Thank you so much to Penguin Publishing and NetGalley for the Arc of this book! MAN OH MAN!!! What a twister indeed! While this one wasn’t my favorite the plot twist after the story initially was over threw me for a loop!! I love how Riley doesn’t fall into the weird romanticizing of addiction like some authors do, he showed a real person with real struggles, and by romanticizing I mean by not making the character feel the after affects of their addiction, some authors like to describe how happy their character feels when indulging in their addiction and not the after of guilt, shame, and loneliness so I do appreciate that!

This one was a little more paranormal and I was all here for that aspect. It took me a long time to get into this, at 25% I was still struggling but I had a friend push me to finish and I am glad she did. The story really picked up at that point and we started getting more glimpses into what was really happening.
Casey is back at her family's lake house after her husband died in the lake a year ago. She is washed up, a drunk and has been fired from her last movie. She sees a woman laying face down in the lake, and rushes to rescue her. She pulls her out and it seems like she is dead, until she isn't. She coughs and sputters out water and is seemingly revived and grateful for Casey saving her. Soon after, Katherine (the woman from the lake) befriends Casey, but as soon as she does, she goes missing and after seeing things across the lake, Casey thinks Katherine's husband is to blame. There are so many twists and turns here and wordplay to make you think you know what is happening but it really isn't. I enjoyed the twist and wasn't expecting the second one, but I really liked that fact too. There were some inconsistencies I am having trouble processing though. I liked this one, but I didn't love it as much as Riley's other works. I will continue to read any book he puts out though. 3.5 stars. Thank you to PRH, Netgalley and Riley Sager for an early copy.

I always love Riley Sager's work! I thoroughly enjoyed this story and the atmosphere of the lake houses. Rated 4 stars since I wasn't a huge fan of the twist- however it did surprise me and I wasn't able to guess what would happen. I would definitely recommend for fans of Riley Sager's other work.

Thank you to Netgaley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The House Across the Lake is my 4th Riley Sager read - and I wasn't disappointed one bit.

This story was so captivating, enchanting, gripping, and a page-turner. I loved the setting, the characters, and the story-telling.

The "then" and "now" POV was perfect for this book, because it kept you wondering. There were so many twist and turns, especially during the last 40% of the book. My jaw dropped a couple times.

Overall, one of my new favorite Sager books. I highly recommend if you're a fan of thrillers.

There has been a lot of really smart, expertly executed horror about widowhood these days, and Riley Sager's THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE is a great addition to this roster. Sager depicts the fragility and loneliness that often accompanies devastating loss, and cleverly uses it as a catalyst for the plot-- it explains why Casey is so wrapped up in the lives of her perfect seeming neighbors, and perhaps why she stays involved once it is revealed their lives may not be so perfect. Riley Sager has delivered us many propulsive, addicting thrillers, and this is no exception.

This was my first Riley Sager book, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen a lot of hype around this author across social media platforms.

In "The House Across the Lake," actress Casey Fletcher is holed up at her family’s Vermont cabin to try to get her life back together. She’s an alcoholic and had a very public meltdown after her husband’s death. She becomes obsessed with watching the house across the lake, where her neighbors Tom (a tech startup bro) and Katherine (a supermodel) live. Katherine disappears and Casey is convinced Tom had something to do with it. ⁣

⁣This kept reminding me of “The Woman in the Window,” to the degree that I was kind of bothered by it. There’s a jaw-dropping twist about 70 percent of the way through, and there’s no way you’ll see it coming. But it’s the twist itself that is very polarizing. This book is very readable — it’s the plot that had me scratching my head. I love the autumnal vibes in this one, particularly as I sit in the soup bowl of Florida summer. 🫠⁣
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I did not care for the way the book handled Casey’s addiction. While the character is obviously an alcoholic, it didn’t feel adequately addressed to me.⁣

Overall, I think I had mixed feelings about this. It was an enjoyable read but the supernatural element isn't something I typically look for in thrillers.

This was entertaining!
I was a bit hesitant about this book after "Survive the Night", but I was not disappointed. The beginning is a bit slow as we learn about the characters. But once the plot begins to thicken it gets better! I thought it would be a very cliche book, but it was not! The plot is not one of a kind, but the plot twist was good!

Sager seems to be hit and miss with me. This one wasn't able to capture my attention and it felt the same as one of his other novels. I once again am not crazy about the way that Sager writes women, the instincts and the behavior always feels off to be. I actually really enjoyed Survive the Night, so I was hoping this one would be the same. Unfortunate.

Sager’s latest takes us to a wealthy New England lakeside where Casey Fletcher is recovering from the death of her husband. She becomes intrigued by the happenings in the house across the lake until she witnesses strange events, which lead her down a dark and sinister path.

I liked the descriptions of remote lake setting and the voyeurism. There is a supernatural element that was a little weird and implausible for me. There were several unforeseen twists and the revelation of secrets that definitely boosted my enjoyment of this. Those who like horror with supernatural elements and lots of twists will like this best.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton and the author for the advance copy. I chose to read this book because I enjoyed Sager’s earlier novels and recall them as page-turners. This one took me a lot longer to finish as it is on the slower side as far as pacing. It felt like it took forever for things to get interesting and, they did eventually so it was worth the wait.
The main character, Casey, is not a likeable character and that usually makes a person more interesting to me. I did feel like the nonstop commentary on her alcohol consumption a bit tiring. This character is one I’ve met in many other books. The lake setting was lovely and well described as a remote and eerie location where all kinds of evil could happen. However, I didn’t get any of the scary vibes I got in Sager’s earlier work.
Maybe this book was a bit rushed? I think a tighter editing would have made for a more efficient read.
The plot started off like something I’ve read before, but the supernatural twist was unexpected, and I love when an author can pull that off on me. If you can suspend reality you’ll like this; if not, this book is not for you. Maybe this book was a bit rushed? I think a tighter editing would have made for a more efficient read.
If you haven’t read this author before, I’d recommend you start with one of the earlier novels. Home Before Dark is my favorite so far.
Although this wasn’t a 5 for me, I’ll definitely pick up Sager’s next novel as he is an excellent story teller and I can see from this novel that he’s not afraid to push the boundaries of the traditional thriller.

I’ve said it before, but one thing I look forward to every summer is a new thriller by Riley Sager, and this summer is no exception. Sager’s latest, The House Across the Lake, treads some familiar territory as an homage of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, but then takes a surprising twist.

Our protagonist is Casey Fletcher, an actress whose life took a downward turn with the death of her husband. Casey seeks solace from her grief in alcohol, and after some very public incidents, she has agreed to retreat to her family’s lake house – at her mother’s insistence. The problem is that the lake house is also the scene of her husband’s untimely death, and Casey has no intention of curbing her drinking.

Casey develops a fascination with her neighbors across the lake – supermodel Katherine Royce and her multi-millionaire husband Tom. What starts out as a way to pass the time becomes a borderline obsession as Casey discovers that the picture-perfect couple may not be as perfect as they seem. And then Katherine disappears.

The story is entertaining, if predictable for the most part – right up until the twist that marks it as different from Sager’s past novels. It definitely caught me off-guard, and I like a thriller that I can’t figure out all the answers to. It’s a quick, fun read, and I devoured it in one day in my backyard hammock. I highly recommend it, and can’t wait to see what Sager does next!

What? This is a fine book, though not Sager's best work at all. I do appreciate him trying something different with this one, and I was not expecting an actual paranormal twist. I'm just not sure it was done well, which surprises me because in the past, the maybe-paranormal aspects have been so good.

I will say, I went into this expecting it would be just a Rear Window retelling, but it's actually quite different to props to that.

Also I get a good chuckle at the idea that all of these people were celebrities. I would eat that gossip rag up.

Riley Sager, you've done it again.

I started out with this novel as being very skeptical. It felt very Rear Window-esque and as much as I love a good Alfred Hitchcock film, I didn't need a novel in the same vein, especially by an author that has absolutely wowed me in the past. I even went at well as to tell my book bestie that I felt that I wouldn't be rating this as highly as I've rated Sager's books in the past.

And then the twist happened.

Suddenly this book became VERY different, and I was all in. Going into this book, I didn't realize that there was a paranormal level to it, and I'm so happy I didn't know that because when the other shoe dropped, my mouth was hanging open and I positively had to know what the heck was going on.

I know this book probably won't be everyone's favorite, you have to have an open mind and be ready for a really killer twist. But I absolutely loved it and once again I'm reminded of why Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors.

If you're ready for a wild ride, you need to check this out.

A woman escapes to her lake home to heal after not only the death of her husband, but also bad press after a meltdown. After noticing new neighbors, she becomes obsessed with watching them across the lake. As she gets to know them, she realizes all is not right with the people and their marriage.

It started off as a good, suspensful novel but then moved into a rather strange horror type story. I found it to be a little too odd for my taste and not what I was expecting.

** 1/2 rounded up!

Rear Window has always been my favourite Hitchcock movie, so I was very excited to read something inspired by that story, but I was a bit disappointed with this one.

Casey Fletcher is the troubled daughter of a famous and beloved actress. Although Casey is an actress in her own right, she is now reeling from the sudden drowning death of her husband and has taken to drink to dull her pain. After some particularly bad coverage from the paparazzi, Casey's mother packs her off the lake house to sober up. Instead, Casey spends her time drinking non-stop and staring at the house across the lake that took her husband's life. After seeing something she shouldn't have, she suspects something bad has happened to the woman who lives in the house...

Where Rear Window was delightful in its unexpected peeks into the lives of others (good, bad, sad, and dangerous) and brought characters together, this book instead emphasizes Casey's isolation, addiction, and depression for most of the story. It felt like The Woman on the Train, The Woman in the Window, and every other thriller you can easily find on the bestseller lists of the years gone by.

Then, the ending.

Most of my complaints have to do with the ending and the denouement of the story, which I don't want to spoil here. Suffice it to say that I felt like some of the elements at the end felt out of place and even a bit cheesy.

Altogether, I feel a bit mystified by this book. It kind of feels like two novels mashed together, and I'm not sure which one I wanted in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

not what I expected…felt like a cross between behind her eyes and the girl on the train/the woman in the window - like I didn’t anticipate the twist to be what it was but it also felt out of place for some reason that I can’t explain?? I liked the pacing of it and the female characters did not seem so doorknobby that a lot of these types of stories portray them to be but in the same sense it was kind of predictable all the way through. Not bad, not awful, but not anything completely memorable

Love the world in this - very vivid landscape setting, along with seamless forays into using Instagram and contemporary social media platforms to hold up the story. The use of social media does not feel forced or stale. The narrator - Casey Fletcher - is equal parts inquisitively entertaining and utterly depressing, both of which make sense for her. Sager does a fantastic job of building up Casey's character slowly but surely, almost like a house of cards, or a super unwieldy jenga tower. Side characters are not as well drawn out as Casey, but that seems to be by design, as Casey's descent into depression, paranoia, and alcoholism takes center stage for the reader.

This book will definitely be a hit or miss. For me, it was a hit. The twist was something I could not have anticipated. I also do enjoy an unreliable narrator, and Casey is just like that. The pace in the beginning was a bit slow but it didn’t bother me. This is my first book for the author and I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting more of his books.

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The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts— Riley has done it again! What a fascinating thriller ala Rear Window about watching your neighbors on the lake! This one kept me guessing until that reveal! Wow! I highly recommend! Thank you so much to @netgalley for my advanced readers copy!
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Synopsis— Be careful what you watch for.
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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 bourbon, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is powerful; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.
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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 isn’t as perfect as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey immediately suspects Tom of foul play. What she doesn’t realize is that there’s more to the story than meets the eye—and that shocking secrets can lurk beneath the most placid of surfaces.
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Packed with sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy plot twists, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake is the ultimate escapist read . . . no lake house required.

I couldn't stop reading but the ending was disappointing. It feels like three separate stories stomped together. I kept anticipating a great twist that just fell flat.