Book Review

“Apartment 16” by Adam Nevill

Creepy. Haunting. Those are two great words to describe this book. But a few other words that come to mind are superbly written.

A mother and her daughter inherited an apartment in the elite area of London from their unbalanced Aunt Lillian. The mother is afraid to fly from America to London, so her daughter Apryl is given the task of taking care of clearing it out and selling the apartment in Barrington House.

Then we have Seth, the night porter of the Barrington House. He’s artist with a drive like no other. He becomes embroiled in the troubles complained about by neighboring dwellers of Apartment 16. Noises are heard and Seth must investigate. What he finds is horrifying and—in a very weird way—inspirational to his artistic side.

When Apryl begins hearing noises and seeing things in mirrors and paintings that shouldn’t be there, she starts asking questions. She finds out that the previous owner of Apartment 16 disappeared years before and when she is able to speak to a few of her deceased aunt’s neighbors, ends up with more information than she bargained for.

Seth and Apryl finally meet and Seth is immediately smitten, but he has a job to do and unfortunately, Apryl has to go. Seth is the person elected for the job and brings her to Apartment 16—a place she has been dying to get into to find out what all the hoopla is about. There, she discovers a vortex from which evil is trying to drag her down.

This book will grab a hold of you and like the evil it portrays, won’t let go. It’s a thriller and a horror and the imagery within its pages will have you up long into the night. And when you finish the book, you’ll find you just can’t turn the lights off.

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”