Ink Ribbon Red

 

Ink Ribbon Red is a cerebral twisty brain-teasing mystery/thriller by Dr. Alex Pavesi. Released 22nd July 2025 by Henry Holt, it's 320 pages and is available in all formats.  It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. 

Trippy and cerebral. Readers will likely find that it takes a while to grasp what's real and not, what's actually happening, and even how the characters really relate to one another in terms of motivation and purpose. It will probably take half the book before most readers really get a firm(ish) grasp on what's going on. That will be a bridge too far for some. For the intrepid readers, the author really does a great job engineering a solid locked room puzzle and he's adept at writing stylish prose. 

The characters are a disappointing lot; unlikable, whiny, immature, stilted, and frankly annoying. Can't imagine anyone would want to spend 10 minutes with any of them. They also don't seem to like one another even slightly (that's putting it mildly). 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of  7 hours, 38 minutes and is capably read by Dino Fetscher. He has a well modulated tenor voice and does a good job with the disparate accents of both sexes and a range of ethnicities. Sound and production quality is high throughout the read. 

Four stars with the codicil that the author disregards *all* the "rules" about pacing and fair play. It's a smart book written by a plainly intelligent author. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.