No recipe. Why? Because it takes place in NYC, and I just didn’t want to cook anything “unique” to NYC.
Synopsis:
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents.
These are the only rules for Jules Larson’s new job as apartment sitter for an elusive resident of the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile private buildings and home to the super rich and famous.
Recently heartbroken and practically homeless, Jules accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
Out of place among the extremely wealthy, Jules finds herself pulled toward other apartment sitter Ingrid. But Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her. Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story – but the next day, her new friend has vanished.
And then Jules discovers that Ingrid is not the first temporary resident to go missing…
I absolutely LOVED this book! It seems my genre right now is psychological thriller. This book had it all – the suspense, the thrill, some creepiness, a little gothic flare. Once you start, you are not going to want to put it down.
I will not spoil anything for you but I will say this: the Bartholomew luxury apartment building IS NOT a real building. However, it is based on a real building: the Dakota building in NYC. After learning that, I knew that building name sounded familiar, and then I realized it is the building that John Lennon lived in and was walking out of when he was killed. It is by Strawberry Fields in NYC with the Imagine landmark mentioned in the book. I got to experience these sites the last time I was in NYC in 2017 (thankfully before all the craziness and mandates that NYC is experiencing now).
I also read that this is the same building where Rosemary’s Baby was filmed. Um…now I will have to go back and rewatch the movie. Here is another article about the filming of Rosemary’s Baby: article. I love reading and learning about historical architecture, especially when it is tied to hauntings and mysteries. The Dakota has been described, by several news sites, as NYC’s most haunted building (article).
Riley Sager does an amazing job of describing the building, literally placing you in each moment in the book. Not only that, he had me guessing “the issue” until the very end. I will not give away any spoilers but vampires ARE NOT in the book (which was my guess) 😆. Although the ending is CRAZY, I can see it being somewhat realistic (especially if you know about “certain places” in other countries…not saying specifically about those places because it would give away the ending). And…without saying too much more, I think the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell situation (not even sure what word to use for that) is somewhat comparable to the ending. But I will not say more…
If you have not read this book yet and love psychological thrillers with a little gothic flare, grab this book and get to reading! Can’t wait to start 2022 reading Sager’s book Home Before Dark! Happy reading and Happy New Year!
