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

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