Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

The Examiner is my second book by Janice Hallett, having read The Appeal in March of 2023, and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I requested it from NetGalley, compliments of Atria Books, because of the description. NetGalley’s description tells of a university professor teaching a one-year MA program in multimedia art, and she has hand-picked six individuals to be students in this inaugural course. The work of the six students will be graded by the course professor, but then be given a thorough review by the university-appointed examiner, to ensure that the grades are not artificially inflated or incorrectly too low. The fact that I am a recently retired teacher made this sound very appealing.

However, as with Hallett’s first book, The Appeal, this novel is not told by a narrator, whether it be 1st person or 3rd person narration. No, The Examiner is told exclusively via a series of messages on the university’s intranet, which is called Doodle (I see what you did there, Janice, it being an art college, and all!). The messages go back and forth either in group messages to the entire class or in private messages in small factions that break off from the class to talk privately. Much like the TV series Survivor, alliances are made and what is supposed to be a group project working toward a united goal turns into utter chaos.

The first half of the book is sort of like the first half of a year-long course. We see everyone’s true personalities emerge from their Doodle messages. We see the sheer magnitude of Jem’s ambition and drive as well as the laid-back nature of Patrick’s attempt to find a retirement hobby. We are amazed at the audacity of Ludya’s messages announcing as a mere fact when she will and won’t attend class or if and when she will submit an assignment. Much of the course we are puzzled by the favoritism shown to Alyson, as well as the continued amount of slack being cut for Cameron’s lack of work. It is Jonathan that is difficult to pin down, even from the uptick of communication once he is selected as the manager of the group project. The professor Gela is constantly being nagged by university admin to turn in forms and paperwork.

The second half of the book takes a dark turn. It is a slow burn but eventually it is not just smoke but a real fire. Who knew there would be such danger in a simple graduate course in art?

In The Appeal, I felt overwhelmed by the large cast of characters, and for me the story never really jelled. However, in this book, I was totally invested from the onset in the lives of the seven main characters, with very few minor characters to distract me from the main plot.

When Hallett’s second book, The Twyford Code, came out, I didn’t seek it out to read, but now that I’ve enjoyed The Examiner so much, I look forward to going back for #2. There’s also book #3, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels to check out. And somewhere in the midst of those, Hallett published a novella, The Christmas Appeal. I am curious to see if they all utilize her unique writing style of telling the story through nonconventional means.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC, and for another chance at finding a favorite author!