In true Sager fashion this book was filled with crazy twists and turns and a major plot twist at the end that I did not see coming from a mile away.

Sager is a master at leading the reader towards a false sense of understanding where the story is going, just to pull the rug out at the very last second and reveal that things were not as they seemed.

As always I really enjoyed following along this story that was full of suspense. This one felt like more of a slow burn thriller in the beginning but once the action ramped up it was truly unputdownable.

RILEY SAGER, ya damn genius I LOVE YA.

He did it again folks, he did it again.

Loved it. Start to finish. No slow parts. A twist you won’t see coming.

Thriller by a lake? Add to cart. 🛒

If you know anything about me by now, I love reading a thriller set by a lake while sitting on the shore of a lake. Best summer pastime!

Riley Sager never misses!! The way I thought I knew where this story was going, but every time Riley was like SURPRISE! The writing had me on the edge of my seat and literally gasping out loud

He literally never misses and this book was no different

Wildly twisty, this suspenseful read starts out as what feels like a slow and interesting burn. With building insight into the puzzling activities of the neighbors populating a somewhat sinister lake-view community, our story is led by the first-person POV narration of Casey Fletcher, a thirty-something “troubled” actress who is still reeling emotionally from the recent drowning of her screenwriter husband. Huddled on the wrap-around deck of her private lakefront cottage, with a birds-eye view of her glamorous mega-model neighbor and her tech-titan husband, as Casey rapidly descends into a darkly alcoholic haze, it’s not clear if the drama unfolding is real, imagined, or a product of her addled brain cells.

Sinister and creepy, the story now unwinds with a crisp and compelling pace, right up to its explosive ending, virtually impossible to guess, and crowded with so many twists out of nowhere it feels downright chaotic. Hats-off to the author for this crazily inventive finish, which pulls out all the stops, literarily, weaving tricks and surprises that left this reader slightly dazzled, and more than a little awed.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This was my first time reading anything from this author and I must say I did enjoy this book. I love a good thriller and this one didn’t disappoint. I have since added his backlist to my tbr. It was a bit of a slow start for me, but the ending wasn’t predictable and so good it was worth the wait. I read this as a bookclub pick with some friends. I loved talking about it and seeing the varying opinions. Overall, we were happy with our choice and would read any of the author’s books again.

**Many thanks to Sutton/Penguin House, and Netgalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book**

I had never read a book by Riley Sager before reading The House Across the Lake before this one, and I enjoyed my read. Part Rear Window, part atmospheric read, it's an easy book to get into it one wants a mystery/thriller that doesn't require much in-depth sleuthing. I enjoyed it.

I think this may be the end of the line with Sager for me. There’s just this strange underlining feeling for me whenever he writes through a young woman’s perspective. Honestly gives me the ick. His perception of how a young woman thinks is through his male lens and many male authors have also written through this perspective but they haven’t made me question the thought process.

I won’t even get into how the ridiculous choices his female characters make. I understand it’s a fictional book and in thriller genres choices that women make are from desperation but not even female authors have their characters make these choices. Food for thought.

The ending made little sense to me and the lead up to it. I also found it so far fetched and convoluted that I wanted to chuck the book out the window. I rarely give a book a 1✨ but here we are.

Riley Sager is an auto buy author for me. I have read all his books and have enjoyed every single one. This book fell somewhere in the middle for me in rating his books. The twist was unexpected and I did enjoy the storyline but wasn't expecting the turn it took.

The story was slow and repetitive. The twists were definitely shocking but preposterous at the same time. A little backstory maybe?

This is a first of the authors books for me and I’m most apologetic it’s taken me forever to read and review it.

What I liked - the atmospheric sense of the lake in this book. Im all for a lake scene or a deserted cabin - they always make the greatest places for thrillers. I also love an unreliable narrator though the drunk woman spouting bullshit no one believes is a bit done to death (literally). I also love red herrings which you got plenty of in this book. The pacing was good, always something happening.

What I didn’t like - the biggest twist. If there’s something supernatural in a book I want it to be super bad, super chilling and supper horrific. Like gruesome and dastardly. This one was just a bit fantastic and a bit too easy without the edginess I appreciate (I don’t mind out there at all, so it wasn’t just that - it just didn’t get with me and I can’t put my finger on it).

This was interesting overall for me as I did enjoy the book and will definitely read another of his books.

Not my favorite of Riley Sager's thrillers, but certainly a wild ride from start to finish. I did not connect with the characters in this one the same way I have previously. One of the twists I did not see coming at all, but I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing in this case because it felt pretty out of place for the world he had created. Still an entertaining book and it won't stop me from picking up the next one!

Riley Sager's thrillers never disappoint. Fast paced with unexpected twists, I flew through this one like I do with all his books. Would recommend as a quick vacation read.

I have thus far been a huge fan of Sager, I've enjoyed the ones I have read so far.

This one just wasn't for me, though I couldn't pinpoint why. There were several things that just didn't work together. I think I'm an odd man out as so many loved and enjoyed and so I won't be posting about it so as to not sway any potential readers.

Major yawn on this one. Such a predictable plot line that the author tries to jazz up by adding a supernatural element that just does not work. Unlikable characters, phoned-in writing by Sager, and ridiculous plot making this novel a hard pass.

Really liked this but felt like the paranormal element was very out of place and bizzare. Didn't fit with the rest of the story. Love Sagers red herrings you never know where the story is going and if you think you do your wrong! Still a pretty good read!

Though this one started off a lot slower than his earlier books, the last 3rd made up for that in weirdness. I would like to have had the weirdness more spread out, but it was a good read.

When the dedication is a Taylor Swift lyric from No body, no crime you know you're going to be in for a while ride. At first I thought this was going to be a simple Man kills wife, man gets caught. But oh no! No, no, no. This is much more than that. This story is told from the perspective of a widowed alcoholic who has been spying on the couple who have just moved into the house across the lake from her via a pair of binoculars.

This gets dark and twisty really quickly and I thought I'd guessed where this was going but then I got completely thrown of guard when a major plot twist was thrown at me. Let me tell you, I could not have guessed this plot twist if I tried. I really enjoyed the character development and the imagery in this book, but I do think that after the plot twist the ending then became somewhat predictable.

Overall really enjoyed this and I'd say it's perfect for the spooky season!

One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long! It had all the elements that I love as a seasoned thriller reader. Will be recommending this to everyone!!

This book was a big miss for me. I sort of enjoyed the first 50-60% because I enjoy the Rear Window type plotlines. But then it all went downhill when the big twist/reveal happened. I was rolling my eyes from that point on and it took all I had in me to actually finish this book. This book was worse than Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. I miss the old Riley Sager books like The Last Time I Lied and Final Girls. This was a poor showing.

While I have enjoyed Riley Sager's previous works and recognized his writing skill, I must admit that The House Across the Lake was not to my taste. The writing style felt familiar, reminiscent of other murder mysteries I've read, and the book would have been predictable if not for a few surprising twists toward the end.

Although there were moments of suspense and well-crafted dialogue, I found the overall plot to be lackluster and unable to hold my attention. The characters failed to elicit strong emotions from me, leaving me indifferent to the book's conclusion.

While The House Across the Lake may be a decent option for a summer read, I would not recommend it to others seeking a thrilling and engaging murder mystery.