Lock Every Door by Riley Sager | Spoiler Free ARC Review

Title: Lock Every Door
Author: Riley Sager
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
Genre(s): Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Source: NetGalley, Overdrive
Pages: 371
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Synopsis

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.

Review:

*Huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.*

So, Riley Sager has easily become one of my favorite thriller authors. I loved his first two books and I thought that his writing was improving with each story. So, naturally, I was hyped to see Riley Sager take on a spooky apartment story.

With most thrillers, I think it’s best to go into the book blind. I didn’t know much about this one other than apartment hunter experiences spooky stuff and I think that’s really all you need to know.

That being said, if you’re ready to know my thoughts, let’s talk about this wild ride.

—>characters<—

Jules – Jules is the ONLY character I’m going to talk about in this section to avoid accidentally going into spoilers. Jules is our protagonist and we follow her adventures in this gorgeous, yet creepy apartment.

The Bartholomew –  Okay, so due to the atmosphere Sager creates, the building itself takes on a life of its own and feels like a secondary character at times. Ah, love it!

 

–>plot<–

Okay, so I was LOVING this book, up until the final reveal.

I thought the deal signed into was creepy, yet compelling. I too wanted to know what the hell was going on with the missing residents. The fact that they were hiring people with no family or connects made me immediately suspicious and started having the wheels turning.

I also really connected with Jules when she was talking about being in debt and how hard it is to get out when you’re feeling like you’re drowning. As someone who is suffocating from the amount of debt I’m in after school, I completely understood where Jules was coming from when she made some of the decisions she did.

I also loved how the first reveal came to be and how this book allowed you to piece *some* things together.

That being said, I HATED what was actually going on. From around the point that Jules thinks she figured it out to the actual final reveal, this book lost me. Most of the suspense and grip this book had on me completely got broken and it took me a minute to actually get back into it. I will say there was a thing that Jules discovers in the midst of the stuff I didn’t like that I did actually enjoy.

I will say, I’m happy that the book did not go in one direction I thought it was going to, I’m still disappointed it went where it did. One of my thriller loving friends, Natasha from myreadingisodd compared this book to American Horror Story: Hotel and I’m not going to lie, that comparison is so on and so off at the same time. I did spend a chunk of this book waiting to see the Hotel connections, but I feel like you figure out where it comes the second it does.

Final Thoughts:

Riley Sager can construct addicting and enjoyable thrillers, that even if the ending doesn’t stick the landing, the reader can still assess the read as enjoyable. Lock Every Door is probably my least favorite Riley Sager, but that was exclusively due to the ending and it not being something I like to see. I feel like many readers will love this ending, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

I will say, I’ll definitely continue to pick up Riley Sager books as he is able to create such addicting reads.

I’ll also be coming out with a video soon going into more depth as to what exactly I didn’t like about the ending of this book in case you want to know more concise and spoilery thoughts!

Rating: