Julie's Review: Lock Every Door

Author: Riley Sager
Series: None
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 384
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Horror, Psychological Thriller
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: Kind of expected a bit more
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: 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 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 sordid past and into the secrets kept within its walls. What she discovers 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. ~amazon.com

Review: The first part of Lock Every Door totally freaked me out. So much so that I debated it reading the book before going to bed at night.  It was giving me some wicked dreams as well. Jules is having a bit of bad luck (lost job, cheating boyfriend) when she seems to get perhaps a bit of good luck might be coming her way. She interviewed to be an apartment sitter in the exclusive Bartholomew. She's not even put off by all of those rules that seem a bit excessive. Plus if she completes the 3 month stint she'll get $12K.

She quickly becomes acquainted with another apartment sitter, Ingrid, who seems a little scattered and agitated when they meet at the park. Jules blows it off until the next day when Ingrid doesn't show up for their lunch date and won't answer her texts. This sends Jules on a wild goose chase to find Ingrid.

In a lot of ways I understand why Jules' sister disappearing years ago fuels her fire to find Ingrid but she ignores a lot of red flags for a person she's known for 2 seconds. That perhaps is the thing that drove me most nuts about the novel. Why would you put yourself in harms way for someone that you don't even know without protecting yourself?!

While it was definitely a thriller, I felt that it definitely has elements of horror in it as well. While there are twists and turns, I didn’t feel that the ending was completely surprising.

For what it's worth, I think Final Girls was a better novel.