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The Apartment – K L Slater
There are some authors which I truly believe are twisted. I
mean, like really twisted in their mind. There’s no other explanation why they
can come up with stories that make your blood turn to ice. Some people are born
with a wicked twist in their brain that allows them to scare the living
daylight out of their readers. Some do it blatantly like Stephen King… who
drives the fear train with visually scary imagery. I mean stuff like IT and
Carry… doesn’t need anything else to be scary. But then there are authors like
K L Slater… who weave fear in words that are not gory or violent. No offense to
mr. King, he still is my fav author when it comes to horror… I still enjoy
reading his works and I do it knowing fully well that I’m going to be scared to
go to the loo in the middle of the night, afterwards.
However, K L Slater’s The Apartment is not something that
you pick up thinking, it will scare you.
This is the story of Freya Miller and her five-year-old
daughter, Skye. At the beginning of the novel, you meet Freya, a harried, at
the end of her wits, about to go homeless, hence frantic to the core, single
parent. She’s recently lost her husband, who left her for another woman, and
then died, leaving Freya in a mountain of debt that she has settled through, by
literally doing everything she can including selling her house. Now Freya, who
has limited means, is on the verge of going homeless. In this destitute
situation, she meets an elderly gentleman in a coffee shop. His name is Dr.
Marsden. And incidentally he is also looking for a tenant for the top floor of
the house he lives in. He claims that Freya and her daughter are the “right
kind of people”, and the rent is based on an individual’s ability to pay… Which
makes this an offer that Freya can’t afford to refuse.
The ”house” is called Adder House and it’s a wonderful
accommodation, with some rather interesting, though eccentric bunch of
characters. There are 6 apartments in the house and only 4 are occupied. Freya
and Skye are in a small apartment on the third floor. The other occupants of
the house, include Dr. and Mrs Marsden, Professor and Susan Woodward, and
elderly Lily Brockley who takes Freya and Skye under her wings, providing them
with a sort of elder of the house feel.
But something is not right about this whole situation. I
mean, doesn’t this all sound a little too good to be true? Well… of course it does
and that’s exactly what it is… too good to be true. Adder House has a history.
A backstory that it’s tenants are unwilling to share with Freya. And ever since
she’s come to stay in the house, Freya can’t shake this feeling that she is
being “watched”… even when she’s behind closed doors. Let’s not forget all the
weird stuff that keeps happening… objects moving, unfamiliar smells, the
blinking light of a concealed camera… It’s not long before Freya begins to
suspect that her dream home is hiding a nightmarish reality. Was it really
chance that led her here—or something unthinkably dark?
Well… First of all, I realise that Freya sounds and feels a
little dumb if you try n see her from a rational point of view. But someone who
has been in the situation where your kid’s future and safety is at stake…
nothing else actually matters. The first thing, parents lose is their
rationality. I mean, a choice between a “too good to be true” offer and threat
of sleeping on the streets… is not a choice at all for a parent, especially a
single mother. So while, I felt like screaming at her, to turn around and run,
I realise why she didn’t. Of course, as a single parent, the story and its
premise cuts a little too close to my heart… And therein lies the FEAR I kept feeling. The
dread of seeing Freya being gaslighted, and not being able to do anything about
it, just kept making me feel more helpless.
I’m not saying that the story was by any means, a
masterpiece. There are holes in the story. And if I’m being honest, the ending
didn’t give me satisfaction. Even the so-called reveal wasn’t surprising enough
for me. But even with all it’s flaws, I enjoyed the book. The way the author
built the characters was good. You actually could understand Freya and her
desperation. Her relationship with Skye is so wonderful and heart warming. And
the way her paranoia was built, was frankly… disturbing.
This is 2nd book by K L Slater for me. I read her
“The Widow” before this one. And I truly think, she is blessed with a twisted
mind. Not a bad thing for an author of the Psychological Thriller genre, I must
say. Both her books have the same effective prose that makes them a wonderful
experience to read. They draw you in the story without much efforts, and hold
the attention through the end. I do hope, I can read more by the author…
So, in summary, The Apartment by K L Slater, was a story
that gave me nightmares. It resonated with my basic instinct that puts my
child’s welfare before anything else in me… it was a thriller that is designed
to make you feel… whether good, or bad, or scared, or worried, or even angry…
it all depends on you as a reader. From me… 4 stars out 5. Do give this a try
and let me know what did it make YOU feel??
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