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.

This thriller was WILDDD. This was a pretty quick read for me, it kept me hooked and super engaged throughout. Even when it got to the unhinged twist, I was fully going along with it. The setup of the extreme unreliable narrator felt very heavy handed at times, but it made sense once the twist came—gives the reader some space to decide if this is reality or if our girl is just in a drunken stupor. Really enjoyed this one overall!

Riley Sager is always good for a spine-tingling thriller, and this one didn't disappoint. Casey Fletcher is a recently widowed actress who as retreated to her family's lake house in Vermont to escape her life, personal tragedy and a patch of bad press. She copes by self-medicating heavily with liquor. She passes the time spying on the glamorous couple across the lake. When Casey saves the wife, Katherine, from drowning, they pair strike up a friendship and being spending time together. The longer Casey watches, the more she realizes that this couple's life is not as perfect as it seems. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her.

This book had a very noir feel to it - between Casey's alcoholism and her paranoia, she was a very unreliable narrator and she kept me on edge as the reader. Can we believe what she's seeing? Or is she misunderstanding? It was a dark, twisty and engrossing guessing game. Who can we trust? If you enjoy an unreliable narrator and an unexpected ending, I think you'll enjoy this one. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one was interesting. The first half was giving played out Woman in the Window vibes. Drunk neighbor thinks she sees something going on at the house across the lake. And then it took a wild turn at the end that will make readers either absolutely love or absolutely hate this book.

I love Riley Sager books but this was a miss for me personally.

While I didn't love the twist at the end, once I got there, I literally couldn't put the book down! This is my first Riley Sager novel and I enjoyed their writing. At times, I suspected widely different people and was still surprised by the final outcome. The very last twist about Tom seemed thrown in but I didn't absolutely hate it, it just didn't feel as planned out as the rest of the story.

I can't explain how much I loved this book. It took about 150 pages for me to be fully hooked. But once the plot twists started coming, they didn't stop. The final reveal at the end had me so shocked. It brought something new to Riley Sager's books, and I can't wait to see what he does with it in the future. I have loved everything I've read from Riley Sager, and this one was no different.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

I am grateful that the publishers gave me the opportunity to read and review this book. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of psychological thrillers with a little bit of bonus paranormalcy thrown in! (Is that a word?!? 🤔)

What I really like about Riley Sager’s books is that I think I have it figured out, but I’m wrong. So then I go back and try again, and as soon as I think I have it figured out, I find I’m wrong again. 😂 I really like that this book kept me guessing and hooked me into finding out what happened and how. Great twist in this one too! I wasn’t suspecting a paranormal element to the book and found it very intriguing, even though it’s not my usual cup of tea. Overall, I really enjoyed it!

Casey is a retired actress retreating on her family's lake to escape life, dealing with the death of her husband. She has become quite accustomed to watching her neighbors across the lake with binoculars, often seeing things that she doesn't like. She saves Katherine, the woman across the lake, from drowning one day, and the two strike up a quick friendship.

As Casey is "spying" one night, suspicions strikes, and Katherine isn't heard from the next day when Casey tries to call. Time goes on and not Katherine, yet Tom, Katherin's husband, is beginning to act strangely, making Casey wonder if he has done something to her.

Another Sager thriller with a solid twist that keeps you wondering

I enjoyed this book but I'm not surprised as I usually enjoy books by Riley Sager. I thought this had a unique plotline and while some of the supernatural stuff lost me, I really enjoyed the ending and how interesting it was. Very unexpected. The characters were complex, especially Casey. She has a lot of complex relationships so understanding those took time but overall, I liked this book!

Riley Sager is pure popcorn thriller for me. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief with his books, but if you just want a ridiculous and campy thriller to bring to the beach with you, this fits the bill.