The first two-thirds of this book were a slog. Lots of "mysterious happenings", buildup, and investigation that didn't really interest me. I guess I was expecting some really bloodcurling scares, based on the previous reviews of the book as well as the little expose that opens the book. However, the climax of the book definitely made up for any shortcomings in the first two acts. Some great action, lots of excitement, and some legitimate scares. You shouldn't go into this book expecting huge scares. Instead, think of it as an adventure. It's somewhat of a slow burn, but there's certainly a lot of great stuff ahead. 
 (view spoiler)[I think ultimately, Pessl didn't utilize the concept as well as she could have. After so much hype about Cordova's films, I was really expecting some sort of Infinite Jest-style filmography of Cordova written by the professor, or some multimedia components, or something. I really just wanted to see more of the movies, hear more about them, and really get a sense for how disturbing Cordova was. This is why I enjoyed the romp through the film sets so much, but I was left wanting a lot more. I also didn't really care for the standard emotional hooks (fatherhood, romance, etc.), but they didn't detract too much from the book overall. (hide spoiler)] 
 In the end, this wasn't a perfect book, but it was definitely good and worth your time if you're looking for a nice little thriller.