The format I received of this book was bad, it constantly repeated sections and had words missing.

Jules is in desperate need of a place to stay, money and a job when she comes across an advert that offers all of that. A job, apartment sitting for three months with the promise of payment at the end. Jules goes along to find herself at The Bartholomew. An old building with a dark history. The job comes with some strict rules but the lure of money draws Jules in. But soon she wonders if it's worth the money when she learns people are going missing. Theres a dark and deadly history attached to the Bartholomew and Jules is about to find out why.

This was such a good read. Having read Final Girls, I was hoping for another good read. This one was actually even better. The story had me hooked from the beginning and I was dying to know how it was going to end. The plot was steady and developed well. The creepy atmosphere of the Bartholomew was so well written. I loved the twists to the story and the ending was brilliant. A brilliantly dark thriller.

I really liked Jules. She was strong from the start despite all her history and she just became stronger as the story developed. I was desperate for her to survive this.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K., Ebury Publishing for an eARC via NetGalley of Riley Sager’s ‘Lock Every Door’ in exchange for an honest review.

This was published on 25 July and I elected to obtain its audiobook edition narrated by Stephanie Cannon and did it as a combined read/listen.

Having lost her job and boyfriend on the same day, Jules Larsen is at a crossroads. She sees an ad for an apartment-sitting job and applies. She is surprised to find that the apartment building is the exclusive Bartholomew, known for its Gothic Revival style including gargoyles.

The Bartholomew was also the setting for a popular teen novel, ‘Heart of a Dreamer’. This book was loved by Jules’ older sister, Jane, who had mysteriously disappeared some eight years previously. Jules most precious possessions are Jane’s copy of the book and a photo of her now deceased parents with Jane. Now she is going to be living at the Bartholomew in a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park.

This could easily be the premise for a fluffy romantic comedy apart from the sinister title and the book’s dedication to Ira Levin. Then there’s the shocking opening set in the Now as our Narrator wakes up confused in a hospital after being hit by a car outside the Bartholomew.

The narrative then moves back six days earlier on the day Jules attended the job interview. It occasionally returns to the Now and then counts down day-by-day to its stunning dramatic climax.

This was a cracking page-turning thriller with twists and red herrings aplenty. Along with the dedication to Levin, there are a few homages to his modern horror classic, ‘Rosemary’s Baby, including naturally the creepy Gothic apartment building setting and its reclusive residents.

As ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ is one of my all time favourite novels, I was delighted to see it had inspired the author. Sager, like Levin, is a former journalist and has the crisp, economical style that is often found in authors with that background.

I loved it! I immediately bought Sager’s previous two novels and will look forward to reading these as well as his future works.

5* Creepy Stars

I went into this book blind and I was glad I did because I had no idea what I was going to find behind the closed doors.

The story of Jules, who is homeless and jobless is one crazy ride. When she signs up to “apartment sit” at the infamous Bartholomew Apartments she can’t believe her luck and ignores all the rumours about what really goes on at the Bartholomew.

It was a very engaging read, the characters fascinating and real. It was an addictive thriller that took you on twists and turns you did nor foresee coming and the ending was very satisfying.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing and NetGalley for my copy to read and review.

After he kept me completely captivated with Final Girls and Last Time I Lied, of course I had to read Riley Sager’s new novel, LOCK EVERY DOOR, and I did read it. In. One. Single. Day. Wow!!! This book hooked me from the first page thanks to the different timelines, the sinister characters, and the highly suspenseful story.

The heroine of this new novel is Jules Larson. Like the heroines of the author’s previous novels, Jules is trying to survive. She has a troubled past that she slowly unravels and a complicated present that she hopes to turn around. After being laid off, heartbroken, and made homeless on the same day, Jules responds to an online ad that she hopes it will be her fresh start. Her new job consists of apartment sitting in one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. There are a few rules to follow, but the job is straightforward and Jules gets paid a lot of money to do it. Who wouldn’t accept such a job? Despite the concerns of her best friend Chloe, Jules moves into her new home, but it’s clear from the beginning that something weird is going on and the darker the story got the more I couldn’t put the book down.

Once again, the author created the perfect setting for a chilling thriller, a setting that becomes a character itself of the story. The apartments of the Bartholomew are one of the most sought-after and luxurious in Manhattan. With views of Central Parks, secret passages between the apartments, and characteristic gargoyles outside the windows, the Bartholomew is unaccessible to non-residents and there is a ten-year-long waiting list to buy one of the apartments. However, the Bartholomew is a gilded cage and the beautiful and luxurious building becomes a claustrophobic and creepy prison for Jules.

I liked the character of Jules, so realistic and relatable. She isn’t looking for much from her life, just stability, a job that allows her to pay the rent and, possibly, someone who loves her, but she hasn’t been very lucky so far. Tragedy and bad luck has followed her around. The job at the Bartholomew seems too good to be true, but Jules is desperate. She is also smart and she quickly figures out that something is not right among the residents of the Bartholomew.

LOCK EVERY DOOR is definitely my favourite novel by Riley Sager. A gothic, gripping, page-turning mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first to the last page and makes me eager to read whatever the author is planning next!

Lock Every Door is one of those books that grabs you by the collar and drags you with it into every dark corner of your mind. Gothic, creepy and disturbing, it is a book that gets right under the skin from the first few pages.

Broke and homeless after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend, Jules Larson answers an ad for a flat sitter. Going to her interview for the flat, she finds herself at the iconic Bartholomew building; a gothic luxury block of flats in a prestigious area of Manhattan.

The Bartholomew is home to the rich and famous who, as Julie is informed, relish their privacy. Whoever is selected to house sit here will have to abide by a strict set of rules. No speaking to the owners; no visitors of any kind; no overnight absences. In exchange, Julie will get a rent free luxury apartment and a handsome stipend while she is there.

Unable to believe her luck, Julie is delighted when the flat is offered to her and she moves in with alacrity. She finds the décor somewhat intimidating and the building’s gargoyles are a touch gruesome, but she names the one by her window and settles in to enjoy her marvellous good fortune.

Soon, Jules finds that she is not the only flat sitter in the building and she makes contact with Ingrid, another sitter who is really uneasy, almost scared by what she describes as weird goings-on.

Then Ingrid disappears. It seems that she did a runner in the middle of the night. Researching the Bartholomew’s history, Jules finds that the building has a sinister history. There have been numerous unexplained deaths and suicides and the building has gained something of a cult reputation among conspiracy theorists.

Ingrid’s disappearance adds to Jules’ growing sense of unease the longer she says in the apartment and curious, eerie sounds keep her awake into the small hours.

Sager builds a sense of growing tension, layering spooky goings-on with tension and a sense of menace in this compelling story of disappearing tenants, strange owner occupiers and a flat broker whose motives seem less than honourable.

The more Jules finds out, the more frightened she becomes…and soon she is embroiled in a fight for her life.

Sager neatly draws the reader into a world of wealth and privilege, contrasted with the lowly status of those flat sitters who have nothing and no-one to turn to. His writing is engrossing and he beautifully conveys a creeping sense of dread. The reader will need to embrace a certain suspension of disbelief, but when you do, Sager rewards you with a twisty tale that surprises and astonishes.

Verdict: A dark tale full of gothic menace, serious creepiness and dark doings. Not for those of a timid disposition and certainly not to be read alone and in the dark.

Firstly I want to apologise as I really wanted to read this book after reading the previous books by Riley Sager but after three attempts I just couldn’t get into it. This is by no means a reflection on the book itself just that the formatting was so bad and huge chunks of the text were repeated every few pages and my brain just couldn’t cope with it no matter how hard I tried.

I did manage to read the first quarter of the book and I have no doubt that this is another brilliant book by Riley and therefore I am going to be purchasing and reading this book very soon.

I can honestly say that I would definitely recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading this properly soon.

Thank you for the chance to read it. I managed to fix my previous problem downloading!

This is another good book from Riley. Tense and unpredictable...........another winner.

Thank you for the copy.

Riley Sager is my best discovery of recent years, I LOVED LOVED LOVED Final Girls, i LOVED LOVED LOVED The Last Time I Lied, therefore I went into this book with massively high expectations. Plus this is my 1000 book since I started logging my reads so the pressure on this book was enormous!

And did it deliver I hear you ask? YES!!!!!

I just loved this author, while this book is missing his usual trait of 80's retro horror, this one has a definite gothic feel about it and all his usual ingredients of dark, weird and creepy are there.

This book is just as readable as his others. I was totally engrossed, freaked out and intrigued right the way through.

So now I'm back foot tapping for book number four.

Solid five stars.

I loved Riley Sager's earlier novel, Final Girls, which was a take on those old 'cabin in the woods' stories (where a bunch of teenagers are killed off one by one, leaving a sole survivor), so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of Lock Every Door.

Jules Larson has recently split up from her boyfriend, effectively making herself homeless. She is down to her last $500 and is delighted to unexpectedly land a job as an apartment sitter in the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most exclusive apartment blocks and home to the rich and famous. However, there are a few drawbacks. She's not allowed to talk to any of the residents, or invite anyone to stay over, or leave the apartment empty... Oh, and the original inhabitant of her apartment was famously murdered seventy years ago...

Lock Every Door reminded me of one of those classy thrillers from the 1950s/60s. Is the heroine's apartment haunted, is her friend really missing, is everything all in her mind, etc, etc. And because I love spooky old buildings, I particularly loved the Bartholomew and its gargoyles - especially the one outside Jules's window, which she affectionately nicknames 'George'!

I love Riley's style of writing and the way he really gets inside the head of his female protagonists. I loved the creepy old apartment building, especially the history of the place, and the dash of romance, and that not all the characters are whom they appear to be! Jules's visit to a homeless shelter also provided a good contrast with the super-rich people she's now neighbours with.

I really enjoyed Lock Every Door and I've already bought Riley's next book, which I am looking forward to reading. Lock Every Door would suit anyone who likes a slow-burning mystery set in a classy/glamorous location. Although mystery fans might not like the dashes of horror towards the end.


Thank you to Riley Sager and Ebury for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

When Jules comes home early because she has been laid off, she finds her boyfriend with another girl. Without a job and no home anymore, she is close to giving up when she sees an ad for a house sitter. This might solve both her problems for the moment. When she enters the apartment for the first time, the interior holds up to what the outside of this old Upper West Side house promised. The Bartholomew is incredible and Jules more than happy when she is hired for the job which is paid more than generously: one thousand dollars per week. But there are some strict rules to follow. When you’ve got nowhere else to go and no money in your bank account, you agree to almost everything, but Jules has no idea what she has agreed to with moving into the Bartholomew.

Riley Sager’s thriller got me hooked from the very beginning. I like those stories with old houses in which there are strange sounds you cannot identify and that have secrets behind every door and residents who are suspicious in every imaginable and unimaginable way. The setting is just perfectly chosen for a spine-tingling story and the way the author composed the story, with foreshadowings which give you some idea of what might come without telling too much, keeps you alert and thrilled all the time.

I liked the protagonist Jules immediately, she seems to be a clever young woman, with her family background not an easy prey for wrongdoers. You sympathise with her due to her very poor situation and the luck that seems to have come to her life unexpectedly. The inhabitants of the house are intriguingly drawn, quite eccentric but well-fitting to the surrounding.

Yet, what I liked best was that fact that when I was sure to have sorted out everything, I had to learn that I was downright wrong with my assumptions. Really some unexpected turns and connections - masterly done! Nevertheless, it all adds up and makes completely sense, looking at the plot again from the end, you see how you misinterpreted signs and easily were deceived by the author. Brilliantly done and well written, one of those books that you hate to finish.

Synopsis
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. 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.

I loved the atmosphere of the Bartholomew that the author created but the story was very predictable. It could have been so much more tense and thrilling but overall it was a little disappointing.
Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review
3/5*

'Lock Every Door' is more than the byline I chose for this post. Jules is apartment sitting this stunning apartment called The Bartholomew. Its architectural beauty, with gargoyles, carvings and inscriptions are sure to make your eyes go wide. And Jules, an orphan signs up for this opportunity because it pays a lot more money than she can make in a few months working in an office.

While she tries to settle in, her conscience keeps warning her of a possible danger that might be lurking behind sophisticated and privacy loving neighbors and servant quarter-turned apartments. Jules meets the author of her favorite book-Greta Manville, who strikes as someone reserved and rude. The other neighbors are not exactly chatty but at least, they are welcoming. She also develops a flirting relationship with Nick, a surgeon, and her next-door neighbor.

When Ingrid, another apartment sitter runs away after a scream Jules heard right from her apartment, she struggles to find her whereabouts. And thus unfolds a mystery that is chilling to the bone and extremely unsettling.

The dark, nail-biting atmosphere that the author creates withing a building and among the few characters is the key highlight of the story. Many a time I had to discontinue reading because I was scared out of my wits and couldn't read further without wondering if someone was watching me (which isn't exactly possible but well).

The tone switches from excitement to nervous trembling and gory in an engrossing and fluid manner, making this an unputdownable book. Sager's mysteries suck you in and this was exactly that.

'Lock Every Door' is as thrilling as it gets. Heritage buildings with a deadly and gruesome past, rich society privileges and misleading characters come together in this murky mystery novel.

# Lock Every Door # Netgalley
Julie got the job, she thought was of her dreams. It was a well written book, with plenty of twists and turns. I actually enjoyed the book, however on a personal level, I just think there was a little bit of oomph missing, what I mean by my definition of oomph is it didn’t quite reach the height of its best. Yet it could have done. Perhaps with a little bit of the odd few words replacing, don’t get me wrong absolutely nothing wrong with wording, I know in certain circumstances I would have personally used a different word, I found that on a few paragraphs. It would mean to me again personally. That it would have giving a more hard hitting phrase to give it that more, exiting, or perhaps a bit more, meaningful that could have really made all the difference to it being a book I could not put down, altogether not really a bad read, a pretty good one in fact. Other readers may well have been gripped. No one can please everyone. Maybe I am just being a bit pedantic. However this is my own personal opinion.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for an advance copy of Lock Every Door, a stand alone thriller set in New York.

Out of work and homeless Jules Larson applies for a house sitting job at the Bartholomew, opposite Central Park. The rules are a bit weird but the money is amazing so Jules moves in. She makes friends with another house sitter, Ingrid, but then Ingrid disappears in the middle of the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lock Every Door which I wasn’t sure I would, thinking it might be a bit psychological for my taste but it’s a “straightforward” adventure and very readable. The first word that comes to mind is professional in that it ticks all the thriller boxes and makes you want to read more. The novel starts with Jules in hospital then skips back six days to the beginning of how she got there. After every day it switches to a short chapter in the present until the final action scenes which remain in the present. The first three quarters of the novel which mostly take part in the past could be described as scene setting but they’re quietly compulsive because the reader wants to know how Jules ended up in hospital and what is going on at the Bartholomew. Mr Sager does an excellent job of maintaining the intrigue and building a creepy atmosphere to give his story bite. The answer is neither novel nor earth shattering but it comes with a great action scene and several twists which are a suitable crescendo after the slow, insidious build up. I also really enjoyed the epilogue where just desserts are meted out as it gave me a real sense of satisfaction.

Lock Every Door is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

This is a great psychological thriller that had me intrigued by the blurb, as it stood out from others I’ve read.
Jules has lost her job and found out her boyfriend is cheating on her so is at a low point in her life.
She goes for a job interview to be an apartment sitter and is overwhelmed by the luxurious apartment and money being offered.
She accepts the position along with the restrictive rules but can’t quite seem to settle.
She meets up with another apartment sitter and is intrigued by her, so arranges to meet up again.
When Ingrid doesn’t turn up, Jules starts to worry as it seems she has disappeared.
Jules soon finds out that other people have also disappeared after working there so she starts to do some digging.
I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to spoil it for you but it’s a great story.
Thanks to Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I have loved Riley Sager’s previous novels and I am pleased to say that I loved this just as much; especially as it has such a great premise. Jules finds herself broke and alone, after losing her job and her boyfriend on the same day. Sleeping on a friends couch, she is delighted when she gains a reprieve, as an apartment sitter at the wonderfully gothic, Bartholomew building in New York. The building has everything from gargoyles, to a sinister reputation – but staying in the exclusive building, and being paid for doing so, seems too good to be true. Jules can job hunt in peace and recover her lost pride. There seems no catch, despite her friend telling her of rumours about the building. Oh, except there are a few rules…

Well, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. This is a wonderfully creepy read, with lots of twists and turns. Add in Jules past, with a sister who went missing, and the author of her favourite novel – set in the Bartholomew – who lives in the building, and you have a great setting and a cast of wonderful characters. You can see this being filmed, but I have no doubt that the novel will be better. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

4.5/5, rounded up
Overall: I was worried I was going to be let down by another over hyped new book, but I definitely wasn’t! Lock Every Door was just simply epic. Jules Larsen needs money so she accepts a job as an apartment sitter in the prestigious Bartholomew building in Upper East Side, NYC. She has reservations … who wouldn’t with the rules being imposed and the eerie atmosphere of the old building. But Jules is desperate so she tells herself “It will be fine”… it’s pretty much anything but. As Jules discovers previous apartment sitters have gone missing without a trace, she starts to look into the sinister and mysterious history of the Bartholomew, and it’s residents. Lock Every Door will have you on the edge of your seat. Heart pounding like you are right there in the room with Jules. It was unpredictable, and wasn’t going where I thought it was, and boy, I didn’t see the twist coming! This book was a total page turner and I read it in a day. I just couldn’t put it down. It was my first read by Riley Sager, and I will definitely be going back for more – a.s.a.p. I feel I can’t say more without spoiling it, so just put this on your summer TBR!

Deliciously dark, unsettling and creepy, this book follows you into the dark and wreaks havoc with your fears!

Welcome to the Bartholomew, a grand old building situated on some prime real estate over looking Central Park, famous for its gargoyle’s but not so well known for the deaths of previous occupants. The Bartholomew has a hefty price tag but with that price comes the discretion and privacy that the occupants desire. To protect their inhabitants living there, there a strict set of rules, rules that if broken, no matter how trivial it may seem will result in immediate eviction.

Jules has just hit a rough patch in her life, catching her partner cheating with one of his work colleagues resulted in her single and homeless and jobless all on the same day so when she see’s an ad for a apartment sitter it is an answer to all her prayers. A roof over her head, the chance to stay in a place she has always coveted as well as putting money into her account. It all seems too good to be true and when things seem that way it normally means that they are, but she cant afford to pass this gift horse in the mouth up, so ignoring the advice of her friend and ignoring her gut instincts she soon becomes a new sitter in the Bartholomew.

There are two other sitters also in residence, both very much alike Jules in their own situations that have brought them to this opulent building and there have obviously been sitters here before them. What isn’t so clear is what happened to the previous sitters. When fellow sitter Ingrid vanishes in the middle of the night with no notice Jules starts to become suspicious. Why would she leave in the middle of the night without a word to anyone? How did no-one see her leave when there is always a doorman on duty? Why is she not answering any of the phone calls and messages?

Armed with a list of questions and her gut instincts Jules turns amateur sleuth and begins to dig into Ingrid’s sudden departure. By doing so she uncovers more then she bargained for, she has opened up Pandoras box and has no way of closing it.

This is such a great read, the pace has you turning the pages at breakneck speed with no hope of putting the book down until you have finished it! I had to read it in one sitting as it had me that hooked from the very get go. I am normal pretty good at seeing the plot twists coming but I have to say, I did not expect or foresee that one coming! Talk about being blindsided! I throughly enjoyed every page and this is one of those books that you will rave about to your friends and one that will be a huge success with bookclubs everywhere!

Lock Every Door will be published on 25 July 2019 in the UK and is available to pre-order now
A massive thank you to the author Riley Sager, publishers Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

This is the 3rd book I've read by this author, another gripping read. Slightly creepy yet I couldn't put it down. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone.

this is Riley Sager's third fiction outing and in this book blogger's opinion, it's his best yet!

He took on horror movie tropes of the last girl standing in his debut,'Final Girls', the lakeside serial killer in 'Last Time I Lied' and now it's the turn of Ira Levin's Ira Levin's seminal classic,'Rosemary's Baby' and Adam Nevill's 'Appartment 16'

In the gargoyle guarded Bartholemew, appartment sitters come and go, restless because they are young and fickle and go where the wind blows them-or so that is the impression given to Jules, made redundant, cheated on by her boyfriend and now subsequently homeless.

The advert for an appartment sitter (rules are plentiful at The Bartholemew including that none of the flats are left empty,ever) is a godsend, she just has to follow all the rules laid out by the fearsome LEslie Evelyn. No disturbing the other occupants, no visitors(especially overnight) no pictures of the appartments on the web, no telling anyone anything.

She discovers that the eclectic mix of residents includes the author of her favourite novel of all time, 'The Heart Of A Dreamer' lives there, a soap opera actress, a handsome doctor and two other appartment sitters, Ingrid and Dylan. Jules is completely alone in the world but desperately needs the money that this job will give her, the isolation is perfect for wound licking and future planning, it all seems too good to be true.

But there is absolutely no trace of the tenant who lived there, no trace of the abruptly departing previous sitter, no one will answer her questions and are they flowers on the wallpaper or faces? Are they staring at her, or screaming, trapped like she is in a house with a dark and mysterious history -her best friend Chloe helpfully sends her this via email! Death has stalked the corridors of the Bartholemew but there haven't been any for about 40 years, or at least, none that have made the papers...

The appartment's dumb waiter becomes a method of transporting messages between Jules and Ingrid on the floor below, they don't have the chance to have many conversations though before Ingrid abruptly vanishes. Jules has already lost both parents to fire, her sister vanished when she was a child so she is not about to give up on Ingrid without a fight. But how can she complete her residency, get the money she desperately needs and find Ingrid without breaking the rules? She has no idea what the consequences of this would be but the longer she spends in appartment 12A, the more she realises they could be fatal...

Switching back and forth between before and after what appears to be an accident that Jules has been involved in, this is a great novel of suspense and horror, with decent scares, so much atmosphere ,nicely padded characters with oodles of details that enrich the story but do not over egg it-George the gargoyle, the afore mentioned wallpaper,these are deft touches!

What was genuinely scary though was how easily a person could disappear-following a conversation with an ex-police chief yesterday on how impossible vanishing in modern society is, it was shocking to realise that for all our ability to track individuals, people can still vanish without a trace and certain sectors of the public are still seen as dispoable. That a person could exist on this earth and vanish leaving nothing behind , sometimes not even loved ones to mourn them really hit home.

'Lock Every Door' is a great summer read, a thrilling story of suspense I have no hesitation in recommending.