Rachel Hanes's Reviews > The New Couple in 5B

So, this is only my fifth read by Lisa Unger (with one being a short story), and I’m thinking I need to hurry up and read more from her! I really enjoyed this book and the author’s writing. I loved the main character of Rosie, and felt like I could easily connect with her. This book was very atmospheric and did keep me on my toes.

This story starts off with Rosie and her husband Chad, inheriting his late uncle Ivan’s upscale apartment. Rosie is a writer, with only one book under her belt, she needs to publish another one soon before their money runs out. Chad, is a struggling actor always looking for the next big break. However, once they learn that they have inherited this luxury apartment 5B at 55 Park Avenue, they feel their luck is finally about to change. Or is it?

Once they’ve moved into the apartment, Rosie receives phone calls from Chad’s cousin Dana who is very irate about not inheriting the apartment. Rosie hopes that she can mend things with Dana, while Chad assures her everything is as it should be. Rosie and Chad also become very friendly with their new neighbors, Charles and Ella Aldridge, who have lived at the Windermere apartments forever.

While at the apartment, tragic events start to occur and Rosie starts to have visions and see things. Because of these visions, Rosie starts to dig up the Windermere’s past history and is very bewildered by what she finds. During this time we also have flashback chapters from Willa that take place in 1963, which I loved reading! We also have the ever-present doorman Abi, who is always listening in on the intercoms located in every room. Why is he so concerned with everyone’s business?

All in all, this was a very entertaining read. My only gripe was that the chapters were a bit long (that’s a me thing). Otherwise, I highly recommend reading this story and the acknowledgments at the end as to how this story came about. Very interesting!

“Some buildings just have bad personalities. And I think maybe it attracts darkness. If you’re vulnerable to dark energies, if they speak to something going on inside you, maybe there’s a strange attraction, a lure to that dark past inside you.”