Do Not Disturb
Rachel Browning agreed to a simple endurance challenge with three strict rules: no visitors, no contact, and no questions. What began as a test of isolation quickly spirals as the rules shift, time distorts, and her overseers seem obsessed with reaching her breaking point.
As her memories blur and anxiety takes hold, Rachel realizes the true danger isn't being alone, but not knowing who is pulling the strings. Trapped and watched, she must decide if the financial reward is worth the psychological cost of survival.
- Roger - Felecia's ex-husband
- Rachel (real name Felecia) - Roger's ex-wife
- Stan - Felecia’s therapist
- William - Roger’s business partner
- Josh - Roger's friend, face of the 30 day challenge
- Alex - Rachel's point of contact at the hotel
- Part I
- One year earlier: Felecia believes she sees Roger push William down the stairs, killing him.
- Present: Rachel receives a letter inviting her to a luxury resort and a chance to win $6 million.
- Josh calls to tell Rachel she has won the opportunity to compete for $6 million.
- Part II
- Present: Present: Rachel arrives at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston and is taken to the presidential suite.
- Day 1: There are no clocks in the room. A single camera provides video feed but no audio. Rachel may leave the room each day between 2 and 4pm but cannot leave the hotel grounds. Meals are delivered three times a day.
- Rachel requests a clock, but Alex says he was instructed she cannot have one.
- At 2pm Rachel leaves the room. The hotel does not look as she remembers from the previous night, and there are no other guests anywhere.
- Day 2: Rachel’s breakfast is delivered, but it appears too dark outside, making her wonder if the people behind the contest are purposefully messing with her sense of time.
- Rachel finds a bar in the hotel. When she asks the bartender why they cannot take the elevator down, he becomes upset and tells her she should not ask questions like that.
- When she returns to her room she finds a note in her handwriting that says ‘STOP LEAVING THE ROOM.’
- One year earlier: Roger gets a voicemail from Stan saying Felecia attacked another patient and is a danger to herself and others.
- Felecia tells Roger she saw him kill William, and he tells her she is insane.
- Present: Day 3: Rachel tells Alex she wants to leave, and he responds that they do not like that and that it gets easier the longer she stays.
- One year earlier: Felecia has PTSD with psychotic features due to severe childhood trauma.
- Roger tells Felecia he loves her but if she doesn’t get real help he’ll leave her.
- Present: Day 4: Rachel finds another note in her handwriting that she does not remember writing. It says, ‘YOU SHOULDN’T TRUST HIM.’
- Alex tells Rachel she is no longer allowed to leave the room because the bartender says she caused a disturbance.
- Rachel believes she sees Alex stab a man outside on the street.
- Rachel saw her father beat her mother to death with a meat mallet when she was seven.
- Rachel finds the hotel room door unlocked, goes into the hallway, and believes she finds Alex dead.
- Rachel passes out, wakes up in her bed, and Alex brings her next meal.
- Day 5: Rachel breaks the window intending to jump, but several men rush in and stop her.
- She gets put on a stretcher and moved to a room with no windows.
- The room contains only a bed and a side table.
- Part 3
- Day X: Rachel attacks Alex when he comes to check on her and escapes the room.
- Present: Roger receives a call from Boston police informing him that Rachel is missing, but he claims he does not know anyone by that name.
- Rachel leaves the hotel and calls Roger; he recognizes her voice as Felecia and did not realize she had changed her name to Rachel.
- She tells him where she is and asks for help.
- Roger hangs up, calls Josh, and tells him to bring Felecia back and make her finish the 30 days.
- Roger is the one who orchestrated the contest to lure Rachel into spending 30 days in solitude, hoping she would have a transformation.
- Josh misunderstood and thought Roger wanted Felecia to break down, which is why Alex was psychologically torturing her.
- Rachel suffered from visions of people being murdered ever since she watched her father kill her mother.
- Two police officers find Rachel and take her back to the hotel, where Josh asks her to start over and says she can have anything except a phone or computer.
- Josh offers her an extra $1 million and she accepts.
- Day 30: Josh calls Roger and tells him Felecia passed the test and seems to be doing well.
- Roger has bought a new home and is looking forward to finding a new wife and starting a family.
- Epilogue: One month later: Rachel realizes the experiment was orchestrated by Roger.
- Rachel has accepted that she is a trauma victim but also a survivor.
- She buys a small apartment and plans to travel the world.
The premise of Do Not Disturb by Nadija Mujagic is a great hook that interested me at first, but the execution didn't live up to the idea. The concept of a thirty-day isolation challenge is interesting enough to start with, but the book started off slow and became a bit of a bore. While I was genuinely curious about Roger’s story, the plot spends most of its time on Rachel, who is a very bland character with no real personality.
Because Rachel’s arc takes up so much of the book, it makes the story feel slow and a tedious. The tension also takes a hit because I guessed part of the twist pretty early on. The rest of the reveal was fine, but it wasn't anything very intriguing.
- Felecia/Rachel - Alive - Beginning to truly heal from her childhood trauma
- Roger - Alive - Looking forward to a fresh start
- Alex - Alive - Nearly fully recovered after being attacked by Felecia
- Psychological manipulation
- Mental health struggles
- Confinement
- Gaslighting
Publisher: Pioneer Publishing
ISBN: 9798991440462
Publication Date: February 19, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
