Member Reviews

Riley Sager strikes again! This book was equal parts thrilling and scary, and I loved every second of it. I'd recommend this title to fans of Riley's other works and anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

Was this review helpful?

Love Riley Sager! If you want a captivating page turner then this is it. It’s an eerie book , while reading it I felt like someone was tip toeing behind me . Intense and creepy. Is it thriller or horror? I did not expect that ending !

Was this review helpful?

Once again it is a must read summer thriller. Riley Sager is back again with another thriller. It involves a with a dark, suspenseful novel about house sitting job in Manhattan.

Was this review helpful?

Wow. Wow. Wow. This was a ride. I was hooked by the story from start to finish. I think everyone has romanticized living in New York City, just like how Jules romanticized living in the Bartholomew. Lock Ever Door was filled with intrigue, tense moments, and lots of questions that I needed to know the answer for. Riley Sager is the best 😭

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Group Dutton and Riley Sager for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Jules Larsen’s life changed in a week for the worst. She was let go from work and found her boyfriend with another woman in their bed at the same day. She lost everything in one day - job, boyfriend and apartment they lived together. Jules is all alone in NYC except for her good friend Chloe, who lets her stay. However, Jules feels herself a burden and is in search of her own place and work. She stumbles upon an ad for an apartment sitter in a fancy building in the center of Manhattan with the view over Central Park. It all is a bit strange with no visitors, no nights spending elsewhere rules but it is a great apartment with 12k bonus at the end of sitting.

Overall, I enjoyed Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. It was a spooky page turner with some misleading twists. I particularly enjoyed the character development as not only Jules but secondary characters were well written and relatable. The building itself, Bartholomew, has evolved though the pages to a full character too.

If you enjoy thrillers, give it a try.

Was this review helpful?

This was a wholly suspenseful book that I did not want to put down. I was very curious as to what was happening and whether my suspicions were correct. I suspected almost all the characters, which turned out to be warranted. I liked the contrast between the apartment sitters who were desperate for money and had nowhere else to go and the rich residents of the Bartholomew. The Bartholomew itself was a character that you could imagine as a real location in New York City! The misdirect towards the end of the book through me off a bit. Overall, I enjoyed this read.

Was this review helpful?

In ‘Lock Every Door,’ Jules is down on her luck when she stumbles on an opportunity to live in the Bartholomew. After she's been dumped by her boyfriend and has no job prospects in sight, the Bartholomew seems like a dream. She simply has to watch the apartment for 3 months and at the end of it, she'll have earned $12K. No visitors, no nights spent away from the apartment, discretion above all else. What could go wrong? Soon, Jules develops an uneasy sense about the apartment she's living in and she's unsure if she will make it a week, let alone the three months.

I wanted to like this book and I really enjoyed parts of it but once the supernatural element came into play, I was out of there. It wasn't so much I was against the supernatural premise but the writer didn't commit to it, and all of a sudden, started going in a different direction so quickly that I felt whiplash. I felt like the writer should have stuck with one train of thought rather than trying to squeeze everything in.

Was this review helpful?

First I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishing house, and the author for allowing me an ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

You are alone in the world. Your parents have died in a horrible tragedy. Your only sibling disappeared a few years before. So now you live in New York City and just lost your job to come home to find you also lost your boyfriend which means your apartment as well. So homeless with very little money and no income coming. You see an ad in the paper. Stay at a gothic building in Manhattan just across from Central Park. And get paid $1000 a week to stay for 3 months. Just a few little rules. No visitors. No spending the night away from the building, and leave the other residents alone. They value privacy.

Sometimes when things are too good to be true, RUN!

This is my first Riley Sager book and I am impressed. I really liked the story and the characters. It kept my attention and I didn't want to put it down. I don't want to give anything away so I won't mention specifics but it was a great twist. I can't wait to read more from Sager.

Was this review helpful?

This was an interesting read for me. Having read Sager's Final Girls and being somewhat impressed, I was eager to pick up another novel by him. However, the plot of this one did not draw me in and immerse me in the mystery. I found none of the characters likable and became uninterested in the plot about midway through. The ending of the book was pretty average for a thriller novel, and the comparisons to Rosemary's Baby are clearly seen throughout the novel. Overall, I liked this book but I would not be tempted to read it again. If you are looking for a generic thriller novel with few scares and uninteresting, unlikable characters, then you should pick up this book.

Was this review helpful?

I have now officially read every Riley Sager there is to read! I don't know why I put off reading Lock Every Door for so long, but I'm so happy that I finally got to it because it is quite the ride. I did a buddy read with one of my friends and this is a great book to do that with because I definitely found myself wanting to discuss what was happening. I don't think Jules was the smartest person ever and I found myself yelling at her more than once, but she was quite the little detective. This is such a great book for fall and if you want all the creepy vibes, you will get them. I loved the gothic feel, and who doesn't love a book with a dumbwaiter in it?! The Bartholomew was a super creepy setting and I would love to see this as a movie because it would be awesome.

I was thinking I knew what was going to happen, and while I was right about one small part, I was quite shocked by the rest of it. Lock Every Door is a slow burn, but I thought the pacing was well done so it didn't actually feel like a slow read. I was immediately hooked from the first page, and I loved the way Sager went from past to present until marrying them together into present. The mystery was twisty and interesting, and I love Sager's writing style. Somehow he manages to make all his books feel very different and that is just one of the many things I love about him as an author.

If you haven't read Lock Every Door yet then it is time you remedy that like I did! At times it did get disturbing (especially towards the end), but for the most part it wasn't too bad, and I loved the execution more than anything. If you love books with secrets, this one is full of them!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Love Riley Sager. His books are thrilling, edge of your seat reads. This is probably one of my favorites that he has written. Definitely recommend. You will be glad you picked this one up!!!!!

Was this review helpful?

Would you be willing to house sit? You will be paid handsomely, we promise. Stipulations do apply. Such as no visitors and you must spend every single night in the house. Sounds too good to be true? That's what I thought too! Join Jules as she gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to stay in the apartment that she's admired since a young woman. Why? This apartment is based on a beloved book that she holds dearly to her heart. But will she survive to tell the tale? Read this frighteningly good book to find out!

Was this review helpful?

Be Careful What You Wish For

Ever since reading a book about the Bartholomew when she was a child, Jules has wanted to live there. Out of a job, heartbroken from a breakup with her boyfriend, and with no place to live, Jules answers an advertisement and is suddenly offered the chance to live in the Bartholomew as an apartment sitter. It seems too good to be true.

There are rules: no visitors, don’t post pictures on the internet, don’t speak to the tenants, and orphans are preferred. Jules hesitates over the rules, but the chance to live in the gorgeous building is too good to pass up. At first things seem perfect. She even makes a friend, Ingrid, another apartment sitter, but then things get creepy, Ingrid disappears, and Jules begins to look into the dark history of the building.

If you enjoy stories with a menacing background, this is a good one. The contrast between the luxury of the apartment and the uncomfortable feeling that begins to creep over Jules can be deliciously chilling. I liked Jules character. She was inquisitive and wasn’t afraid to follow clues even if they appeared to lead to something very dark.

The ending was not particularly surprising, but it was satisfying. You get hints of the real character of the building throughout, but it’s only at the end that all the secrets are revealed.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely loved Riley Sager's book, 'The Last Time I Lied.' So, I knew I had to read this one immediately! This book didn't disappoint. The main character, Jules, has no remaining family members. Her parents killed themselves in a fire, and her sister disappeared. Her life hasn't really gone the way she expected, until she ends up apartment sitting at 'The Bartholomew,' which happens to be the place where her favorite book takes place and the author of that same book lives. She thought apartment sitting would be easy money, but little did she know this place isn't what she thought. Multiple apartment sitters have gone missing, and she seems to think there is a serial killer on her hands.

I couldn't put this book down! I dreaded having to go to work, because I knew I had to wait to find out what happened next! I can't wait to read Riley Sager's next book!

Was this review helpful?

Fresh out of work, with a depleted bank account, Jules Larsen lands the opportunity of a lifetime—apartment sitting at one of the most upscale buildings in New York City, The Bartholomew. For a three month gig, the pay is amazing and all she has to do is ensure the apartment stays in good shape until a new tenant is secured. Read more.....https://booksuplift.com/lock-every-door/

Was this review helpful?

Jules Larsen is an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, a big-deal property in Manhattan. Oh, and the Bartholomew is rather mysterious on top of it.

There are rules, though, and Jules is ok with them because she’s overwhelmed with the potential this job offers, as well as the beautiful building itself. The rules: nobody can visit. She has to spend every night there. She cannot “bother” any of the other residents.

Jules becomes friends with another apartment sitter, Ingrid, who shares the Bartholomew has a dark past. Shortly after, Ingrid is missing.

Jules wants to find out what happened to her friend, and she quickly learns that Ingrid is not the only sitter to have gone missing. Will Jules be next?

Lock Every Door is a slow burn. It gives you plenty of time to think, analyze, and be wrong about what’s going to happen next. I found it exciting and original with lots of twists and turns. The very last twist? I had no idea THAT would happen!

With tons of suspense, gobs of creepiness, and oodles of tension, Lock Every Door is the thriller we’ve been talking about all summer, and I don’t foresee that changing any time soon!

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

I am a sucker for a "Haunted House" house type of suspense novel. And this one was no exception. The setting was so good- an old, fancy apartment building in New York. And the whole not knowing what was going on inside really captivated me. The set of rules, the apartment sitters, and why is everyone so mysterious? I sat and read this book in one day- because I had to keep turning the pages to find out what would happen next. And honestly, it ended up being better than I expected. I definitely recommend this read if you want an atmospheric story with a great setting, and lots of mysteries to be solved! (Honestly, the only thing I didn't like about this novel was the title...) I can't wait to pick up another Riley Sager story to see what he comes up with next!

Was this review helpful?

A book that manages to keep me guessing up to the very end gets kudos from me. I didn’t expect this book to be quite so atmospheric, but it was and I found myself on the edge of my seat while reading!

Was this review helpful?

“Every so often, life offers you a reset button. When it does, you need to press it as hard as you can.”

This book was extremely interesting and not what I was expecting when I read it. Riley Sager has become one of my favorite thriller writers easily over the last year.

This story tells about a girl down on her luck, who suddenly gets an amazing opportunity or is it?
This book is full of suspense about what this character and other characters are going through inside this mysterious building.

The entire book had so many twists and turns the end was not easily guessed, which is what I look for in my thrillers and Riley Sager was able to deliver.

Was this review helpful?

Crazy twists from beginning to end. I loved this book and this started my obsession with Riley Sager. I found this story within the Bartholomew intriguing from the end. I felt like a detective trying to solve the case. I found the twists and turns so unexpected.

Was this review helpful?