Apartment 303 by Kelli Hawkins

Publisher's Synopsis

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?

My Review of Apartment 303 by Kelli Hawkins

“Left, right, left. Breathe.”

What a fascinating book Apartment 303 has turned out to be. This is a powerful story of strength over adversity, courage and determination plus a willingness to accept ones faults, face them down and fight on regardless. Heroes come in many guises and Rory Campbell displays true fighting spirit all the while struggling to leave the sanctuary of apartment 303 in the Panorama building. 

But remember, this is a crime novel, so while you’re enjoying the way in which Rory copes through her fears there is, somewhere along the way, a crime being committed and it will have serious consequences. 

Rory is a recluse. She’s 26 years old and suffers from a form of OCD triggered by a traumatic event that is also a type of PTSD. She lives almost exclusively within her apartment in inner-city Sydney with her companion dog Buster. Counting, finger tapping, constantly checking the oven hasn’t been left on and that the doors have been locked are the norm as she gets on with her days.

She works for her private investigator aunt, Lucinda, compiling agents' notes into more readable formats and likes to keep an eye on the homeless who bed down across the road from her apartment. Although she has developed for herself a relatively comfortable, predictable lifestyle safely hidden away in her apartment, she is troubled by nightmares from her past. When she hears that one of the homeless men from across the road has been murdered, all of the triggers to her fears are fired. She could be at risk of unraveling all of the progress she’s made with the past traumas perhaps coming back to plague her.

This is a moving story of a woman simply trying to overcome the demons in her mind, determined to live as normal a life as possible. The fact that this is a first person narrative and we get a real sense that she is constantly being deceived by the sneering voice inside her head means we kind of have to take what we’re being told with a grain of salt.

Apartment 303 is a finely crafted suspense story that, first, provides just enough background to become invested in the main characters. These characters include 14 year old Farrah, who lives directly above Rory, and Simon, who has just moved into the apartment next door. They appear to be valuable allies, providing great support for the fragile Rory.

For the majority of the story, we get a building sense of danger that emanates from Rory’s first person narrative. The fear that her father, an abusive man, may have found her, the unease caused by the new doorman who just “seems a bit off”, Lucinda’s new boyfriend, Alex, who stands too close when he talks to her. All of these things may be nothing, but then again, they could be something terribly sinister.

In slow building novels of suspense, solid character development is important and that’s where Kelli Hawkins succeeds. From Harold, the homeless man living across the road to the wonderfully caring Ron, the downstairs security guard, they are each well described and given an authentic voice. It would do well to understand that there are no unimportant characters in this story.

The twists, when they came, were sprung with commendable deftness, bringing together quite an array of seemingly unrelated threads to create a tightly woven, and somewhat sordid, plot of betrayal.