Lock Every Door

I was kind of disappointed with this book. I enjoyed Final Girls a lot, but this one just didn't hit the same.

I saw every thing coming! Okay maybe not the finale but it still didn't shock me. I never found myself on the edge of my seat and my heartbeat never increased, which is something I like in a thriller.

Lock Every Door just felt very lack luster and predictable. I had guessed who the bad guy was from the beginning. There was one scene that I really liked and felt kind of scared during, but overall this book just didn't do it for me.

Lock Every Door is a psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last chapter. Set in New York City apartment building, this novel follows Jules Larsen. A down-on-her-luck woman who is offered a lucrative but strange opportunity to be an apartment sitter in the exclusive Bartholomew building after losing her job and apartment after ending her relationship with her boyfriend Andrew. The residents of this building are wealthy, mysterious, and seemingly untouchable. Jules becomes more and more fascinated with the residents of the building as well as its tenants and, in the process, uncovers a series of chilling events that lead to the climax of the novel itself, making it yet another classic for Riley Sager to add to his bestseller's list.

While this isn't my favorite work by Riley Sager, it's up there, as I didn't expect the climactic twist toward the end, as it's my goal to finish his entire collection by the end of 2025.I recommend it to anyone looking for a new style thriller that doesn't revolve around serial killers or the paranormal.

I came to this book immediately after having read [a:Sager's 15263414 Riley Sager https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1555890121p2/15263414.jpg] “[b:Home Before Dark 50833559 Home Before Dark Riley Sager https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571683410l/50833559.SX50_SY75.jpg 73695354]” which I devoured breathlessly. Sadly, “Lock Every Door” didn't live up to my expectations.It starts out interesting enough: Jules, 25, has lost her parents some years ago, now she has just lost her job and left her boyfriend because he cheated. While she tries to put her life back together, she sleeps on a friend's couch. This is when she gets a job as an apartment sitter in the “Bartholomew”, a posh apartment building in New York City. Apart from a few weird rules (“no visitors at all”, “every night must be spent at the apartment”) everything seems fine until Jules meets another, rather peculiar, apartment sitter who then proceeds to disappear...The setting is perfect, the ideas are good but this is a book of missed opportunities because the characters and the building itself are fairly interesting but Sager doesn't really use that: The apartment sitter who vanishes, Ingrid? Jules just met her three times and immediately believes pretty much everything Ingrid tells her. Nick, the nice and hot surgeon next door? He's potentially an interesting character but he doesn't get enough focus by far.Or the residents, or Charlie, the doorman - they all remain flat and shallow. Whereas I'd have liked to get to know them a bit, they're treated as accessories.The building features gargoyles - what a chance for an author to evoke even more of a Gothic atmosphere but Sager misses that opportunity as well. Jules even names the gargoyle next to her bedroom “George” but apart from a dream or two, he just sits there on his ledge.While “Lock Every Door” is still a page turner, it never reaches the quality of “[b:The Last Time I Lied 36626748 The Last Time I Lied Riley Sager https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511141004l/36626748.SY75.jpg 57845636]” or “[b:Home Before Dark 50833559 Home Before Dark Riley Sager https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571683410l/50833559.SX50_SY75.jpg 73695354]”. Building up suspense and a latent atmosphere of threat - which I expect from a good thriller - takes time but everything in this book feels rushed. We hardly met Ingrid and gone she is. Dylan, another apartment sitter? Gone before he could take shape. The aging one-hit-wonder author? We hear a bit about her but then she's (mostly) whisked away.And then there's the ending... The mystery behind what happens in the Batholomew is outlandish, absurd and unbelievable. It feels rushed as well - just as if Sager felt he was running out of ideas and had to come to a conclusion. Any conclusion. No, this, sadly, was very disappointing compared to Riley Sager's other works and, thus, I can only award a still-generous three stars. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram