Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
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:
I think what I enjoy most about Riley Sager’s books are the element of surprise. Trying to solve a mystery novel before the hero/heroine is one of my favorite things to do. But Lock Every Door had me guessing until everything was revealed. I would have never put all the pieces together and maybe that is why I continue to read Riley’s novels.
Secondly, I love the attention to detail. Every passage is a breadcrumb, a clue, no matter how small or regardless the detail may seem. You learn a lot about Jules over the course of the story and for the most part, I would assume it’s just building up to why the character is the way she is. But that isn’t the case, these details come back later down the road. Is Jules name short for something? Does she have a nickname? What is her family status? All these are crucial details to weaving the mystery…details I initially overlooked.
The plot twists in this book are epic. Jules gets into the Bartholomew and it seems that weird things start happening. People go missing, mysteries ensue, and just when you think you might have solved it, the whole thing is blown wide open. As Jules dives deeper into the mysteries, the danger level rises. It’s Jules against the building’s past and she has to fight for her life if she wants to make it out alive. It was a true thriller and the way the book is set up has you wanting to continue reading. You start in the past and get glimpses of the present throughout the story.
I only have a few nit-picks that I didn’t care for. Jules has a sister, Jane, who has been missing for years. This is an underlying theme and repeat mention throughout the story. I would have liked to have seen some closure in regards to this topic. It felt like it was repetitiously brought up but with no real point. The other caveat I have is that there is a momentary romance/hook-up that happens and it just felt unnecessary. The story is strong enough on its own without a random hook-up and the progression of the hook-up felt rushed and sloppy.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
