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There are currently 26 member reviews
for Metropolis
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Susan S. (Lafayette, CA)
Highly recommended!
This book is both a whodunit and also a what-exactly-happened-anyway? There is a central location - an abandoned storage facility with six or seven units of particular interest to us - and also six or seven characters who we assume connect in some way to the storage facility and probably to each other. By the middle of the book the connections and the facts are mostly clear (we think) and by the end of the book it all connects together in a very satisfying way and everything is clear. This is a very gratifying mystery with great characters, and also a healthy dose of social commentary. Highly recommended!
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Chris D.
Unusual setting
This was a first for me! I am quite sure that I have never yet read a book that was set in a series of storage units. Metropolis is a very creative and unusual book and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were varied and interesting, and they may have led very separate lives, but in a time of need they came together to help each other in the way that they could.
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Carolyn S. (Kennesaw, GA)
Metropolis
This book is the story of very different individuals who for one reason or another live and work in an old warehouse and is filled with suspense from being to end. The plot is very original and nuanced and a delight to read.
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Pamela C. (Boxborough, MA)
Unique and compelling suspense novel
This is such a wonderful book! I loved how the author introduced us to the six characters who lived or worked at the Metropolis Storage Warehouse. Each of them have a unique connection to Metropolis, some of them are actually living in their storage units and we learn their reasons for doing so. When an elevator accident happens there, it is a mystery as to who is responsible . It was a very original and creative story and had me really transfixed right up until the end. Great characters and suspense!
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Carol Ellis
Deftly written
I began reading this book and could not stop and that, for me, is high praise. B. Shapiro has written an intriguing, engaging, and clever novel. The setting is Boston; each chapter is brief and told from the point of view of a different character. You are immediately drawn to the good guys, and fear for their well-being. One of the main characters is writing a doctoral thesis trying to prove that the conditions you happen to be born into very much determine how your life will turn out. The book illustrates this concept and does it well. Shapiro is a really good writer - over and over again she succeeds at creating a scene you can picture; she is stronger at this than with descriptions of interior states.
Metropolis is much much better than most of the "best seller" fiction out there; I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a really good reading moment.
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Sharon J. (Raleigh, NC)
Metropolis
Metropolis is a fun and moving story with many characters that rent space at a storage warehouse. The author does a good job developing each character and weaving their stories together. From an Immigration lawyer with a soft spot for everyone's problems to a high society woman who is trying to escape an abusive husband, there are all types trying to hide from something in the warehouse. I thought it was vary well done how the author kept moving and eventually brought to some resolution all the varied story lines. Recommend for a fun read.
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Nancy M. (Hillsborough, CA)
Life in and of a Storage Warehouse
Some years ago I accidentally stumbled on The Art Forger by B A. Shapiro and became a fan of the author and the book. So I was pleased to be selected to read and review "Metropolis".
I will never drive by a storage warehouse again without imagining the lives of the lessees, what mysterious contents are enclosed, and the story of the building itself.
Shapiro draws us in by slowly revealing the multifaceted lives of six characters, building owner, property manager, and four renters of units, each of whom seem to have little control over their lives. But the 'contents' being stored tell another story; contents being both human and material.
A dismantled elevator provides psychological suspense even while showcasing the interdependence and trust developing between the characters. Though I don't always need a happy ending, it was heartwarming to see control return to the characters lives.
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