Hotel No Tell Novel - Zephyr Books for Travel & Mystery Lovers

Heroine Zephyr Zuckerman reminds us all that when offered, it would be"sinful to decline an opportunity for urban adventure." So start reading.Peppered throughout the novel are the gorgeous creatures that NYC breedslike the self-proclaimed dictator of the dog park, groupies at a fire houseand the transplanted suburbanites of the outlying areas who long to be the outlier who stayed.While the central unfolding of the novel is the criminal case-- the "who done it...and wait...what did they do again?"-- "Hotel No Tell" is itself, undercover. We get intimately involved with what makes us who we are and what we create that makes a life worth living: knowledge, skill, thrill, money, recognition or connection.Uviller is an astute observer and quite simply, very funny.I consumed "Hotel No Tell" in the same way as its predecessor, "Super in the City," each within hours of cracking the spines. A moment after the triumphant toss of the paperback to the floor celebrating the satisfaction of a book well-written and well-read --akin to a victory dance after scoring a goal --not recommended for nooks & kindles, I realized I was not done. I had to look some things up.There were several words whose meanings were not readily accessible to my present-day brain. I contextualized them as I read; while forgiving myself for having forgotten a former intimacy that I was convinced I must have held in my more academic, less matriarchal days. I snatched the book from the floor with its saucy graphics and color scheme (for which I have a penchant) and scoured the pages once more. I post-it noted, so as to leave Uviller's tale un-underlined. I love words; they can be extremely yummy. I'll admit that I bristled a little when I did not recognize some of these old acquaintances; but reminded myself that learning keeps the brain young. I hope this holds true for the second time around.One nugget that will stay with me (and never need refreshing) is an observation that Uviller makes about self-awareness and friendship. Zephyr has a core group of friends that you meet in "Super" and rediscover in "Hotel". Each is fabulous but flawed (read: human) in her own way. One of the greatest gifts of friendship is to offer grace when a friend is afraid. When caught in her own drama sometimes even the greatest of friends can forget her audience. In "Hotel", a friend considering a marriage proposal expresses her fear of this life-altering commitment in terms of her (lack of) desire to take the suitor's last name. Zephyr has a moment's panic that she is bad friend because she can't remember the potential new surname. But her friend plows ahead in full distress and says: "You don't think Lucy Livingston is too much alliteration?" She says this to Zephyr Zuckerman. Hahaha. Sigh. Perhaps the author is ribbing herself but in the context of the friendship, Zephyr doesn't even acknowledge her own obviously alliterative situation. She does not call her friend out. To be clear, the heroine of "Hotel" does not lack in self-focused searching; but in this moment of need, Zephyr unselfconsciously lets her friend be: "'Actually, I think it sounds pretty great,' I told her truthfully." And the truly cool thing is that Uviller doesn't obviate this mirroring and still manages to intimately shape the way the reader feels.Somebody please bring Zephyr to the big screen so that millions more will devour the Novel.And whilst chomping, exclaim: "This is so much better than that depauperate movie.That actress did not know how to handle Uviller's language- I mean, coming out of her mouth made it sound florid. It is obviously too challenging for those Hollywood dummkopfs to adapt a noetic tale."