Reading: LOCK EVERY DOOR - Riley Sager

This was my first Riley Sager novel, but when Lock Every Door came across my radar sounding like Rosemary's Baby directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was a done deal to read it. In his third thriller, we find Sager's main character, Jules, a kindhearted young woman with a lot of baggage (an older sister who disappeared eight years back, no parents, the recent breakup of a relationship with a cheating boyfriend), who's interviewing for an amazing short-term job as an apartment sitter at one of the oldest, most prestigious addresses in Manhattan: The Bartholomew, a twelve-story obelisk overlooking Central Park where the very rich and very private lead their lives out of the public eye. Jules is doing a tour of (and interview for) apartment 12A at the top of the building, a three-month gig that will net her twelve thousand dollars cash. Yes, there are some strange rules to follow - no guests, no staying a single night outside the apartment, don't bother the residents - but those are mostly for the protection of the very private Bartholomew residents, anyway. The apartment itself is two stories of decadent beauty (even if that blood-red wallpaper is a bit sinister), with a view of Central Park and the city few in her income level ever see, so Jules is ecstatic to get the job and moves right in, meeting another apartment sitter named Ingrid and brushing up against a few of the residents her first day. But almost immediately a few strange occurrences and creepy vibe to the building starts to make Jules feel like something's not quite right here. And when a suddenly timid, seemingly-frightened Ingrid vanishes from the building overnight, not answering calls or texts, Jules doesn't buy the story that the girl just decided to leave because the job wasn't for her, and starts digging into the colorful, sometimes violent history of the building - in this case, perhaps not the smartest thing to do. For the first third of the book or so, there were times when I found Jules a bit too naive, thinking "Man, hasn't she ever seen a horror movie? Why would she just do that?" But then, even before the halfway point, the book yanks you in by the short hairs and won't let go anymore; seriously, I soon came to learn that every time I had to put the book down it stayed with me anyway, pulling me back like a magnet to read more even as I tried figuring out in my own head what exactly the hell might be going on along with Jules. And when you think you have got it all figured out, suspense building to a choke-hold as you stick by Jules to learn her fate - the book takes a hard right turn with a twist that you won't see coming, turning The Bartholomew's story darker than ever. Been a long, long time since any book - even one labeled a thriller - grabbed me by the cajones like this one.  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.