On the night before graduation, seven students gather in the basement of their university's rare books library. They're not allowed in the library after closing time, but it's the perfect place for the ritual they want to perform—one borrowed from the Greeks, said to free those who take part in it from the fear of death. And what better time to seek the wisdom of ancient gods than in the hours before they'll scatter in different directions to start their real lives? But just a few minutes into their celebration, the lights go out—and one of them drops dead. As the body count rises, with nothing but the books to protect them, the group must figure out how to survive the night while trapped with a murderer.

I had read the other book about libraries b this author so I was expecting this one to like it. She writes well and develops her characters well and always leaves the reader guessing until the very end. It is a play on the locked room murder mysteries. The only reason that I would hesitate to recommend this for library purchase is the extreme violence and deaths. The premise of the book was interesting, but the ensuing violence and fear of the characters was not to my personal liking. Other readers may really like it. Since I am a retired librarian, I am always drawn to books with library in the title so thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request to read it. I have mixed feeling personally, but as I stated earlier, I am sure others would like it.

I love weird books like this because like who is letting anyone stay the night in a library, let alone locked in. Lots of private patron information is a library, we can't be letting folks stay there like that.
The students locked in were absolutely ridiculous. They are on drugs and folks are just dying. Insane. Fun.

The publisher made an ebook version of “That Night in the Library” available to me when I expressed interest in the book because of the title (it takes place in a library, one of my favorite places). I was also intrigued by the book’s premise, which showed lots of promise: a group of students gather after hours in the basement of the William F. Woodward Rare Books Library to partake in the Eleusinian Mysteries to gain enlightenment. The mysteries evolved out of the story of the sorrow Demeter felt when she lost her daughter Persephone to Hades, the King of the Underworld. Untangling the mysteries and performing the ritual offered such promise for the storyline that, unfortunately, was not fulfilled. But the book definitely puts an interesting spin on the “locked room” murder mystery for fans of that genre.

The concept has potential, but the execution is lacking. The pacing feels uneven in a sub-three-hundred-page novel, with dull stretches followed by sudden action scenes. The ritual aspect remains unclear, and the characters, typical college kids, are self-absorbed. While the ending offers a twist, it may come off as an easy out. The speed at which characters are flipped between is a lot to handle so you never really get a close connection to any of them.

I really wanted to love this book and the setting made me so optimistic!

The premise was a ritual in an underground library room that never happened. The young adult participants were were pretty ridiculous in their behavior and conversation, even considering that most of them were tripping on acid. As the bodies piled up, no one seemed overly concerned about what was happening and apparently guilt was not a feeling they had. I think the idea was okay but the novel went off track soon after it began.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC to read and review.

Damn it. I wanted this to be something else, but instead, a locked room type mystery that failed to deliver the punch it deserved.

Characters were a wide range--from overly flamboyant to boring as hell. Lots of twists and turns in the story, but none that really moved anything along for me.

Disappointed as a Library is the perfect setting for what this premise failed to deliver.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

I don’t know what I was expecting when I got this book but definitely not what ended up happening! As an archivist and librarian, my first thought when I began the book was that this author had no clue about academic librarians - in particular special collections ones. “Rare book specialists going home for the 5pm news” and never stay late - totally incorrect at my library and most other places I know in the US anyway. So I was surprised to learn that the author works in a library. But that would explain the detail of the books and the basement.

Anyway this is a thriller set in a basement of rare books and as the summary says, more and more bodies pile up. It’s a bit silly and definitely not believable but if you don’t care about that then this is the book for you. Definitely creepy. Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

What to say about this book....I had the hardest time getting into it. There were a lot of characters to learn about and a lot of POV's that made it hard to follow at first.

The more you read, the easier it go. I felt like it was super slow and uninteresting until about 25%, that is when things started picking up for me.

The overall book is a quick read, but my disinterest in the characters made it hard for me to focus. The characters were insufferable. I couldn't connect with any of them. They were very self involved.

The plot for this book sounded so good. It's about 7 people who decide to spend the night in the basement of the library to complete a Greek ritual. I felt like it sounded creepy and right up my ally.

There was a lot of greek information that was pushed at the reader through the book. Things that I didn't know about so it was harder for me to digest, but people may absolutely love that part of the book.

I'm super thankful for netgalley for giving me early access, this book just may have not been for me.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this early. Sadly, this book did not hit the mark for me. Between the repetitive lines, out of date references and characters that have no depth or interesting traits this book should have had a lot more work and editing done before heading for the shelves. The premise is so fun and a classic plot but the execution is lacking heavily.

This book had so much potential in it's premise, but, sadly, I feel like it fell short. The story felt as if it both dragged and was too rushed. Reading it made the images in my mind feel "dim" rather than vibrant and fully-fledged. I really wanted to like this one more.

Seven college students get together after hours for a night of Greek rituals and drugs. They are locked in the library’s basement, high out of their minds when one of them drops dead. What starts as distrust and unease quickly devolves into more people dead. Will anyone make it out alive?

The premise of the story was a good one. Who doesn’t love a locked-door thriller? However, the execution let me down. The pacing was uneven. There would be a long time when nothing happened and then suddenly something would, or two things would happen in quick succession. I also never really understood the point of the ritual they were supposed to be doing. I feel like that was never fully explained. I did love the library setting and the old books. I also thought the ending twist was good. I give it 3/5 stars.

I was so excited because this book offered so many cool concepts: locked room mystery, ritual, rare books, etc. But all of them were wasted, the characters were horrible, the actions were irrational, and the ending didn't make sense.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

*Received as a free ARC*
I should clarify that I don't love horror and I thought this was a thriller. That being said, I am fairly disturbed having read it. I also hated the characters, so there's that. I did like the tangibility of classics and archives, so there's that.

That Night in the LIbrary by Eva Jurczyk is a realistic mystery about a group of college students who spend the night in the sub-basement of their university library. They go into the night thinking that they’ll be performing an ancient ritual. But before that begins, one of them, student teaching assistant Kip, steps away from the rest of the group. Then the lights go out, Kip stumbles back to the group – collapses, and dies a horribly bloody death. To the dismay of everyone else, they then realize they have inadvertently locked themselves inside the very large and well-protected rare books area and they can’t get out. They are so far underground their cell phones don’t have a signal. And the best source of light is from a box of candles they can light… but what could go wrong when you have open flames surrounded by thousands of books that are hundreds of years old? If you like a classic who-dunnit closed-room mystery in the style of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, check out That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

"That Night in the Library" by Eva Jurczyk is a locked room murder mystery in a library. Before seven students graduate, they decide to lock themselves in the basement of their university's rare books library. They plan to perform a Greek ritual that is said to take away their fear of death. Unfortunately, before they can get started, a blackout happens and one of them pops up dead. As the night progresses, so does the body count. The students have to figure out what's happening while trapped with a killer. Ooooh.

The premise for this sounds so interesting and fun. I was so excited to read it. I was so massively disappointed. Before I start, I think that this premise would have been so fun and engaging in the hands of a much better and adept writer. Jurczyk seemed to really struggle with this. I mean, it was all over the place. The narrative was messy and because of the shortness of chapters, it was difficult to keep track of things. Additionally, the characters were so poorly written. Like no one was likable enough to care about. The way they spoke was insane and not in a fun way; everyone spoke like NPCs, I mean talk about unrealistic! I do not know how I made it through this book cause I just hated it. This book was poorly written with awful characters.

I really wish that this was better but it just isn't. If i could rate it 0, I absolutely would have.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I found the writing and multiple POV to be disjointed and not done particularly well. Thank you for the opportunity

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

i thought the concept was so interesting but the execution wasn’t quite what i expected. it was so scattered and it was so difficult to keep track of everything that was going on. i didnt really find myself caring as there were so many characters and such short chapters that i never connected with anyone and therefore didnt manage to get particularly invested.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting when I read the description. Unfortunately I DNF'd a third into the book. The book begins with alternatining narratives of several college students who work in the rare books wing of the college library. It is the night before graduation and one of the students puts together a "secret party" that will take place in the library basement after it closes. This party is based on a ritual from Greek mythology.

Well I love libraries, rare books, Greek mythology and mysteries so I had high hopes for this book. Since I graduated from college a long, long time away, maybe I was not the intented audience for this book. I could not relate to the characters or the description of college life at all. I loved the idea of the alternating narratives and the library setting but found myself not interested in the characters at all. If I have a lull in my reading I may go back and finish the book at later date.