Even a locked door can’t keep you safe.
Twenty-six-year-old Rory rarely leaves her apartment, though her little dog Buster keeps her company. Days are spent working for her aunt’s PI business, and watching and imagining histories for the homeless men, the Dossers, across the road. At night she walks Buster on the roof, gazes at the stars and wonders.
The night before New Year’s Eve, one of the Dossers is murdered, an incident which brings the world – police, new neighbours, her dark past and new possibilities – crashing through Rory’s front door.
She thought she was keeping her fears at bay. But has her sanctuary turned into her prison? Or is it safer for everyone if Rory stays locked away?
Apartment 303 is a compelling, unsettling new psychological suspense novel from bestselling author Kelli Hawkins. As in her debut, Other People’s Houses, Hawkins continues to show her expertise in the psychological thriller genre through her fantastic and layered exploration of a troubled narrator in a sinister plot.
Rory is an utterly intriguing protagonist. From her first lines, you can tell there is more to her than meets the eye. We get glimpses of a traumatic and ominous past as she tries her hardest to stick to her familiar and comfortable routine. Through Rory, Hawkins deftly explores the mind of someone with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and in doing so, creates an enthralling unreliable narrator. Each line resonates with a building sense of danger that will keep readers guessing what’s truly threatening and what’s just her own fears.
Apartment 303 is intricately crafted, colouring the story with a strong Sydney, NSW setting and vibrant secondary characters. Fourteen-year-old Farrah and neighbour Simon provide the perfect grounding point as Rory seeks to push her boundaries in this suspenseful and twisty novel.
Hawkins’ atmospheric writing style and first-person point of view will have readers on the edge of their seats with every chapter. It’s a perfect, simmering slow burn that gets your heart pounding the more you delve into Rory’s strange and mysterious story. I couldn’t put it down!
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