THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of . . . Parade’s “Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2019” • PureWow’s “The Best Beach Reads of Summer 2019” • BookBub’s “Books That Will Make the Perfect Addition to Your Beach Bag This Summer”The next heart-pounding thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager follows a young woman whose new job apartment sitting in one of New York’s oldest … next heart-pounding thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager follows a young woman whose new job apartment sitting in one of New York’s oldest and most glamorous buildings may cost more than it pays
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.
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It’s Riley Sager at his best. Loved the premise and setting was amazing
Ladies and gentlemen, he’s done it again.
I’m pretty sure all of you know that I’m a Riley Sager superfan so this book has been on my radar FOREVER.
Seriously, I camped out on @netgalley when I heard that e-ARCs were available.
First of all, Sager’s writing just SUCKS me in. With all of his novels (okay, just the three…) I was captivated by page 10. This was no exception. The synopsis already intrigued me, but once I got into the first couple of chapters-I couldn’t put it down.
The characters were obvious yet still mysterious. I wanted to shake Jules (the main character) and yell DUDE, RUN! As for the others, you know they’re all playing a part- you just don’t know what it is.
Now on to the plot- as in all Sager books expect a major plot twist. So again, you know it’s coming and everything ‘clicks’ and you’re left thinking ‘HOW DID I MISS THAT!?’ But then within the last couple of chapters everything is explained and it makes so much more sense than your original theory.
The premise of this one infuriated me. Like seriously how the hell could they get away with that for so long!? At the end, I totally backed Jules decisions.
It’s also the first of Sager’s three books that felt ‘real’ to me (I was a house sitter for a while). Like Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied was of course thrilling and suspenseful, but Lock Every Door actually gave me chills.
So The Last Time I Lied is still my favorite, but Lock Every Door is great and an awesome read.
This book has been one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I LOVED “Final Girls” by this author and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Jules was down on her luck and landed a once in a lifetime apartment sitting job. During her interview for the position I noticed several red flags which would have made me left. As to why Jules didn’t see this herself I will never know. I liked Jules but she could be naive and a little silly at times. Props to Chloe (Jules bff) for being on the same page as myself.
Not going to lie I had issues with the pacing and felt the book was really slow. At one point I was going to throw in the towel. Then there was this little voice that said don’t give up. I’m so happy that I listened because the book picked up and I really enjoyed the last half of the story. I loved the way everything came together and the twists took me by surprise. I also loved the character development with Jules and how she found her strength and courage in this story.
If you are looking for a really good horror type scary story, this is it. I was hooked from the beginning and basically stayed with it until I had finished it. Jules answers an ad for an apartment sitter in an exclusive apartment building in New York City. Once she has been there for a few days, she discovers that some of the former apartment sitters have disappeared. There are lots of twists and turns in this story with an ending that I did not imagine. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this page turner.
I read this book in one day because I wasn’t able to put it down, wanted to see what would happen next!
When I saw that Lock Every Door was dedicated to Ira Levin, I knew I was in for a twisty, Gothic ride. If you’ve never seen Rosemary’s Baby, do yourself a favor, read the book and then watch the movie. Both are fantastic.
While I was reading and taking notes for the July 8th podcast on Books Don’t Review Themselves, I was writing down all the weird interview questions, and how I thought they would come back later in the book. Along with notes like, Getting paid in cash equals no paper trail. Do you have next of kin? No? Great! Easier to do what we will with you and no one will come looking.
There are many things I enjoyed about the book, but the one thing that I loved was how Riley Sager had Jules’ best friend, Chloe, question the decision to move into the Bartholomew, with all the red flags that popped up during the interview process. I’ve read other books where no one questions anything until it’s too late. But between Chloe being skeptical, and the book mainly taking place over six days, it was completely believable that this could happen.
I was concerned that Jules was going to be the tragic heroine since she ignored Chloe’s warning, but Jules quickly began to question things too. And that’s where the real fun began.
Trying to piece together the mystery along with her. I saw many things coming, and it was cool when I found out I was right. Now if this would have happened through the entire book, I would be giving it less stars, because I don’t want to be able to guess everything. But I thought the ending was going one way, and it took a complete turn. With this twist at the end, it cemented my enjoyment for Lock Every Door.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy Gothic books or horror movies. Or if you like a fast-paced thriller that will keep you guessing.
What a sinister, twisty thriller Lock Every Door is! This book has such an interesting premise and it drew me in straight away. Our main heroine, Jules, gets an apartment-sitting gig in one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan, the Bartholomew. The job pays a lot and the apartment is luxurious but there are a lot of strict rules to follow. Also, the residents of the Bartholomew are very secretive and the building has a tragic history. Jules thinks that she landed the best paying gig until she spends some time in the place and realizes that strange things are happening in the building.
After a fellow apartment-sitter, Ingrid, disappears under suspicious circumstances and no one in the building is concerned about it, Jules starts to dig into the Bartholomew’s sinister history and it’s inhabitants. The more she uncovers, the more dangerous her investigation becomes. I was very engrossed in the story and kept compulsively turning pages because I wanted to know what the hell was going in the Bartholomew. I thought I knew what was happening but I was very wrong. I did not predict the twist, it was brilliant and unexpected, and aslo very satisfying. I highly recommend this book to any suspense and mystery readers.
This was my second read by Riley Sager!! Twists and turns keep you guessing with Lock Every Door. Definitely one of the best reads of the year
At twenty-five, Jules Larsen is in desperate need for a reset, as she has recently lost her job, boyfriend and home. Not a stranger to loss, Jules is ever ready to move forward despite the setbacks. Upon being offered a temporary job as an apartment sitter at the infamous Bartholomew in the upper West side, she jumps at the opportunity to fulfill a fantasy and also alleviate her mounting debt.
“This place isn’t kind to gentle souls. It chews them up and swallows them whole.”
Though the rules for apartment sitters seem strict, Jules decides to power on and slowly makes some acquaintances among the residents. However, the constant odd behavior and eerie history of the building starts to make Jules think there may be some truth to the rumors.
“Never confuse fiction with reality. No good ever comes of it.”
Told from the protagonist’s point of view, the plot tension steadily builds as Jules shows herself to be resilient considering what she has experienced. Not wanting to have history repeat itself, Jules is protective of those in her life and is willing to take certain risks. Though, the skepticism of knowing who she can trust is ever present.
With a strange cast of secondary characters, including the Bartholomew itself, the tone is mysterious and causes the reader to balance between truth and fiction. From the outset, I had my suspicions and that may have lessened the impact of the reveal; however, I am pleased with a certain outcome. At times, it seemed like the plot was a bit fantastic but I was entertained throughout and I truly empathized with Jules.
Lock Every Door is a thriller that delves into the integrity of its characters. This book will appeal to those who enjoy a good mystery and a protagonist that is down and out, but hasn’t lost the fight within her.
In NYC, The Bartholomew is an apartment building that’s very exclusive to get into, the wait list can take years, and it doesn’t come cheap. The owners don’t like the apartments to sit empty, so they hire people to live there short term and with generous pay. Who wouldn’t want a free apartment for 3 months and $12,000?
So when Jules, who loses her boyfriend and job in one day reads a vague ad on Craigslist looking for a house sitter, she answers the ad. Imagine her surprise when she learns it’s to apartment sit in The Bartholomew. During her interview, she’s given some strict rules about living there. She’s to maintain the privacy of those that live there, she must not sleep elsewhere, and no one else can sleep over. While a bit strict, she agrees, and she’s got herself a new apartment, and she’s going to earn some desperately needed cash.
But as Jules is known to do, she starts snooping and realizes that some of the other girls that were house sitters had up and disappeared into the night. Most importantly, she’s made friends with Ingrid, the girl in the apartment directly below hers, and Ingrid has up and left in the middle of the night as well. Jules is desperate for answers and she’s willing to break the rules to find them.
Lock Every Door felt a bit like a book I had already read, and I kept experiencing déjà vu while reading. But alas, it’s not published yet, so maybe I just have a wild imagination. The characters aren’t all that deep, so you don’t really get attached to any of them. I felt that once the story’s pace picked up (towards the very end), it did so at a breakneck pace, taking a twist that seemed a bit out there. But I shrugged and kept reading because I was almost done and I will say, the twist was imaginative and unique. I felt Jules was a bit too invested in the missing girls, especially with Ingrid whom she had known a day. Overall, Lock Every Door is an interesting story, a thriller that keeps you about guessing what is going on.
Lock Every Door is one of the best books I’ve read this year! Mystery, creepiness, suspense, even terror, all mixed together result in a fast paced lesson in learning that if something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is!
Jules is a young woman alone in the world, without a job, and recently betrayed by her boyfriend. Needing a place to live leads her to answer an ad for a temporary apartment sitter at what turns out to at the Bartholomew, one of the oldest and most prestigious addresses across from Central Park in New York. Jules is thrilled; the furnishings and views are fabulous, and the pay for apartment sitting for three months will allow her time and resources to look for a job while living in luxury.
Jules soon learns that there are several apartment sitters in the Bartholomew, and that the permanent tenants are rather odd and standoffish. Figuring out what’s going on, who to trust and how dangerous her situation is doesn’t take long! Surviving her stay at the Bartholomew is soon in doubt and what happens in that building makes for an excellent read! Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading other Riley Sager books soon.
This is one of those books that is hard to write about without giving things away. After losing her job and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Jules Larsen is trilled to land a high paying job as an apartment sitter in the famed Bartholomew apartment building. It’s just the lucky break she needs to press the reset button on her life and begin again. But after a few days there, she begins to learn about the building’s sordid past and she starts to wonder whether that past connects to the many strange things she’s noticing every day.
Who are the people who live here? Why have some people moved away suddenly without a trace? Why is it that all of the apartment sitters seem to have no family to look out for them, no one to look for them should they go missing? And why do these apartments need sitters anyway?
Kudos to Riley Sager for throwing out so many scattered trails of breadcrumbs. Every time I thought I’d figured out what was going on, the trail would turn in a completely different direction. I truly didn’t know what was really happening until the final perfect conclusion. A deliciously creepy, satisfying read.
This novel was absolutely everything it promised to be. Riley Sager delivers a riveting, compulsive thriller that keeps the readers in anticipation until the very end. All of the characters were carefully constructed and unique, setting the stage for a dark, creative plot.
When a young woman, down on her luck, lands the chance to apartment sit in one of Manhattan’s most prestigious buildings, she jumps at the chance. But not all that glitters is gold and soon the mysterious rumors of the Bartholomew become harder and harder to ignore. Will she become trapped in the gilded cage or forge her escape?
A must read! 5 stars
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #LockEveryDoor