And hey, the lady who wrote “Heart of a Dreamer” still lives in the building. The interviewer asks pointedly about Jules’ next of kin and her health status. We know immediately from the hospital-set prologue that Jules has run out of the Bartholomew in such a blind panic that a car hits her in the street. Identifying these precursors of peril is part of the fun of reading good thrillers. “Birth, life, death, rebirth.” (Please enjoy this harbinger of doom along with our in-building urgent care opportunities!) Nick says as he stitches up Jules’ arm after an accident in the lobby. “It’s supposed to represent the cyclical nature of the universe,” hot Dr. The hunky doctor who lives in 12B adorns his kitchen with a painting of an ouroboros, or a snake eating its own tail. The apartment sitter downstairs insists on a meeting in Central Park where no one will overhear them. The ornate floral wallpaper morphs into endless sets of eyes, watching.

Quickly, so quickly, things start to devolve. The Bartholomew is legendary not just for its gargoyle-adorned architecture, but for the myriad of deaths that have happened within its walls. Yet this iteration of the gig economy is not kind to Jules in Lock Every Door, the new thriller from Final Girls author Riley Sager. It’s particularly well-timed, as she’s just lost her job. In exchange, Jules will get $12,000 for three months of work. The owners of the other units pay handsomely for their privacy. No bothering the other rich and semi-famous residents. The Chanel-clad interviewer lays out the rules: Jules must spend every night in the apartment. Jules can’t believe her luck when, tucked in amidst the other Help Wanted notices, she discovers a request for an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew.

The historic New York apartment building figured prominently in “Heart of a Dreamer,” the ‘80s-era best-seller Jules pored over regularly, imagining an upscale Manhattan lifestyle that seemed completely out of reach in her ramshackle duplex.Īnd it was, until she sees the ad on Craigslist.

Jules has dreamed of the Bartholomew since she was a little girl.

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