‘Lock Every Door’ by Riley Sager
Genre: Psychological Thriller/ Horror Mystery
Published: July 25 2019, Ebury Press (Random House UK)
Swathi’s Rating: 5/5
Riley Sager is one author I’d blindly pick to read without even peeking at the blurb of the book. And guess what? He never disappoints you! ‘Lock Every Door’ is an absolute package and is MUST read for fans of psychological thrillers with a possible horror element in it! Here we go with the plot.
Plot:
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When 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…until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.
Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.
Story Locale: New York City
Swathi’s Thoughts:
Jules Larsen is recently broken up with her cheating boyfriend, out of a place to stay and a job to hold on to. In Spite of her bestfriend’s offer to stay with her, she still wants to look for opportunities. So when she spots the ad that looks for an apartment sitter at Manhattan’s home for the rich and exquisite, she wants to try for it. The interview takes place in the apartment itself where she is presented with a couple of strict rules – no visitors, no photos sharing on social media, no talking/ disturbing other residents. But the pay is good and it’s weekly. So what could possibly go wrong within a week?
Soon she finds out about the other apartment sitters who are quite distinguishable compared to the posh residents of the apartment. One girl though, Ingrid immediately grabs her attention and soon they contact each other. Turns out, Ingrid is concerned about the place and is scared. Before Jules could figure out what’s going on with her, ingrid disappears without saying goodbye. She’s gone with the night, making it suspicious. Jules starts digging up on Ingrid, her social media, her friends, looking for some clue from this weird stranger.
On the other hand, her friend warns her about the long history of the place, that’s been on every journal and newspaper. Some of them are haunting and she can’t help but feel a sense of unease. Especially that nagging sensation of feeling a presence with her in the nights!! The weird illusion wallpaper that haunts the place. Could the rumours of the sinister history be possibly true? Has she done the greatest mistake of her life by staying at this apartment?
Narrated from Jules’s PoV, the chapters takes us back and forth to the day she arrived at the apartment to the present situation. Riley, known for his quick pace and crisp chapters is an excellent storyteller! He presents his readers with facts, history, and rumours, and makes it impossible to differentiate one from another. There is definitely an added element of horror in this book, which is highly engrossing and unsettling.
Many thanks to the publisher for my early copy of the book on Netgalley. All opinions are mine.
Meet the Author:
Lock Every Door is the third thriller from Riley Sager, the pseudonym of an author who lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Riley’s first novel, Final Girls, was a national and international bestseller that has been published in more than two-dozen countries, won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel, and is currently being developed into a feature film by Universal Pictures. Sager’s second novel, The Last Time I Lied, was a New York Times bestseller.
Author Residence: Princeton, New Jersey
Author Hometown: Pennsylvania
