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Lock Every Door Spoiler Free Review

Lock Every Door By Riley Sager Spoiler Free Review

By Kit ala KatPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Lock Every Door Spoiler Free Review
Photo by Dima Pechurin on Unsplash

It’s no secret that I am a SUPER fan of Riley Sager. I preordered an American Copy of his latest book and it has arrived a whole year before UK release (and after this second lockdown announcement? It was a great decision).

So, when I picked this one up only a week before, I had high expectations. His first novel, Final Girls, I devoured in a day. I took it out on loan from my library about 5 times. The Last Time I Lied, I read in one night- and it kept me up for the rest of it. There is one thing that I have learnt from his previous novels.

No matter what plot twist you think is coming, it isn’t.

The characters were so exquisitely fictional and real at the same time. The premise of the book follows an ordinary girl who gets the exciting opportunity to flat sit a luxury apartment in a luxury, secretive apartment building. Her neighbours are high end surgeons, movie stars and authors and gives the reader the insight into the luxury life that most people crave.

The juxtaposition between them and our run of the mill protagonist was almost painful and that feeling itself was incredibly realistic. People get uncomfortable around those in different social circles and how Riley managed to put that into words and chapters was astounding.

The world building was minimal but brutish. Its set in the world we currently live in (minus the pandemic) so it was just small little hints such as the famous building and tragic history that gives me some serious Murder Hotel flashbacks. The murder hotel was made super cliché by American Horror Story but the little twists in Lock Every Door made it fresh and exciting.

Riley sager is a mastermind at giving the reader multiple avenues. There are multiple hints and signs that could lead you into a labyrinth of suspects and they are all so completely viable. I was gasping and ohhhhhhing and even after I completed Lock Every Door I was sat there mulling it all over to see if I had missed a hint and that’s why I got it wrong. The actual answer to the mystery was just so beautifully clear and yet so cliché AND unique I had never really thought it as an option.

I also found that this book was beautifully placed for a day read. The suspense ebbs and flows and it creates the same effect as the classic Jaws music-constantly building and building to a giant attack. I was sat there, transfixed, waiting for the answer to just be thrown into my lap because at that point I had no real choice but to. The clichés were not followed through fully making them an interesting twist and everything came together in a beautiful and slightly gorey conclusion.

Riley makes his protagonists realistic in ways most thriller writers don’t. If the character gets away unscathed its just unrealistic and he always makes sure that any damage in the situation is 100% plausible and that no one comes out of the horrible situation without at least some mental health damage. Living in a creepy house and a suspicious suicide rate and death count would leave anyone with some anxious googling and paranoia.

In Final Girls, I was certain that the plot twist was Quincy was the killer. In Last Time I Lied, I completely fell for all the red herrings. Lock Every Door had me glancing at my own front door every couple page and the ending had me – you guessed it- locking every door.

Rating : ****/*****

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