The Apartment by S.L. Grey

American Release Date: Fall 2016

My Rating: 3.5/5

After a horrifying home invasion, in a house already laden with tragedy, Steph and Mark agree that a vacation away is necessary for their marriage and sanity. With limited funds they turn to a house-swap site and make arrangements to trade homes with a couple from Paris for a week. Once they arrive the apartment is decidedly not as advertised. It has been unoccupied for months, the only other tenant in the building has lost her mind, and Mark begins to hallucinate loved ones long dead.

A wonderfully unsettling read this novel provides a mix of mystery, horror, and psychological thrills. The story is highly cinematic and has the potential for adaptation into a disconcerting horror film. While an intriguing set up with two fairly complex characters and a well-constructed ambiance the last quarter loses the plot and tension. Characters are introduced and then fall out and the supernatural elements do not transfer through the first half of the story to the second. I definitely recommend this as a can’t-put-down, frightening read. Don’t think too much about the logistics.