Marisha Pessl’s Night Film has one of the most innovative elements to storytelling yet: the novel has a “Decoder” app available for smartphones that adds to the story.

The “Decoder” app, combined with elements of action, suspense, and thriller, all equally contribute to making Night Film a novel that is far from ordinary.

According to the author’s website, the “Decoder” app “enhances the experience,” providing “interactive touch points [that are] buried throughout the text of the book, adding extra content on smartphones and tablets.”

The app strongly contributes to the atmosphere of the novel, which is one of Pessl’s focal strengths.  She also uses police reports, online news articles, website forums, and other forms of media to add a rich and diverse style of writing.

The follow-up to Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Night Film is about a murdered woman, Ashley Cordova, who is the daughter of Stanislas Cordova, a director whose horror films have established a cult following.  Some believe that Cordova was killed by her father, and others believe that it is a mystery that cannot be solved.  Cordova’s films are banned because of their graphic content, and they are only discussed on hidden internet forums.

Pessl displays a dark poignance in the novel.  She writes that “[neighbors] found one of [Cordova’s] films in an old box in an attic, and never entered a dark room alone again.”  Some of the movie’s titles are “Turnscrew” and “At Night All Birds Are Black,” thus establishing an unsettling mood for the reader.

Yet nonetheless, Pessl certainly crafts an intriguing story.

Pessl tells the story through Scott McGrath, an investigative journalist who works to uncover the truths about the Cordova family and the secrets hiding behind their mysterious façade.  It’s refreshing that the story is told from the perspective of a journalist, rather than a detective or a police officer.

Typically, most murder mysteries are narrated from the point of view of a detective, and the novel is about discovering who the murderer is, and the murderer’s identity is unraveled through clues.  Instead, Night Film focuses more on why Ashley was murdered and the subculture behind Cordova’s films.

Night Film has a 4.5 / 5 rating on Amazon.com.  Reviewers agree that the “multimedia aspect makes Night Film more hands-on and interesting,” and that the “underground, secret world of the [antagonist] is horrifying.”

Pessl takes the reader to Manhattan through a variety of mediums.  From news clippings to third person narration, Night Film is 624 pages of a chilling, noir masterpiece.

Title: Night Film

Author: Marisha Pessl

Publisher: Random House, Inc.

Released: August 20, 2013

Night Film by Marisha Pessl (Amazon.com).