the siege.

Hotel Arcadia has been on my radar for some time and when I heard it was going to be released in paperback I thought this would be the perfect time to read it.

The storyline was intense, atmospheric, claustrophobic, full of tension and pulled me in from the beginning. As a reader I did feel like I was trapped in the hotel with the characters. I found the story very intriguing and it certainly held my attention as I followed the characters journey of survival.

To begin with the book focuses on the two main characters Sam and Abhi and then later on in the book Billy is introduced. Sam and Abhi barely know each other but the siege changes that. Sam checks into the hotel so she can rest and recuperate but the hotel is then seized by criminals and all the people in the hotel are held hostage with their lives at stake. It is this event that bonds Sam and Abhi. Sam is a war photographer and is someone who has seen and been exposed to traumatic events and scenes, which have stayed with her for a long time. Despite the fact that the hotel is under siege this doesn’t stop her from leaving her room, creeping around the hotel undetected and trying to find out more about what is happening in the hotel and taking photos of what she sees so she can document everything. But then things become a little complicated when Sam explores one room in the hotel and finds Billy. Initially Sam is reluctant to take responsibility of Billy but Abhi convinces her that she must because it is the right thing to do and because leaving Billy alone would leave him in more of a vulnerable position. Abhi is trapped in his office and Sam provides him with updates of what she has seen which Abhi in turn feeds back to the authorities. Abhi also has access to the CCTV in the hotel so he gives Sam updates on what he can see and monitors her movements using the cameras to ensure that she isn’t in any danger.

The story is narrated by both Sam and Abhi and moves between the past and the present. It’s through flashbacks to the past that we learn more about Sam and Abhi and what they have been through in their life. One thing that Sam and Abhi learn that they have in common is that they both feel like outsiders in their family and believe they have disappointed their parents. In Abhi’s case he was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the military but decided to go to university instead which caused a rift with his father. Both Sam and Abhi put on a brave face during the siege but when they talk on the phone they both show their vulnerable side to each other.

A powerful story where two strangers form a friendship in order to survive.

Author Bio

SUNNY SINGH is a London-based writer,journalist and academic. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels: Nani’s Book of Suicides, Krishna’s Eyes and Hotel Arcadia, which was first published by Quartet in 2015. She has written several books of non-fiction and is cofounder of the Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour. Her pioneering study of a study of the Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan (2017) was published by BFI Bloomsbury Film Stars Series. Her book on Indian cinema titled A Bollywood State of Mind was published in October 2023 by Footnote Press.