Tag Archives: Riley Sager

The Only One Left by Riley Sager – a Review

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The Only One Left by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

 

 

Review:

The Only One Left by Riley Sager is another one of his gothic thriller novels. I have read a number of books by Sager, and in each book, he continues to surprise and shock us with so many twists we never expect. 

The story starts off in 1929, when the Hope family was murdered. Lenora was the only one who survived, telling the police that she did not kill her family.  She became the lead suspect, but the police could not find evidence to convict her, becoming a legend, which she never left her estate.  Fifty plus years later, Lenora is paralyzed and constantly needs care, and her latest caregiver left.

We meet Kit McDeere, our heroine, who lost her job as a home-health aide, after her mother died under unusual circumstances, which she pleaded innocence. She is given another chance to be a caregiver, but she is hesitant, since she would need to care for Lenora Hope, who everyone thinks killed her family all those years ago; but she accepts the job, as she needs money.

Kit is surprised to find the infamous Lenora confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak or move, except for her left arm; having suffered multiple strokes. In a short time, while caring for Lenora, Kit is surprised that she wants to tell what happened all those years ago; especially claiming her innocence.  Lenora communicates with Kit using a typewriter with her left hand, a slow process over time.

Kit begins to suspect that Lenora is not revealing the truth, especially when the remains of the previous caregiver is discovered; Kit is scared and wants to leave, but she needs the money.  She tries to learn more from other staff members, who have been there for a long time.  The cliffside mansion is falling apart, increasing the danger of living there. To say too much more would be spoilers, as the last third of the book is filled with twists and surprises.

What follows is a wild last third of the book, with so many secrets, twists, turns and deception.  The Only One Left was so very well written by Riley Sager, with shocking surprises, as we race to the climax.  Sager outdid himself with this book, as it was a thriller all the way. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

 

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The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager – a Review

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The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

 

Review:

The House Across the Lake is another fantastic novel by Riley Sager. I have read a number of books by Sager, and in each book, he continues to surprise and shock us with many twists we never expect. 

Casey Fletcher, our heroine, is a well-known actress, who in the past year lost her husband to drowning.  She hides out from the press, at the family lake house in Vermont, spending her time constantly drinking a number of bottles of liquor a day; as she continues to grieve.  Casey uses her binoculars daily to look at other houses around Lake Green, and becomes obsessed with watching a famous couple, former model Katherine Royce and her husband, Tom, who have recently purchased the house across the lake. 

One day, Casey sees Katherine struggling in the lake, and she comes to her rescue; with both of them becoming fast friends.  Both Katherine and Tom visit Casey, to thank her for saving Katherine.  During the evenings, Casey continues to overdo her drinking and spy on the Royce’s, until she continues to notice that something is not right in their marriage. 

When Katherine suddenly disappears, Casey is obsessed with finding out what happened to her; as she suspects the husband.  Casey will confide in a friend living next door, who has a police detective friend; but there is no evidence of wrong doing; in her determination, she uncovers strange and darker truths.  Will the police investigate or ignore her claims due to her excessive drinking?

The House Across the Lake was an amazing exciting thriller, that had me on the edge of my seat throughout; with a journey that is filled with many shocking twists and turns.  To say anything more would be spoilers, and this is a story that needs to be read to the end.   Riley Sager once again gives us another wild, crazy and surprising, not to mention entertaining ending.  If you love intense and exciting thrillers, you can do no wrong reading Riley Sager.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

 

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Survive the Night by Riley Sager – a Review

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Survive the Night by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

What follows is a game of cat-and-mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there’s nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing—survive the night.

 

 

Review:

Survive the Night by Riley Sager is another one of his excellent standalone psychological thrillers, which I have read and enjoyed.  It amazes me how Sager continues to give us ultra-exciting and tense, edge of your seat stories that have us holding our breath all the way.

Charlie Jordan, our heroine, decides to leave her campus and go home to her grandmother, as she is still grieving over the loss of her friend, Maddy who was murdered months ago by the Campus Killer.  Charlie meets Josh Baxter, who offers her a ride to her hometown, and needing a ride, she accepts.  Charlie leaves her boyfriend, Rob, explaining that she may not come back, depending if she still has her nightmare dreams.  She is a loner, day dreamer, introvert and is movie expert. Charlie has suffered with what the doctor says are hallucinations since her parents were killed in a car crash; which she often finds herself in movie scenes that look real.

Josh is a janitor for the school, and is heading home to care for his sick father.  They begin their travel at night, and for a while the ride is fun, as they play 20 questions to learn about themselves. After a bit, Josh begins to notice how Charlie seems to be distanced, like in another world, at times. When he stops to pick up coffee and food, Charlie notices some strange things like a driver’s license with a different name, and his address was not where they were heading.  She begins to suspect that maybe she is riding with the Campus Killer; she needs to keep herself alert and find a way to get away, especially trying to force her movie visions not to takeover. Somehow, she needs to survive the night.

I do not want to tell too much, as it would be spoilers, as there are so many twists along the way, I could not put the book down. Charlie suspicions grow and when they stop at a diner, she is desperate to find a way to escape, and calls her boyfriend Rob, who calls the police.  The waitress in the diner befriends her, and tries to help; but Charlie needs to keep Josh from hurting anyone. Survive the Night was an intense nonstop thriller, that changed the game so often, throwing me for a loop, with shocking revelations.

What follows is an intense, action packed, exciting, edge of your seat scary thriller that a had a number of twists along the way, keeping us engrossed to the very end.  Riley Sager once again gives us another fantastic story that was so very well written.  With so many surprising twists throughout, you really need to read Survive the Night from start to finish.  If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, and mystery, look no further than reading anything by Riley Sager.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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Home Before Dark by Riley Sager – a Review

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Home Before Dark by Riley Sager – a Review

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Description:
What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

 

 

Review:

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager is another standalone psychological thriller that I have become accustomed to from this author.  I am amazed how Sager continues to write intense exciting edge of your seat stories that have us holding our breaths from start to finish. 

Home Before Dark switches between two POV’s; one set in the present and the other set 25 years ago.  We meet our heroine, Maggie Holt, who inherits a Victorian estate in Vermont from her father, who recently deceased.  Maggie has spent most of her life knowing about this scary mansion, as 25 years ago her parents bought the rundown Baneberry Hall; and after staying only 20 days, they run out of the house to never come back.  Her father wrote a bestselling book (House of Horrors) about their horrifying experience with spirits/ghosts, and Maggie has hated this book, believing it all to be a lie.  She remembers nothing about the place, especially since she was only 5 years old at the time, and neither of her parents would ever talk about it.

Despite her mother trying to convince Maggie (she is an interior designer) to not go there, just sell it, she decides to go and renovate the estate, and then sell it.  Maggie will begin to hear strange noises in the night, and we learn more about those who lived in the house and the so-called spirits from her POV.  I liked seeing Maggie’s POV, but it was her father’s (Ewan) POV that was scary, crazy and horrifying, as we saw through his eyes what was happening.  In Ewan’s POV, most of it is from his book, which details the horror, ghosts, etc; which eventually drove them out of the house.

In the present time, Maggie begins to see shadows and noises, which she tries to shake off as her imagination.  Having hated the book as a lie, she begins to worry that maybe she is wrong, especially after talking to those who were still alive and were part of the mansion.  There are so many twists and surprises that we see in Maggie’s present time that slowly changes the game, and it is here where during the last 1/3 of the book it becomes a wild, exciting, riveting race to the climax.  I was on the edge of my seat, as one surprise after another kept me unable to put the book down; a couple of times I needed to step away, as I felt parts being downright creepy.

What follows is an intense, exciting, creepy, edge of your seat gothic horror thriller that a had so many surprising twists, keeping us engrossed to the very end.  Riley Sager once again gives us another fantastic story that was so very well written.  I do not want to give any spoilers, as you really need to read Home Before Dark from start to finish.  If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, and mystery, look no further than reading anything by Riley Sager.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – a Review

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Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

 

 

Review:

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager is the 2nd book I have read by this author, and once again it is a fantastic exciting thriller.  I will be reading whatever stories that Sager writes.

Jules Larsen, our heroine, has recently been dumped by her boyfriend, has no job, has been staying at her friend’s house, and is in dire straits financially.  When she sees an ad in the paper for an apartment sitter at the famed Bartholomew building on the upper west side, near Central Park, she jumps at the chance, especially as she will earn $4000 a month for three months work. What could go wrong? Is this too good to be true?

When Jules accepts the job, she is told the rules….no visitors, no social media, do not talk to residents, must sleep in room every night; despite the strict rules Jules is in no shape to turn it down.  As she begins her tenure, she does meet many of the wealthy and famous residents, who keep their distance.  When Jules runs into another apartment sitter, Ingrid, whom she befriends; who also tells her about the missing people who were in those apartment’s previously. Jules also begins her own investigation, try to learn more about the residents as well as those who have disappeared.  When Ingrid disappears, Jules becomes desperate to find her. At this point, the story becomes a bit dark and creepy, as Jules starts fearing for her own life; and it is now an edge of your seat suspense thriller.  Can Jules trust anyone?

What follows is an intense, exciting story that had us holding our breaths, as so many surprising twists that I never guessed.  Sager certainly kept us in the dark until the last ¼ of the book which certainly threw us for a loop.  I will not give spoilers, as it would ruin the story for you. Lock Every Door is a dark, macabre, suspenseful story that kept you engrossed until the very end.   If you love suspense thrillers, I suggest you read Lock Every Door, which was well written by Riley Sager.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – a Review

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The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

 

 

Review:

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a standalone psychological thriller.  I was not sure what to expect, as I have not read Sager before; and I am happy to say right from the start, I became engrossed in this suspenseful story.  The Last Time I Lied was an amazing story line that switched between two POV’s- the current time and 15 years previously.

15 years ago, we meet our heroine, Emma, who 13 years old and forced by her mother to attend a summer camp.  Emma shares a cabin with three girls, who are a few years older and already friends, but they quickly accept Emma.  Vivian, Alison and Natalie are the three girls, who come from rich families and who have attended Camp Nightingale during the summer months.  Vivian is the leader, and she makes Emma her protégé, showing her the ropes.  But strange things happen in Camp Nightingale. Before the summer is out, Emma will wake during the night to find the three girls missing, never to be found.

The story picks up 15 years later, when a grown up Emma is showcasing her paintings at a gallery.  She paints canvases of a forest, with her three missing friends hidden within the pictures.  Emma has created over 30 pictures, similar and with her secret hidden within.  At the gallery show, she is approached by the person who owns Camp Nightingale, and wants to reopen it.  She asks Emma to come for the summer and teach painting.  At first Emma, who has not gotten over what happened all those years ago, wasn’t sure she wanted to go back, but in order to get closure and go on with her life, she accepts.

The flashbacks go back 15 years where we learn everything about Emma, and the other girls, especially Vivian, who Emma became the closest to.  In current time, Emma ends up sharing the same cabin with three young girls, being their counselor.  Emma has her own secrets, which haunts her, and which are revealed in each flashback; she also begins to search to find clues about what really happened. 

What follows is an intriguing, exciting, at times creepy story that has us on the edge of our seats, especially with so many surprises and twists along the way.  Every time we thought we knew who the culprit was, something else comes along to change things.  Then things become intense when déjà vu strikes again.   I thought Sager created some wonderful characters, even if they were flawed.

The Last Time I Lied was a fantastic mystery thriller that was so well written, keeping us on our toes, with the suspense pulsating.  There were so many secrets, lies, revelations that borderline on the dark creep factor.  I will say this, without giving spoilers, that I was shocked at the ending, which was so superbly done.  Riley Sager has created an ultra-powerful phenomenal story, and has now been added to my list of authors I need to read.  If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, and mystery, look no further than The Last Time I Lied.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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