I loved this book! I've read several titles by this author and this one was my favorite. There were so many twists and turns and all of the characters were well-developed and relatable.

This was a solid murder mystery. I loved the feel of the “classic” hotel-during-a-winter-storm feel. Shari Lapena also created a cast of characters that also complimented the “who-done-it” theme! Among the cast of characters was an unhappily married older couple, a young seemingly happily married couple, an engaged couple, a young single lawyer with a sketchy background, two old friends on a retreat, the hotel owner and his son, and a bitter old author trying to finish her book???
You’ll no doubt feel like you’re in the middle of a Clue Game and it’s your turn to guess the murderer! Was it the butler with a knife, the unhappy husband with a rope, or the writer with an agenda? Hmmmm… or none of the above?
Mystery surrounds the off-the-beaten trail hotel during a winter ice storm from the beginning! Suspicion is high and you will definitely feel like every character is guilty at some point in the story but the ending was unexpected and well written! It was great! We are big fans of Shari Lapena!

Loved this book, I enjoy thrillers and this fit the bill for sure. It was a quick read for me and I have recommended it to others at the library where I work.

I enjoyed this authors debut novel, Final Girls when I read it last year. I would say the storytelling in this one is similar to Final Girls (think flashbacks between when Emma was young and now). I think I liked this one a bit better though. Final Girls was more of a slasher thriller with a slightly YA vibe, and this one was more complex, and kept me guessing right through the very end. It definitely did have that good, unputdownable factor we all crave and I'd recommend it!
*Also, I just saw that it has been picked up by Amazon Studios to be developed into a series AND Final Girls has been picked up by Universal to be made into a movie!*

Cabin Fever: "Last Time I Lied" by Riley Sager

Riley Sager's the Final Girls kept me up till all hours because I needed to know who did what. Her new book, Last Time I Lied, if anything, kept me up even later!

13 year old Emma Davis is sent to spend the summer at an exclusive girls' camp called Camp Nightingale. Her wealthy and neglectful parents have forgotten to even tell her she was going and as a result arrives so late there may be no cabin available to house her for the six weeks she will be there.

Then, the owner of the camp, Francesca Harris-White, or Franny as she wants to be called, a wealthy widow with two adopted sons, has an idea. She'll put her in the last space left, a bunk in a cabin with 3 older girls. These girls, Vivian, Natalie and Allison will take her under their wing, especially Vivian, whose attention Emma craves. These girls and this summer will change Emma's life forever.

Fast forward 15 years. Emma is now an acclaimed artist. Her huge paintings each contain a secret. Painted beneath the trees and forest scenes three girls are hidden. The painted buried images of the beautiful and engaging Vivian and her two cabin mates are now all that remains of them, a mystery of three girls who disappeared that summer, and one that has haunted Emma ever since.
Could Emma have saved them? Was it her fault they vanished? What about the things she said, the accusations, that ended up closing the camp and altering lives? At a gallery exhibition a woman approaches her. It's Franny, the wealthy owner of the camp on the shores of a man-made lake called Lake Midnight. She has a proposition. Would Emma consider returning to the scene of what has traumatized her for those 15 years?

Franny is planning to reopen the camp and take the emphasis away from it being a camp for wealthy girls. It will now be free and merit-based. She would like Emma to be the art teacher. She has been forgiven for her part in that mystery.

Will Emma return for closure and maybe, just maybe, find out what happened to the girls who vanished from her cabin one night, so long ago?

If you're looking for the kind of intense read that grabs you and doesn't let you go until the very last page, then Last Time I Lied is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for the DRC!

I couldn't stop thinking about this book after I finished it!
This was the first Riley Sager thriller I've read, and I cannot wait to read more.
The plot was not one I've read before, which was a breath of fresh air for me.
Four teenagers away for the summer at camp - one waking up one morning not too long into the stay to find the other 3 girls missing - never found. Could you imagine? And having to be reminded of it for the next 15 years. Talk about a lot of emotional/mental issues to work through.
The book goes back and forth between present and past, something I really like that authors do when it's the right type of storytelling, which Sager does perfectly.
Sager also incorporates the mental aspect of someone living with something traumatic from their past, making the incident that happened in the book seem like something that could've happened to you, making the story even more terrifying.
And that ending - talk about major plot twist!

This was one of my favourite books that I’ve read this year (and I’ve read over forty books so far!). This book was simply a tour de force. I love that the book alternated between past and present, as I like being able to take a glimpse into the past and see how that affects the present. I love mysteries about missing girls because it always fascinates me how people simply disappear into thin air and what happens to the people who are missing.

The writing was superb. It’s deceptively simple, yet it compels in a way that cannot be described. It’s descriptive but not overly so, and very atmospheric. This book is full of twists that actually make sense and are plausible and aren’t far-fetched (cause a lot of times ever since Gone Girl became famous every author and their mum is trying to force plot twists that simply do not work, the plot twists found within this book not only work but are true to the characters).

I’ve never been to summer camp, so the location was an interesting one for me, as my only notion of summer camp is from watching Friday the 13th (in other words it’s very limited). So it was fun for me to kinda vicariously live through the characters and experience a summer camp, albeit it is more on the murderous side!

This book was thrilling, fascinating, and had one of the best endings I’ve read all year. So if you’re into thrillers and whodunit novels, then this book is the right choice for you!

This was a fantastic book! It had so many good twists and turns and just as soon as you thought you had figured out the direction it was going, BAM another turn. Full of interesting characters ... had me guessing the whole book only for a final twist at the end. This was my first book I’ve read by Riley Sager, but definitely not my last.

I loved this book, We ended up getting this book at our library. We also have Final Girls. Sager's use of twists, albeit how small, always end up being fresh.

I loved this book. I havent read final girls by Riley Sager but this one was phenomenal. The book started off slow but at about hundered pages into the book, I was completely hooked up.

I recently met Riley Sager in one of the meet and greets around New Jersey and I think he is a great person.

I am excited for his next book.

Riley Sager has delivered yet another really twisty and suspenseful story. I didn't know who I could trust, so everyone was a suspect. The last few pages sent a chill up my spine and a sense of dread that I did not see coming.

I came into this book with hesitation, because Riley Sager's debut novel "The Final Girls" was the reason I got into thrillers. It to this day is still one of my favorite books. Which could be a great thing, could be a terrible thing. But I loved this book! I don't want it to seem that since I gave it a 3.75 rather then a 4, etc that its any different. The book was great, it was compelling and terrifying because it took you back to summer camp ( a place where many of us have been and can relate to almost every aspect of the story line and setting. ) The more realistic, the more terrifying! I did NOT see the end coming, which was great. But at the same time, to me it didn't really seem to have much point behind the plot's conclusion other then giving an easier reason to connect the investigations. I really liked everything, until the end. I could go on and on about every Sager novel, but ill stop here for now.. till next time!!!

With “The Last Time I Lied”, Riley Sager has easily become a new favourite mystery/thriller author. An addictively good read that is fast paced and intriguing from start to finish, this 2018 summer release outshines Sager’s much loved debut novel “Final Girls”.

Highly recommended for anyone in need of a good mystery and those who loved a good adolescent outdoor camp setting. Be prepared to consume this in one sitting.

Riley Sager is an author that is always on my radar when it comes to upcoming releases, so I could not wait to read this after finishing Final Girls within a day. I am never disappointed when it comes to either the premise, execution, characters, or twists that are crafted into mystery-thrillers that always have me on the edge of my seat and impatiently awaiting his next release. The Last Time I Lied was no exception!

This was an okay read for me. I enjoyed it, but I had many problems with the plot.

Emma experienced tragedy 15 years ago when her cabin mates go missing. Since then she has had to deal with the guilt she experienced after lying on that day. Now she is going back to Camp Nightingale to try and get some closure. Can she put the demons of her past behind her?

Due to lack of spoilers, this review may be a bit vague. I liked the main character Emma pretty well. There were things about her, especially as a kid, I found problematic and unrealistic. Especially the way she handled pointing fingers at a suspect. However, as an adult, I found her a compelling character. I did not, though, like the depiction of mental illness. I found it unnecessary, and I think the story could be told just as well without it. I think we live in a world where we have to be a little more careful about how and how often mental illness is depicted in thrillers.

While all of the plots came together at the end and everything was explained, I still felt like there were major plot holes. There are two story lines going on for half the story. Unfortunately, the second one I found completely unnecessary and not nearly as engaging as how the first one wrapped up in the end. I think there was a lot that could have either been removed or handled very differently.

I am also not a huge fan of camp settings in stories. I knew this going in, so I did not knock off stars for personal preference, but just know if you also don't like these types of stories, it is a VERY prominent setting in the book.

I both listened to and read this book. The audio was pretty good, but I found reading it easier to follow. Overall, this book was just okay for me. It kept me entertained, and I read it very quickly, but it just was not the book for me.

So good. The perfect summer read. Awesome thriller... twisting plot, unreliable narrator, missing girls, spooky summer camp... what more could you want from a mystery?

The sophomore novel of Sager did not disappoint at all. The story of the last time I lied was as much of a who did it as it was a thrilling suspense novel. The story is split into past and present telling by the narrator Emma. When Emma went to Camp Nightingale she came to know three girls that would end up deeply impacting her life. Especially when they end up missing. Even after the camp closes due to the disappearance of the girls, Emma is haunted by the leader of the group, Vivian. Vivian is one that Emma loves, adores, and sometimes hates , a girl Emma can never forget. When the opportunity arises for Emma to return to Camp Nightingale fifteen years later she makes the difficult decision to return. Emma is left in the Camp in the same cabin she stayed in 15 years ago, now as a painting teacher and bunk mate of three new girls. The return to the camp leaves mysteries to unravel, a potential romance to bloom, and the lies to finally be put to rest as the truth is revealed. As we all know though the truth isnt always what it seems.

If you enjoyed Final Girls then I would suggest you read the Last time I lied. It certainly kept my attention and the ending left me wanting more. I look forward to seeing what Sager comes up with next

I thought this one was really good. I didn't even have a clue what was really going on until the very end. I love when that happens. When Emma is a young teen, she goes to summer camp and ends up in a cabin with 3 older girls... who disappear. 16 years later she gets the chance to return as a camp counselor and decides to use the opportunity to solve the mystery of her missing friends. Everyone seems just a little bit guilty. It's hard to figure out. There are a lot of variables involved. I really loved it. This is definitely getting a recommendation from me.

Emma was a part of Camp Nightingale 15 years ago. Three of her room mates go missing, never to be found. Now a rising star in the art circuit, the camp opens it's doors once again and convinces Emma to be a part of it! The girls have haunted her existence since the day they went missing. This time around, she is determined to find out what happened to her friends.
This book is eerie and kept me hooked. The camp and the forest it's set it surely gave me agitated sleep! I loved how the story built, but the real winner was the climax!
While I really could not pin who the culprit was or what happened to the missing girls, the end was surely satisfying! Yet another fantastic thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters, the premise and the way it all came together was really good.
Instead of trying to decode the book, it is a book that's worth simply being enjoyed for it's plot.
If you enjoy thrillers and books that might leave you with nightmares about dark and sinister forests( or camps) this sure will be something you'll like.
Overall, another enjoyable thriller that you could totally add to your TBR!

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

From 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.

I love that little excerpt from the description. I did have trouble swallowing some of the circumstances, but The Last Time I Lied certainly had a creepy vibe, plenty of twists, and a boatload of red herrings. Maybe it was trying a bit too hard, but I was OK until the ending which was implausible.

According to reviews on Goodreads, most people loved the book, so take my opinion with a couple of grains of salt. Despite wanting to like it, I mostly felt the author was manipulating too many circumstances.

NetGalley/Penguin Group
Mystery/Suspense. July, 2018. Print Length: 384 pages.