ARC Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

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.

**** Huge thank you to Dutton for providing me with a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ****

**** Trigger Warnings: Murder (Violence), Mention of Suicide, Mention and Description of Medical Procedures, & Self-Harm ****

While I enjoyed myself well enough with Sager’s fist novel “Final Girls”, I wasn’t blown away by it and I was expecting a bit more from it. However, after reading the synopsis for “Lock Every Door” I figured I HAD to give it a shot because it sounded so good. And I’m happy to say I was definitely impressed with this book and  was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!

I won’t reveal too much about the plot because you want to go in knowing next to nothing, in fact you almost don’t even want to read the synopsis! There are a few back and forth time skips between “Now” and a week prior, I think this definitely kept things really lively and the story does eventually catch up to itself. While I was pulled in and interested in the story right away it just keeps building and building until you can’t help but read until the very last page. Very fast paced and very addictive!

I really loved the setting and the overall atmosphere Sager created with this book. It’s set in an old apartment building, the Bartholomew, in New York where the elite and wealthy live. It had an almost Gothic feel to it and I love old buildings and reading about the character exploring it was so FUN. And as the story progresses the building gets creepier and creepier and I was LIVING for it! The history of the building, the tenants, the people who have gone missing there, and the strange rules they make you abide by. I think this was probably my favorite part of the story, just the setting and how it affected the atmosphere and feel of the book was just amazing.

Also those plot twists? Did not see those coming! I was completely thrown for a loop towards the end! It’s completely unlike anything else I’ve read and I don’t think there was any way I was going to predict that. I’m happy to say this book will most definitely keep you guessing!

I enjoyed reading this story from Jules’ POV and found her to be quite relatable. She’s down on her luck recently and getting paid to “apartment sit” in one of the most luxurious buildings in New York is almost too good to be true. While she doesn’t think this through as much as she should have, she really needed the money and I understood that desperation. It made her oversights more believable. Also fangirling over your favorite author living in the same building as you? Definitely relatable.

The rest of the Bartholomew’s tenants were also interesting and eccentric in their own ways. The young, strange girl living directly below Jules, the handsome doctor who lives across from her, the aging starlet, the author, the kind bellhop. The list goes on and they all add so much to the story and it was fun having this cast of characters.

I usually do a section for romance but there wasn’t enough here for me to really justify that this time around. There is a sort of fling with Jules and another resident but saying anymore will get us into spoiler territory so I won’t but it is there!

What I Loved: 

• Fast pacing and addictive writing style
• Gothic atmosphere (I mean a Gothic Thriller is just awesome, period)
• Old, creepy, awesome apartment building setting
• Unique story
• The plot twists were amazing!
• Interesting cast of characters

What I Didn’t Love:

• While I was intrigued with the story from the start I will admit that the beginning was slower than the rest of the book.

I would absolutely recommend this book! In fact I talked my sister-in-law into a copy already because I just loved the story so much. I would say if your’e into thrillers look no further because this one will keep you guessing and turning pages all night!

Links (Check it out on Goodreads or Buy a Copy!):
Goodreads / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository / Amazon

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