For one reason or another, I decided to continue my exploration of thrillers in audio format. My second pick this month ended up being Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. Lock Every Door is Sager’s third and latest book, and the premise is what caught my attention. What would you do if you were offered 1,000 a week to house sit a luxury apartment? Would you accept it? What if you lived in New York City and were without a job and with a lot of debt? Would you accept it? Well, our main protagonist, Jules Larsen, responds to a craigslist advertisement for an apartment sitter. When Jules goes to the address that she is provided, she ends up at a upper Manhattan apartment overlooking central park, The Bartholomew. When Jules realizes where she is, she immediately recognizes the building from her older sister Jane ‘s favorite book Heart of a Dreamer by Greta Manville. There, she interviews with Leslie Evelyn, who offers her the job with the clause that there are three rules that every sitter must follow. All apartment “occupiers” must: 1) be present in the apartment every night 2) never have visitors at the apartment 3) never discuss or disturb the true residences of the building. She has no commitments, her boyfriend cheated on her, and she lost her job on the same day. You see, Jules has been sleeping on her only friend, Chloe’s apartment, and she is feeling like a burden. Leslie Evelyn further explains an old rule of the Bartholomew is that none of the apartments can be unoccupied for more than a month, having temporary tenants in the apartment is like “an insurance policy” to prevent robberies from occurring. Very quickly, you learn that Jules situation is further complicated by her being an orphan without any family to aid her. Both of her parents died and her sister disappeared when she was a teenager. Jules, understandably, accepts the position and moves into the apartment. Once she is there, she finds out the building has a history of deaths and is viewed by a lot of folks as cursed. Some go as far as crossing the street when passing it. With a title like Lock Every Door, you know this can’t possible go well. I’ll let you read it to find out more. I ended up liking this, but not loving it. It was a solid three out of five stars. I liked how Sager kept you guessing as to what was really happening in the Bartholomew and made the reveals in a paced manner. I don’t like my thrillers to be too fast paced. The cast of characters here were interesting, though not especially likable. What can you expect when you are looking into a cursed luxury hotel? The ongoing image and theme of the Ouroborus was also tied in well to the story. All in all I preferred Riley Sager’s Final Girls (minus the last reveal) to Lock Every Door, but it was a decent read.
Basking in Books 