This memoir recounts the unexpected career trajectory of Amy Price, a jewelry maker and interior designer who found herself immersed in the world of Los Angeles's Cecil Hotel, known for its dark history and eerie reputation.

Initially hired for a brief stint to redesign rooms at the Cecil, Price's three-day gig evolved into a decade-long association with the infamous establishment. Through her vivid storytelling, Price unveils the hotel's unsettling past, marked by suicides, unexplained deaths, and encounters with notorious figures like Richard Ramirez. As Price delves deeper into the Cecil's world, she confronts the stark realities of poverty, social injustice, and mental illness, challenging her sheltered upbringing and naive beliefs. Rising through the ranks to become the hotel's general manager, Price navigates through turbulent times, including the downfall of colleagues and failed projects.

While Price's journey from innocence to enlightenment is compelling, the narrative occasionally feels disjointed, with anecdotes and character portraits lacking cohesion and depth. Despite its flaws, "Behind the Door" offers a poignant exploration of one woman's transformative experience at the intersection of darkness and resilience.

Almost everyone who lives in L.A. knows about the Cecil Hotel. Lots of history and not all of it good. I was expecting more history of the hotel and its inhabitants but instead got a not especially compelling look into a former employees personal life. None of it was especially interesting and the actual stories I was hoping for involving the hotel were sadly missing. This isn't a bad book....just not what I was expecting.

Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel by Amy Price

I’ve always been a fan of old Hollywood and LA stories, with its scandals (and sometimes horrors) that have shaped that town. When one of my best friends moved to DTLA, it was only a matter of time before I learned about the Cecil Hotel. And then in 2013, it was almost like the entire world learned of it all at once because of Elisa Lam.

This memoir account of the hotel manager/Jack-of-all-trades, Amy Price, tries to set straight rumors and insinuations that a certain Netflix documentary espoused. And while I can’t say that anything in this memoir comes off as untrue (and I didn’t take the time to fact check), I can say that its sub headline is misleading.

Maybe I wanted something sensationalist. Maybe I a good old horror story. But what I didn’t want was to read a 200+ story that reads like it was written by a high school freshman recounting her summer vacation. Literally.

There are so many transition words and phrases, it just feels like a long list of things the writer wants to name, but it never really tells a story. Which is a shame because any one of the experiences she glazes over could have been rich for a memoir or true crime NF book.

And I call this a memoir because the author spent an inordinate amount of time talking about her relationship with her ex who has nothing to do with the Cecil. This book is truly a missed opportunity, and I just hope someone out there finds Pedro (the one constant at the Cecil) and options a book for him.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel in exchange for my honest review. I’m sorry it took me so long to get around to it.

#bookreview #bookstagram #bookstgrammer #cecilhotel #netgalley

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow!

Going into this I was hoping to get what was described... a history of the Cecil Hotel. What I got was a biography of woman who happened to work at the Cecil Hotel. Despite Behind the Door not being what I expected I still enjoyed it.

Hearing of the events that took place and the lackadaisical approach to expectations when it came to its residence it's hard to imagine that this place was ever deemed fit to be a business or would ever be a place one aspired to work at or manage.

I enjoyed watching the Netflix special about the Cecil Hotel, where I was first introduced to this author. I'm fascinated with haunted hotels and specifically the stories of the Cecil Hotel recently. The author introduces us to the history of the hotel, how it started and how it continued to run or barely run through the years. There's a sad history, yet a very solid history of the hotel in Southern California. Readers are introduced to the many different characters who graced the doors of the hotel through the years, including getting a glance at the conditions some of them lived in and the tough roads that lead them to the hotel. Readers will learn about the troubles the hotel ran into when trying to renovate, public policies, and local government issues that dictated so much of how the hotel was run and as with any hotel with a history, the detailed events that attracted law enforcement through the front doors over the years. While tragic, this was a first hand view of day to day life in one of the most infamous hotels of our day.

Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel is a Memoir written by Amy Price, who was the manager of the Cecil for a decade. I really enjoyed this. As memoirs go, I feel it was quite interesting and it kept me engaged. I completely understand why Amy felt compelled to share her story.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this historic L.A. property. While I knew that the hotel was considered a haunted place, steeped in dark history, including as the place the Night Stalker was staying during the time of his killings, I really knew nothing else about it. I learned so much and have a new appreciation for the complicated purpose and history of this hotel.

If you arrive with this book in your hand and you are expecting a strict True Crime story, maybe focusing on the infamous case of Elisa Lam, you may be disappointed, because that is not what this book is.

Amy was the manager of the hotel during Elisa's stay, and she does discuss it, but it is by no means the focus of this books. It is one amongst many tragic stories that Amy watched first hand play out and relays here. As mentioned above, I completely understand why Amy would want to tell this story. Particularly after the Netflix documentary on the Lam case released. I think it was easy for people to sort of vilify Amy as the person in charge, and say she should have done more when Elisa was exhibiting unusual behavior.

But I feel like when you hear the greater context of the hotel, its function, it's location, the types of things that happened there on an all too regular basis, you'll come to maybe understand that Elisa's behavior really wasn't that unusual at the Cecil. It was just another day. I wasn't reading this for the Lam case, so I didn't mind that it wasn't focused on. I was reading it more for the history of the hotel and what it would be like to work there. Amy delivered those things to me very well. I walk away with a better understanding of this property that has become as infamous as The Overlook in pop culture.

Thank you to the publisher, William Morrow, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a quick read, and a fascinating glimpse into a place I will most likely never see first hand.

Behind the Door is a memoir about Amy Price's time at the Cecil Hotel and how it effected her. I think this book could have been marketed a little differently. I did find it interesting and mildly entertaining but it was marketed to me more as the history of the hotel and more of true crime/the dark parts of the hotel. Don't get me wrong 80% of the book had to do directly with the Cecil and did talk about some of the deaths that occurred there but it was way more biographical for the author than the hotel. If you're more interested in the hotel than hearing about Amy Price's specific experiences and life I would skip this one.




Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley. This was not the book I was expecting. I thought it would be more hard hitting and gritty. The story was well done but focused too much on the author.

I received a free advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Working on getting through the rest of the advanced books I received in 2023.
I originally requested this book because of the Elisa Lam case. While it was covered in this book, I found out so much about the hotel where it happened. It was very interesting learning about some of the tenants and what it was like working there. It’s nice to be able to learn more than just the death and murders the hotel has become known for. I’d highly recommend this book to learn about so many of the interesting people who passed through the Cecil hotel.

I requested a copy of this book after watching a brief documentary about the Cecil Hotel. I find true crime and disappearances interesting wherever they happen, so it seemed like a good choice. The "dark truths" sections of this book met my expectations, but the rest of it was disappointing for me. I didn't realise when I began reading this that so much of it would be about the personal life of the author, and much of it came off as bragging.

The sections about the tenants living in the Cecil and the various nefarious happenings there made it worth reading, but I can't give this title more than three stars on account of the amount of other stuff it includes which is not really related to what I thought I was going to be reading. I felt, at times, like I was reading a blog post rather than a book. I could have done without the sections dealing with the love life of the author, as I didn't feel it added anything essential to the story.

Overall, I didn't think this was terrible, but I didn't love it either.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel was an entertaining story, though not all that I expected.
I appreciated the author’s point of view as being the manager of the Cecil for ten years, and wanting to present another side of the hotel so it could be seen as not just the scene of murder and mayhem. I did enjoy the way Amy Price writes, and the stories she tells of her days at the hotel were intriguing and captivating. I just felt as though at the end I was left wanting more.
I would recommend this to anyone who would like more insight into the hotel after watching or reading all of the true crime stories about this hotel.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really found this book enjoyable. I will admit I watched the Netflix show and wasn't thrilled with Ms, Price in it. She came across as cold and uncaring. I didn't find her that way at all in this book. It was nice hearing from her.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley

This book covers some of the history of the Cecil hotel. Amy is given a job to decorate some of the rooms in the hotel to try and bring it back to life. She tries to improve things there and make it a better place in spite of the history of deaths surrounding the hotels history.

Since the hotel has some permanent residents, you meet some of them and the issues and health problems they may have. It is very interesting to see how things went on there.

This is definitely a well written true crime mystery and history of the hotel and its residents.

Price gives us an insider's behind-the-scenes look at the infamous Cecil Hotel in LA. This used to be a very grand hotel but now is on the outskirts of Skid Row. She introduces us to the many characters who lived there as long-term residents or just briefly. Sadly, many of these people dealt with health issues and/or mental illness. Price's writing style is very breezy and easy to read. I will follow this book up with the Netflix Series, The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I live in LA and have been obsessed with this story for a very long time. This book was fantastic.

Very interesting book, I've actually been inside the Cecil hotel so it takes on a whole new dimension to the story for me. It's an amazing place filled with history, and atmosphere. The architecture done in art deco style, hotel opened in 1927. As you walk through the door where past and present join get ready.

Amy is given the job to decorate some of the rooms at the hotel and bring life back into her. While totally unaware of the hotel's notorious history lot of deaths, serial killer's have stayed there, or current circumstances. You go through with her 10 years working at the hotel. She struggles to make changes and choices to make things better.

You meet the some of the residents of the hotel and brings to light all the various issues and lessons she learned. Each one is different as was Elisa Lam. She talks about what happened and when she did the interview for the documentary "The vanishing at the, Cecil".

If you like true crime, mystery, history, hotel's of a bygone era you will love this book as much as I did.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Definitely not what I was expecting, and that’s okay. I liked the reading the history of the author and the hotel. Not just the sordid stories, the hopeful start story was nice too.

When Amy goes to work at the Cecil, she is in for a surprise. There is more there than meets the eye.

This was an okay read. I wasn't blown away by any of the content. Most of it is already circulated. Decent overall.

All I knew of the Cecil Hotel before reading this book was the negative reputation many know. Lots of deaths, Elisa Lam, and Richard Ramirez. Amy Price did a great job of showing a behind the curtain look at what life was like at the Cecil in the decade she was the manager. The reader meets many colorful characters that lived at or visited the Cecil. Price showed the good side of the hotel that many don't know about. It was definitely an interesting read!

The story of Elisa Lam and the Cecil Hotel was only vaguely recognizable to me when I first saw this as an option to read, but even in that state of 'only vaguely recognizable' on a specific-case level, I knew I wanted to give it a shot. Amy Price is a capable guide through the accounts of the experiences she had while the general manager of this tragedy-stricken hotel, and while the book isn't a lengthy one, it is pretty all-encompassing of the years she spent there. It is a fascinating read, conversational in tone, and filled with shocking, even heartbreaking, vignettes about the folks who populated the Cecil. Any true-crime fan, especially ones who came to the Cecil's story through the Netflix series, will flock to this.