Bite-Sized Reviews of Riley Sager Novels
Discover the mystique and suspense in Riley Sager novels as I share my thoughts on ‘Survive the Night,’ ‘The House Across the Lake,’ and ‘Lock Every Door.’ Through bite-sized reviews, I unravel the engaging storytelling and suspenseful twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. Join me in exploring the eerie and the unexpected in Sager’s captivating worlds. Even better, whip up some of our favorite Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins while you read!
Just so you know, some of the links in this article are affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase through them, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep the storylines and sweets coming your way!
Survive the Night
“Sometimes you can’t simultaneously be smart, brave, and careful. Sometimes you need to choose one.”
Survive the Night follows Charlie Jordan, a college student dealing with the recent murder of her best friend. Desperate to escape campus and her grief, Charlie decides to hitch a ride home for spring break with a fellow student named Josh. However, as they embark on a long drive through the night, Charlie becomes increasingly suspicious of Josh, believing he may be the campus killer. The novel unfolds as a tense and suspenseful cat-and-mouse game between Charlie and Josh, with Charlie trying to survive the night and uncover the truth about her companion.
This book is a difficult one for me to rate. I was interested in the story and it kept me turning pages but the main character Charlie was hard for me to like. She made dumb decision after dumb decision and it started to feel a bit like a cliche horror movie. But I did enjoy the fast pace nature of the plot and the car scenes felt suspenseful. Overall I think it is an easy and fast read, nothing too profound, but a refreshing break in-between heavier books.
The House Across the Lake
“Maybe I’m not looking for trouble. Maybe I am the trouble.”
Recently widowed actress Casey Fletcher seeks refuge from a string of negative press by retreating to her family’s serene lake house in Vermont. Armed with binoculars and a few bottles of bourbon, she becomes an avid observer of Tom and Katherine Royce, an alluring couple residing in the house across the lake. One fateful day, Casey rescues Katherine from a near-drowning incident, leading to the blossoming of an unlikely friendship. When Katherine mysteriously disappears, Casey’s suspicions turn to Tom, suspecting foul play. Little does she know that beneath the tranquil surface of their picturesque lives lies a web of shocking secrets, waiting to unravel.
I read some reviews from others before I picked up this book, and they were less than complementary. One of the most frequent complaints was that The House Across the Lake was similar to the plot of another popular thriller book and the point of view wasn’t all that fresh or unique. Well here’s the thing, if you’re new to the thriller genre (as I am), the plot does feel unique and fresh. This book is a bit of a slow burn. Casey is stuck in a cycle of drinking and spying on her neighbors at night until she thinks something bad happened to Katherine. This is when things get interesting. The last third or so of the book really makes you go “what the f am I reading”. But in the best way! Be careful what you watch for…
Lock Every Door
“Never take anything you haven’t earned, my father used to say. You always end up paying for it one way or another.”
The story revolves around the life of Jules Larsen, a young woman who is going through a rough patch. She has just lost her job, her relationship has ended, and she is desperate for a fresh start. In this vulnerable state, she stumbles upon an opportunity that seems too good to be true. She is offered the chance to become an apartment sitter at the luxurious Bartholomew building in Manhattan. In exchange for a generous paycheck, all she has to do is live in one of the vacant apartments and follow a few strict rules. Jules moves into the Bartholomew and delves deeper into the history of the gothic building and its eccentric and secretive residents. She discovers a series of chilling mysteries surrounding the building’s past. As Jules becomes increasingly obsessed with unraveling those mysteries, she begins to uncover the sinister truth hidden within its walls. She realizes that her own life may be in grave danger, and she must race against time to solve the puzzle of the Bartholomew before it’s too late.
This book reminded me of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley… except it was significantly better. There are not many books I quit reading or skim to finish. However, The Paris apartment made that short list. It had so much potential. An interesting story right from the start, a cool old gothic building, and a missing person. But it failed miserably. Enter Lock Every Door! This was everything The Paris apartment wanted to be. I liked the characters, the eerie gothic setting of the Bartholomew, the build up, and the twist ending! Is this book a bit bizarre? Yes. Is it incredibly addicting? Also yes. Is it worth the read? 100%. Bravo, Riley Sager.
The story follows Emma Davis, a young woman haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her three cabin mates at a summer camp named Camp Nightingale when she was just a teenager. Years later, Emma is an accomplished artist, but she still can’t shake the trauma of that summer. When she is invited to return to Camp Nightingale as an art instructor, she sees it as an opportunity to finally uncover the truth about what happened to her friends. However, upon her return, she realizes that the past still haunts the camp, and she becomes determined to unravel the dark secrets hidden within the woods.
This was my first novel by Riley Sager and it was a fantastic read! I’m absolutely captivated by Sager’s deceptively effortless writing style! He guides the reader through the narrative while crafting an ambiance of suspense and the kind of unease you feel while watching a horror movie. I enjoyed the jumps between the present and 15 years prior where Emma’s story begins. Every part of the story was connected somehow. The reader was given all the pieces to the puzzle but no concrete answers. It was gripping and hard to put down.
“The Only One Left” by Riley Sager is a gripping thriller centered around Kit McDeere, a caregiver accused of malpractice. After being out of work for six months, she accepts a job as a home health aide for Lenora Hope, an elderly woman previously accused of murdering her family. The story unfolds in Hope’s End, Lenora’s decaying mansion, where Kit helps Lenora write about the events of that fateful night. As her story starts to unravel, Kit believes she may not be telling the complete truth and that the seemingly harmless old woman might be more dangerous than she first thought.
This book was mind blowing good! The eerie atmosphere of the decaying mansion on top of a cliff, the jumps from the past to the present, the sketchy characters, and the horrors that occurred at the Hope mansion produced a spine chilling story. I didn’t know what or who to believe, and was constantly changing my mind about where the plot was headed. Turns out I couldn’t have guessed it if I tried! This was an addicting mystery that I couldn’t put down.