The Gallery Assistant

Curatorial assistant Chloe Harlow finds herself in dire straits months after narrowly escaping the 9/11 attacks in this intriguing thriller from Belli (Opulence and Ashes). The morning after a party celebrating buzzy artist Inga Beck, whose new painting is set to be shown at the posh Manhattan gallery where Chloe works, she wakes up hungover in her Brooklyn apartment with no memory of getting home. When she makes it into work, NYPD detectives are waiting with news that Inga has been murdered in the loft where the party was held. As Chloe scrambles to fill the gaps in her memory, she’s hit with a string of strange occurrences. First, her boss is suddenly fired, and when Chloe tries to reach him, his phone has been disconnected. Then, as she studies Inga’s canvases, she notices that each contains a coded cry for help. The few friends with whom Chloe discusses her fears are curiously dismissive—until her roommate is viciously attacked and left for dead. A couple of Belli’s climactic twists are too far-fetched to land, but she artfully shapes the novel’s nerve-shredding suspense and vividly captures the ambient paranoia of post-9/11 New York City. Flaws aside, this entertains. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller, Browne & Miller Literary. (Oct.)