#ATBR2019 Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager @duttonbooks @jessmapreviews
Lock Every Door
by Riley Sager
Thank you Dutton Books for these copies! Riley Sager is a favorite author of ours and boy oh boy did we get another wicked story. Continue below for our thoughts.
Publisher: Dutton Books
Publish Date: July 2, 2019
Kindle Edition
384 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Thriller
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 into 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.
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 into 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.
My Review:
ARGH YOU GUYS. I'm so torn in how I feel about this book. Sager has a way of writing that keeps you absolutely addicted to each and every page and I was definitely intrigued with this book for the majority. I can absolutely relate to Jules in the sense of being in NYC, needing money and being fascinated with the structure and back stories that come with the amazing buildings that make up this vast city. SpOOoOooOooky, for real. Imagine having the opportunity to "apartment sit" for $1000 a WEEK, under the table. You just have to follow some specific rules but hey, after 3 months, just a summer really, you walk away with $12,000 clean and can finally start over. I mean.... who wouldn't???... right?..... Everything quickly goes haywire and the author takes us from the past 5 days... ONLY 5 DAYS... and to where Jules is now, trying to tell the authorities her crazy story.
This has the same addictability as The Final Girls did but where The Final Girls delivered in the ending, I think the ending of this will be highly divisive amongst thriller readers. What I love best about this story and that the author has you riding along happily in one direction just to give you whiplash and take a hard left turn into another one. I'm absolutely NOT mad about it. I'm just a little baffled as to whether I liked it or if it was just an ok ending for me. I love being surprised but I was more in an ah... so that's the ticket... kind of feel for it more so than shocked. Am I making any sense?
"I'm the kind of girl you don't want to fuck with." Ah, Jules. I'm not entirely sure I believe that entirely. But YOU GO GIRL. I do think if the story went just a *teeny* bit further, I would've been a little bit happier in terms of it going completely crazy. I will say there were a couple of parts where I was screaming, "I KNEW IT!!!" Listen, I was highly entertained and absolutely FLEW through this novel. I will continually pick up Sager over and over and OVER again. There's no getting past the talent that this author has in keeping me highly entertained from first page to last.
Prepare yourself for some surprises with this one and lets dish about it when you go to this read.
★★★☆
Jessica's Review:
Holy crap, guys. Riley Sager quickly became an auto-buy author for me after FINAL GIRLS and I was reminded why after I picked up LOCK EVERY DOOR. I sat down with this on Sunday night, couldn’t get very far because sleep was needed, but I flew through pages 80 until the end in about 2 hours on Monday. I just couldn’t stop!
Jules is having a rough time. She was just let go from her job and then she comes home to find her long-term boyfriend with another woman. She moves out and looks for a new job. She finds an ad for an apartment sitter at one of the most secretive and high-profile buildings in Manhattan – The Bartholomew. She gets to live in one of their luxury apartments, rent free, AND she’ll be paid $1,000 a week for her 3 month stay. The job comes with specific rules: no visitors, no nights away from the apartment, and do not disturb the other residents. Seems like an easy way to make a good amount of money, right?
The Bartholomew, of course, has a mysterious and creepy past. Is the building haunted? Why are other apartment sitters disappearing without a trace? Jules is determined to get to the bottom of things even if it puts her residency and her life at risk.
Let me tell you, I was not expecting that ending. The big reveal was not what I was anticipating because Sager did a phenomenal job pulling us in a different direction. The suspense stayed consistent throughout the book, a sense of foreboding loomed overhead, and you couldn’t deny all the weird things happening. If you’re a fan of Sager then this is an obvious addition to your TBR. If you’re wanting a binge-worthy thriller with a Gothic backdrop, then you’ll definitely love this one.
5 stars
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