Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

 I read this book b/c it was a Stephen King recommendation. 

SK (via Twitter): Looking for a suspense novel that will keep you up until way past midnight? Look no further than LOCK EVERY DOOR, by Riley Sager.

How could I NOT check it out?! I do have to say this upfront—I mistook his comment that it is a scary as hell, keep you up at night kind of book. It’s not. It’s a page-turning just one more page, just one more chapter, keep you up all night kind of book.

It’s an average suspense/mystery/thriller. I like the creepy goth bogie mysterious NY apartment building backdrop. The main character, Jules—which is her actual name, not a nickname—was fleshed out well. But I feel like the other characters in the book weren’t. There was a huge missed opportunity to ratchet up the creep factor. One character in particular, Lesley Evelyn, had the potential to be a modern Mrs. Danvers, but sadly fell way short. 

The predictability level was pretty high. I guessed one of the “villains” upon their introduction. And one of the other ones early on. There were scenes that didn’t make much sense, some scenes that were predictable, or led to predictable outcomes. Sager tries to confound the reader as to whether this is a story about ghosts/haunting, satanists, serial killer(s), cursed building and/or people, or malevolent rich white folks. There are aspects of it that I thought were unique and cool. And some aspects that were WTF and silly. I’m not sure why it was titled Lock Every Door. Doesn’t fit in with the story at all.

I don’t want this to come across as a negative review. I didn’t love it, but I did like it. Overall it was an enjoyable read. A definite page-turner. A Friller (fluff-thriller), if you will. A solid XX rating (=3 1/2 stars).

This was my first Sager novel, and it won’t be my last. In fact I’ve already started another one, Final Girls.

Read Lock Every Door for a frilling good time!