The Archivist: A Novel

How deep is one’s desire to find the truth? Emily Snow is a young woman assigned to archiving the works of renowned author Raymond West. She has relocated from Texas, leaving behind a broken relationship and searching for stability with her new job at Regents University, outside of San Diego. Stability proves to be elusive, as her new task is consuming and intimidating. Emily learns that her predecessor had passed away unexpectedly, and her co-workers are loath to discuss the subject. As Emily dives into the papers of her subject, she finds a clue about her predecessor that threatens to drag her into the deepest of rabbit holes. Her predecessor, Nadia Fontaine, was brilliant, beautiful, and may have been overly involved with her subject. Every paper Emily discovers may not be fit for archive, but her curiosity has reached a fever pitch, possibly to her detriment.

The Archivist is a powerfully engrossing Mystery/Thriller by Author Rex Pickett. A departure from the Sideways trilogy, Pickett gracefully draws the reader into a web of love, obsession, paranoia, betrayal, and the written word. The plot draws the reader in subtly, and shortly thereafter, they are as consumed as Emily in discovering a dark reality.