The Night of the Moths, in my opinion, is a thrilling, character driven narrative with beautifully written, and well executed present tense mystery. The plot, while engaging enough to keep me invested in the story, really was only there to give reason for our characters to show who they were.
The perspective shifts in this story were very, very interesting to me. The chapters focused on Enrico made me feel I was in Enrico's head, the chapters focused on the John McClane security guard made me feel I was in his head. The way we jumped from character to character, back and forth in time, sometimes by ten years and other times by ten minutes was refreshing, and the beautiful writing and prose kept me asking for more.
The author does not nudge you constantly with throwbacks, nor does he explain anything twice. The button hand brake in Enrico's car, for example, is mentioned once in the first chapter, and once in the second to last. When you get to it the second time, you just remember it, even though it was ignored for 300 pages. That kind of respect for the reader feels good, the way the story was written without concern to how well you might keep up with small details, felt good.
The characters stole the show, in this book, though. Every one is unique and distinct, they all have an interesting arc to them, and yet there is still ambiguity at the end. You never get the sense that Enrico loves his fiancee, but even in the end, it just isn't explored too much, because Enrico himself isn't thinking about that. I expected him to come to a realization that she isn't the one for him, or something, and maybe the subtlety of that just went over my head, but in a novel that so many critiqued for being melodramatic, the author is content to just, let things go. There's plot twists, and a beautiful final chapter, as ultimately you get the sense that the spirit of Alice finally manages to come to a rest. Her supernatural presence isn't explored upon, the wisdom she gives different characters isn't explained, it really makes you wonder whether her chapters are even, real in a way.
The choices narratively and the focus on character in this piece more than make up for the weaknesses in the plot. Nitpicks can be made, but why bother? What's left unresolved was never important, and what was important finishes in a realistic way.
This book is a 3.5 star read, brought up to a 4 because of my personal love for moths. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this book, and especially if you read it from Kindle Unlimited like I did, it is a novel more than worth reading. If the plot were as brilliant as the characters and prose, maybe it'd be 4.5 stars, and if the story were just a bit more revolutionary with its structure, (maybe a bit more time jumping, a little more subtle hints towards the moths, the supernatural elements of the story etc,) it could be a 5/5. That said? If I as a writer published a book like this in ten years, I'd be proud.
PS: The opening line to this novel is one of my favorites ever. I recommend reading that if you're at all curious about this book. It will convince you to keep going, and if not the book isn't for you.