review: THE APARTMENT, K. L. Slater

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 3750 KB
• Print Length: 266 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1542023912
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (April 28, 2020)
• Publication Date: April 28, 2020
• Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B082HRWHG8

Synopsis  (Amazon)

It’s an opportunity she can’t refuse. The woman before her tried…

Freya Miller needs a miracle. In the fallout of her husband’s betrayal, she’s about to lose her family home, and with it the security she craves for her five-year-old daughter, Skye. Adrift and alone, she’s on the verge of despair until a chance meeting with the charismatic Dr Marsden changes everything. He’s seeking a new tenant for a shockingly affordable flat in a fashionable area of London.

Adder House sounds too good to be true… But Freya really can’t afford to be cynical, and Dr Marsden is adamant she and Skye will be a perfect fit with the other residents.

But Adder House has secrets. Even behind a locked front door, Freya feels as if she’s being watched: objects moving, unfamiliar smells, the blinking light of a concealed camera… and it’s not long before she begins to suspect that her dream home is hiding a nightmarish reality. Was it really chance that led her here—or something unthinkably dark?

As the truth about Adder House starts to unravel, can Freya and Skye get out—or will they be locked in forever?

My take

Freya Miller, in desperate need of somewhere to live, meets Dr Michael Marsden in a coffee shop when he is ostensibly there to pin up a notice about an apartment he has on offer. As we quickly find out, although she is not aware of it, he is there to meet Freya and make her an offer she can't refuse.

Taking the apartment means a change of schools for Skye, which the little girl is not happy with, but there seem to be so many advantages. Dr Marsden and his wife are overwhelming with their generosity, and they quickly make friends with a couple of other residents. But from the beginning there are things that make Freya uncomfortable. A times she wonders if she is losing her mind, and then she learns of Sofia, the person who lived in the apartment before her.

There are some truly creepy parts of the story: noises at night, furniture in Skye's room being moved around, someone taking photos of Skye over the school fence. But it just falls short of hitting the spot. About two thirds of the way through, I picked who the person not to be trusted was, but not the reason why. Nor had I figured out the reason behind the occasionally inserted journal entries by Beatrice.

However the book remained very readable to the end.

When I read the blurb for this book, I was struck by the idea that it might resemble a book I read last year: LOCK EVERY DOOR by Riley Sager. But really there was no real similarity in the plot.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
K. L. Slater is the million-copy bestselling author of nine standalone psychological crime thrillers. Kim is a full-time writer. She lives with her husband in Nottingham.