4⭐️
Riley Sager is back my friends, and this one you don’t wanna miss!! I binge read a lot of this one on a flight back to Arlington today, and honestly didn’t mind being in the back of the plane because it gave me time to finish right before I got off!!

I have read every Sager book, and was pleasantly surprised by this one after not loving the last couple. This one took the classic & somewhat overdone “unreliable drunken female narrator spying on a neighbor” trope and completely took a new turn.

📖READ IF YOU LIKED📖:
• THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
• BEHIND HER EYES
• THE SAFE PLACE
• JAR OF HEARTS

What I liked:
• It was more of a whodunnit mystery than I was expecting, and I loved going back and forth between who I suspected.
• Creepy imagery with the lake, woods, and thunderstorm.
• Once I got halfway, I couldn’t put it down.
• I liked the “before” and “now” sections that kept me guessing!
• Lots of plot points that wrapped up well and didn’t leave me wondering “I wonder what happened with …”
• Multiple twists that took me by surprise!

Didn’t Love:
• Yes the main character is an alcoholic and her drinking is a big point of the story, but a lot of the first half went into detail about her drinks and hangovers that didn’t seem super necessary.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book! This thriller was a fun ride that definitely gave me Rear Window vibes. The pacing in the beginning was slow but as the story moved along the pace picked up. The only thing I didn’t love was the main plot twist. The main thing I love about Sager’s other books is that it seems like something supernatural is happening but it actually isn’t supernatural. That wasn’t the case in this book which kind of let me down. However I did appreciate the final twist at the end. 3.5/5 stars

I've loved everything Sager has published, and this one is no exception. A great read with an interesting twist at the end. Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book kept me guessing the entire story. Riley Sager is such an amazing writer and really captivates his readers. I would highly suggest this book to anyone who love a good mystery/thriller! This will definitely be a popular beach/summer read!

A SUPER special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of The House Across the Lake!

WOW - just WOW! I could not put this book down at all - completely engaging, through provoking and a top notch book by Riley Sager (admittedly this is my first Sager read but I've already ordered a few more). This book is full of twists that are impossible to predict, I was engaged the whole time and didn't want to put it down!...there are so many twists and they just kept coming! With a great plot line and well developed characters its was a super great read! I don't always enjoy a back and forth plot line but it worked so well for this book! The mystery was there! I cannot wait to read the Sager books that I have coming!

After reading Survive the Night (and loving it!) I knew I had to get my hands on Ms. Sager's next thriller. I don't want to give away any spoilers or twists and turns that happen throughout the novel but if you are a fan of things like Rear Window you will enjoy this mystery thriller. On occasion, the main character did make some interesting choices that had me wanting to yell at her on the page but overall I really enjoyed the story with the twists! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

As always Riley Sager didn’t disappoint. I wait every year for the newest thriller to come out by him and then devour it in one day. I do feel this one was a little more of a slow burn compared to previous novels but there was no lack of suspense and in the end it just built up the tension even more.

With glimpses of Rear window, mentioned in the book, and woman in the window, Casey is an alcoholic who recently lost her husband. In an effort to stay out the tabloids, with her out of control behavior from her grief, she is at the family’s secluded lake house. As she drinks from her deck she watches the new rich neighbors across the lake. One day, she sees someone drowning and ends up rescuing the wife, Katherine.

A friendship evolves from this but all may not be what it seems. As she becomes from alcohol soaked, she involves herself in their lives and her neighbor next door. What transpires from this that all loops back to what happened on the lake a year before will leave your jaw dropping. Buckle in for another twist and turn of one of Riley;s suspenseful masterpieces.

I have read every single Riley Sager book, and I’m disappointed to say that this one is my least favorite. First of all, it takes forever for anything interesting to happen. I got 50% of the way through before I became interested. Second, the twists are unpredictable, which I lived, but also very silly at the same time. It was missing the excitement and mystery, and frankly I found myself not caring about any of the characters. I look forward to his next book, but don’t think this was his best work.

The plot of "The House Across the Lake" was a little slow for most of the book, and it had a lot of similarities to many (MANY) of the recent psychological thrillers, up until the end. Unfortunately the twists at the end were a little too unrealistic for me. I prefer Sager's early novels.

I did like this book, but I didn't love it. It was just okay for me. I was interested in what was going to happen very early on, but it didn't grip me as much as I thought it was going to. I think I just found certain things redundant with this book. The unreliable narrator being a drunk is overdone in my opinion. I understood the why given the character's backstory. I also didn't like the paranormal aspect, it just didn't land for me. I think because I wasn't expecting it. This is only the second Riley Sager book I've read, and I now know he's done that in the past, but I didn't when I was reading it so it felt off for me. I think had I read his other books that have that element in them, it wouldn't have felt so out of nowhere for me. But I did find some of the twists surprising since I'm not good at guessing those. I found some others a bit unnecessary.

I did like this one though, mainly because I do love Riley Sager's writing style. So I do think I will be reading his other books that have already been published. I do find, out of the 2 books I have read, that I look forward to what he's going to do next.

The House Across the Lake – I was thrilled to get a chance to read this story, as a Sager fan. This was an interesting read ~ It was like two separate stories! The first half was the better story I felt, but the twists to come caught me completely off guard!! The characters were all interesting, and it was hard to figure out what was really going on, but I didn’t feel this was quite up to Sager’s lofty standards! Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this mystery thriller.

This is my fourth Sager read and unfortunately my least fave, not to say that it wasn’t compelling once I got about 70% in. Then it was nuts and I was all in. Just wish it had picked up the pace long before that.

Riley Sager's The House Across the Lake is a classic Sager thriller. It was a nice read with some good spooks.

First off, I really appreciate Sager leaning in on this one. I can honestly say that I had no clue at any point what would happen next (even when I was halfway through and thought I called the ending by a mile). This was twisty and creative - but for some reason I kept not picking it up and finishing it. There was something about the trope used that had a hard time hooking me. Of course, I will be picking up whatever he writes next!

3.5 stars, but I had to round down on this one, sorry!

Based on some of the other reviews, I totally expectedThe House Across the Lake to be a 2-3 star read for me since I have given almost every other Riley Sager book a middle-of-the-road 3-star rating, but honestly, it wasn't that bad. Sure, it was kind of slow and repetitive. Yes, the main character was a bit shallow and underdeveloped, there was a lot of suspension of disbelief, and the plot was entirely predictable, but at this point, that's what I expect from a Sager novel, and to be honest, I don't hate him for it.

I've mentioned before that I feel a true sense of nostalgia whenever I crack open a brand new Riley Sager novel. It totally takes me back to the days of being in middle school and diving into the newest Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine book - a total guilty pleasure, even if it often leaves you feeling a bit unsatisfied in the end. There's just something addictive about his writing that brings me back time and time again...and now that I have a gauge on my expectation level, I wasn't entirely disappointed in The House Across the Lake.

That said, I much preferred Sager's dive into the paranormal in Home Before Dark vs The House Across the Lake. This one was just way more of a stretch and a lot less believable, but it was still entertaining, in a made-for-TV movie kind of way. The ending, in particular, felt a bit off, and it reminded me of a book that I wrote in second grade that ended with the line, "We all went to [our friend] Heather's funeral, and then we went over to Jennifer's house and ordered pizza and had a slumber party." A slight disconnect there, and a bit of a weird way to wrap everything up in a neat and tidy bow.

Like always, though, I can pretty much guarantee that I will pick up his next book as soon as it comes out. I just can't seem to help myself!

Every year I look forward to there being another Riley Sager book, so I was really excited to get to read The House Across the Lake. I have enjoyed every book written by this author and wasn’t disappointed. This book was very thrilling and I was honestly gripped from the first page.

Casey is an actress whose husband recently passed away. She has started drinking heavily and has pretty much been forced to her family’s lake house in Vermont to avoid more bad press. Casey, bored and lonely, starts spying on her new neighbors across the lake, a former model, Katherine, and her husband Tom. Casey saves Katherine from nearly drowning in the lake and they start developing a friendship, but as Casey keeps spying she becomes increasingly worried about Katherine’s safety. Then, when Katherine disappears Casey is determined to find her.

The first scene of this book honestly had me completely pulled into learning more. I don’t want to give anything away, but the beginning makes you almost instantly invested into finding out about what happened to Katherine. There is also a twist that happens mid-way through the book that made my jaw-drop. I was completely blindsided in the best kind of way.

I love books in which you don’t know who to trust, it throws everything you thought you knew into question. I honestly thought everyone was guilty at some point and I love that the author is able to do that. Casey is of course an unreliable narrator, but I always feel like that heightens the mystery. Is she actually experiencing everything she believes she is or not? I think it really adds to the suspense of this book.

The location of the book also created an eerie atmosphere. The lake house is on a private lake surrounded by only a couple of homes and during the off season there are only a handful of people there. There is such a sense of seclusion that you can feel.

If you enjoyed the author’s previous works, you are likely to enjoy this one too.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4

This was a pretty solid mystery/thriller. It held my interest the whole way through and kept me questioning what was going on and wondering who I could really trust. The main character has a drinking problem which makes the reader question whether or not they are a reliable narrator. The author did a good job with pacing and not giving away the ending but having the clues there if you're really paying attention. Some things I was able to figure out and others I wasn’t but after thinking back I can see that the clues were there. The writing was easy to follow and even though the characters didn’t have much to them I enjoyed them.

My problem with this book was how the synopsis makes it sound like every other thriller. I enjoyed this one because I haven’t read “The Girl on the Train” or “The Woman in the Window”. Both of those books have a similar premise in that the narrator is unreliable due to their drinking and they all witness something but aren’t exactly sure what they witnessed. That's the same exact idea for this one but this one might surprise you in some ways. I think if I would have read the other two I might not have enjoyed this one because it would have felt like the same story with a new setting. However, if you did enjoy those two then you will enjoy this one even more!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this one and I really wish I could say more about it. But due to spoilers I want you to solve the mystery on your own! Try not to read reviews because you definitely don’t want to learn the twist. There is also one book that can be compared to this one that will give the twist away and I’d hate for you to learn that.

Thank you so much @penguinusa for the #gifted copy on #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year!! I got to spend much of my Mother's Day reading one of my favorite author's newest books! It was phenomenal! I thought I had it figured out at one point, but leave it to Riley Sager, a true master of twists, to totally throw me! This book is brilliant and I highly recommend pre-ordering this! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Let me start with I usually LOVE Sager novels but this one was just okay for me…

What could have been better?
Some of the tropes were just ones that have been done to death and I don’t love: the unreliable drunk female protagonist, the husband that is oh so suspicious, the overbearing mother/family, easily avoidable shake your head scenarios. Most of the book I was not really feeling it.

What I enjoyed?
It was fast paced.

There was and then and now pov, which I always adore.

AND THEN!

And then….

THE TWIST AT THE END SAVED THIS BOOK FOR ME.

I mean I was feeling unsure and thought I would definitely be writing a rage review…but then…I loved the twist and I didn’t see it coming, but I could go back and see it unfold, which makes it all the better.

Maybe not my favorite Sager, but man, as always I love when he surprises me.

Twisty turny like a typical Sager novel, this one unfortunately missed the mark for me. The ending/conclusion made me like it a bit more, but once the big twist happened I wasn't nearly as into the premise.