Review of "Lock Every Door: A Gothic Horror Novel" by Riley Sager

Manhattan's Upper West Side is known for three elite apartment buildings: the Dakota; the twin-spired San Remo; and the Bartholomew.

Dakota (left) and San Remo

The Bartholomew is a slender, thirteen-story building overlooking Central Park West, recognizable by the gargoyles gracing its facade - the classic kind with bat wings and devil horns.



The Bartholomew is VERY exclusive, with multimillionaire residents who value their privacy. Thus paparazzi are anathema, and the staff are warned to keep their lips sealed. This includes Jules Larsen, who just accepted an unusual job at the Bartholomew.



Twenty-five-year-old Jules was doing fine until a couple of weeks ago, when she lost her job and caught her boyfriend Andrew cheating on her in the apartment they shared. With a few hundred dollars in her bank account, and bills to pay, Jules has been couch-surfing and looking for work.



A Craigslist ad for an apartment sitter brought Jules to the Bartholomew, and an interview with building manager Leslie Evelyn.



Leslie explained the Bartholomew needs a sitter for apartment 12A for three months, at a salary of $4,000 per month. Leslie EMPHASIZED that the sitter must be discreet; avoid bothering the tenants; keep mum about the building and its residents; have no visitors; and spend every night in the apartment, to discourage burglars.



Jules accepted the job despite the reservations of her best friend Chloe, who read an article titled "The Curse of the Bartholomew." It seems the building has seen high-profile suicides, and is rumored to be replete with strange illnesses, witches, accidents, murders, and disappearances.



Jules scoffs at the hearsay and moves into elegant apartment 12A, which has lovely furnishings, a beautiful view of Central Park.....



.....and a gargoyle right outside the window, whom Jules names 'George.'



Before long, Jules meets two other apartment sitters at the Bartholomew, twentysomethings Ingrid and Dylan.





Jules and Ingrid arrange to meet in Central Park every afternoon, to get away from the restrictive Bartholomew, breathe some fresh air, and chat.



When Ingrid doesn't show up after two days, and building manager Leslie Evelyn says Ingrid suddenly moved out, Jules scours New York City searching for her friend. Jules even calls on Dylan to help.



Then Dylan disappears, and Jules starts to see omens - quite literally, because the flowery wallpaper in 12A starts to look like eyes spying on her.



Ominous occurrences send Jules running from the Bartholomew, and she's hit by a car and hospitalized. (Not a spoiler, the book begins with this.)



The book then alternates back and forth between Jules' hospital stay, and her experiences as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew.

To say more would be a spoiler, except to note: 'If it looks too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.'

As an aside, one scene made me laugh. Andrew - Jules' cheating boyfriend - catches up with Jules to 'sincerely apologize' and ask for money to help pay his rent. Jules rightly gives Andrew the heave-ho!!



The evil goings-on at the Bartholomew are ominous and I didn't guess what was happening until close to the end. I enjoyed the novel, and recommend it to readers who like gothic horror stories.

Rating: 3.5 stars