Colin Harrison — The Havana Room

Bloomsbury (UK) 2005 Paperback, 400pp. Bill Wyeth is a successful attorney with a beautiful wife and son who, in one devastating night, loses everything: family, job, status. Moving out of his home and into a lousy flat, he tramps around Manhattan in a suit and tie disguised as a businessman with a future. One rainy day he wanders into an old-time steakhouse and becomes intrigued by the restaurant's sexy, intuitive manager, Allison Sparks, and by a virtually unnoticeable door. It leads down to the mysterious Havana Room which only the privileged can enter. Returning day after day, Bill gains Allison's confidence and is invited into the room, but he finds himself sucked into a dark and terrifying world. Now he will have to unlock the deadly secrets of the Havana Room in order to survive. (ISBN: 9780747574200). Good.