Title: Lock Every Door
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
[Synopsis]
They’ve offered you a luxury apartment, rent free. THE CATCH: you may not live long enough to enjoy it…
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents.
These are the only rules for Jules Larson’s new job as apartment sitter for an elusive resident of the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile private buildings and home to the rich and famous.
Recently heartbroken and practically homeless, Jules readily accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
Out of place among the extremely wealthy, Jules finds herself pulled toward other apartment sitter Ingrid. But Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her. Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story – but the next day, her new friend has vanished.
And then Jules discovers that Ingrid is not the first temporary resident to go missing…
Welcome to the Bartholomew…You may never leave.
[My Review]
Having really enjoyed the other two books I’ve read by Riley Sager (Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied), I was excited to read Lock Every Door – and was not disappointed. This is a crazy, fun and entertaining story which has a lingering sense of eeriness woven throughout its pages.
We start the story with a bang and are then taken back in time to Jules’ first day as an apartment sitter in a block of incredibly wealthy flats, right in the centre of New York City. There’s a strange list of rules for this ‘job’, but Jules isn’t too bothered – she needs the $12,000 (!) she’ll receive for the 3 month stint. Until she starts to notice that things aren’t quite as they seem…
I love the way Riley Sager plays with the classic locked room tale, updating it and creating a real sense of fun amongst the weird occurrences – I don’t know how he does it, but I really liked this element of fun as it lifts some of the tension, creating a really fun read.
The way the story is structured – jumping back and forwards in time – can be a little confusing at times, when it’s not completely clear where the narrative has jumped to. At times I also felt that the story got a little unbelievable, but I find that’s often the case with many of Sager’s books – you have to suspend your disbelief a little – so it didn’t ultimately affect my enjoyment.
I really enjoyed this rollercoaster of a thriller. It’s atmospheric, entertaining and well-plotted!
[Rating: 4/5]
Many thanks to Ebury Publishing for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
Wow this seems like a rollocoaster! I’ll have to check it out, great review x