Riley Sager's debut, Final Girls, was a hell of an accomplishment. He took the familiar final girl trope of slasher films and did something fresh with it. Final Girls is a gripping and smart thriller that was one of my favorite books of 2017.
I missed Sager's sophomore novel, The Last Time I Lied, but I jumped on his new one, Lock Every Door, when it came out.
Jules is a down-on-her-luck New Yorker who gets one of those jobs that is too good to be true. She will be paid handsomely to apartment sit at The Bartholomew, one of the most exclusive and expensive buildings in the city. Things get freaky almost immediately and before you can say Ira Levin, Jules is suspicious of everyone she encounters.
To be fair, Sager acknowledges his debt to Levin and Rosemary's Baby in the Dedication to Lock Every Door.
First the good: Sager is proficient at establishing character, and he uses strong women as his leads. He understands pacing and suspense. Lock Every Door is thoroughly readable.
On the other hand, while I maintained interest in the story, I found the payoff to be a little disappointing. Everything ties up a bit too tidily at the end, and the dark secrets inside The Bartholomew are familiar ones.
Lock Every Door certainly isn't a bad novel, and I don't regret reading it, but with all the terrific books coming out all the time, it wouldn't kill you to pass it by.
Written by Mark Sieber
I missed Sager's sophomore novel, The Last Time I Lied, but I jumped on his new one, Lock Every Door, when it came out.
Jules is a down-on-her-luck New Yorker who gets one of those jobs that is too good to be true. She will be paid handsomely to apartment sit at The Bartholomew, one of the most exclusive and expensive buildings in the city. Things get freaky almost immediately and before you can say Ira Levin, Jules is suspicious of everyone she encounters.To be fair, Sager acknowledges his debt to Levin and Rosemary's Baby in the Dedication to Lock Every Door.
First the good: Sager is proficient at establishing character, and he uses strong women as his leads. He understands pacing and suspense. Lock Every Door is thoroughly readable.
On the other hand, while I maintained interest in the story, I found the payoff to be a little disappointing. Everything ties up a bit too tidily at the end, and the dark secrets inside The Bartholomew are familiar ones.
Lock Every Door certainly isn't a bad novel, and I don't regret reading it, but with all the terrific books coming out all the time, it wouldn't kill you to pass it by.
Written by Mark Sieber
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