How reliable are the words of a heavy drinker? Casey Fletcher is a young window, a heavy drinker, and an actor hiding out at her family's lake cottage in Vermont. Casey saves Katherine, a former supermodel, from drowning; she befriends Boone, a former local police officer working as a handyman' and she becomes a nuisance to Wilma, a police detective. Riley Sanger has created a good intriguing novel with a now and before timeline that keeps the reader's attention. The House Across the Lake will keep readers glued to the final pages. Recommended.

This book was a trip. I was pretty convinced I knew where things were going early on .... and boy was I wrong!

I always love an unreliable narrator and Casey was certainly that. Always drunk, bored, and shady about her past, it was hard to trust her and I constantly questioned her version of events.

To top it off, the narrator for Casey was an interesting choice. This narrator was used in another book where the character was actually pretending to be someone else and I had a hard time separating her from that book. I kept waiting for a big reveal (and there was, just not in the direction I thought it might go) and I think the narrator kind of led me there unfortunately.

That being said, this was a great choice for audio because I felt like Casey had so many rambling monologues and I'm not sure my attention would have held as well if I had been reading the novel.

Overall, this was a decent read. I can't give it more than three stars because honestly it started out pretty straight forward and a good but not stellar read and then it went totally off the rails which was interesting I suppose but also didn't quite fit and definitely wasn't really what I wanted. So, all in all, not my favorite Sager but definitely glad I picked it up.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and to NetGalley for the copy.

I enjoyed all of Sager's other books, but this one was not for me. Between the cop romance, the unexpectedly supernatural twists, and a few plot holes, this one didn't land.

Another mediocre showing by Riley Sager. I keep reading his books hoping for something special, and they continue to disappoint or mildly entertain.

I had to read this for Book club but I should've DNF. It felt like nothing was happening & another drunk female MC was leading the way. I was a fan of Riley's earlier work but this was ridiculous.

I am a big fan of Riley Sager. I know I can always count on his books to take me for a ride and throw me a curveball I am not expecting.

The House Across the Lake was no exception! The twist was definitely one I did not see coming, but in the weirdest way.

This was definitely not my favourite Sager. The build up was slow and the twist was a little unbelievable and lost me a bit.

I will be reading whatever Sager comes out with next, but I’m hoping for something more believable next time.

What: one of those mystery thrillers that plays with the “is this real or a dream/alternate reality/supernatural” trope
About: a former actress escaping the world ends up spying on the perfect neighbor couple until she start seeing maybe-problems and sinister goings-on in the marriage.
Features: spooky, keeps-you-guessing
Assets: accessible, quick read
Obstacles: readers may find it hard to connect with characters, and/or feel like there's information deliberately withheld so they can't solve the mystery
Who it’s for:

You think you know everything about thrillers until you read this book.

This gave me 'The Woman in the Window" vibes and I am HERE for it! This is my first completed Riley Sager book and from what I picked up after reading this is that this will definitely NOT be my last. The atmosphere was eerie which made it much more enjoyable to read. That ending though! I didn't expect it AT ALL. Although I can see that the ending might not be for other people as it was a quick turn of events. I absolutely loved the unreliable narrator trope and it was executed magnificently in the book. Will I recommend this to my peers? Definitely!

Easy 4.5 stars!

(Late review due to forgotten password on NetGalley account)
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this title in exchange for my honest review.

I did not enjoy this book at all. It was going all fine but then took a very unexpected turn that left me very disappointed.

I love Riley Sager and have promised to read everything he publishes. This latest installment in the Sager Thriller Saga is to die for.

I've enjoyed Riley Sager's other titles, but found his previous effort the weakest. With that said, I'm glad that this one more than made up for it. I liked that there was a bit of supernatural in it, not just mentioned and then thrown out.

"What is marriage but a series of mutual deceptions."

After recently losing her husband, actress Casey Fletcher retreats to her family's lake house to escape a string of bad press. All alone and struggling to cope, Casey finds herself with bottles of wine and the opportunity to watch her rich beautiful neighbors. When one day Casey saves her neighbor Katherine from drowning, they soon become fast friends and Casey starts to get wrapped up in her life. But when Katherine disappears, Casey takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to her. Even if it will cost Casey her life.

As a huge Riley Sager fan, I couldn't wait to devour this one. The House Across The Lake is a fun mix of Rear Window, but ends up taking you on a wild adventure you won't expect. Don't let the classic unreliable narrator fool you, Sager has taken the trope and spun it on its head! Thrilling, imaginative, and entertaining, the twists are sure to grab you by surprise. So open up your mind and enjoy!

I love Riley Sager, and look forward to each new release that is released, so I couldn't wait to read his latest,
THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE.

The characters were likable enough for me, and I enjoyed the alternating POVS and timelines of Before and After, but my main complaint is that I grew bored with the plot and felt all of the twists were easy to figure out early on.

*many thanks to Dutton for the gifted copy for review

Super yikes. This book was so rough. The narrator was so ridiculously unreliable that it was embarrassing. And then the actual plot twist was so cringe. Ugh.

This book was not it. I had zero interest in this 20% in so decided to not finish it. Maybe Riley Sager isn't for me anymore? I'll probably keep trying to read his books because I have enjoyed a few in the past but this one and I were not vibing. Thank you for the chance to read this.

I love Riley Sager and am quick to buy and read anything he publishes, but this one was a complete miss for me. It felt eerily reminiscent to The Woman in the Window which was a snooze fest. The big "twist" in this book, while threw me for a loop, came out of left field and almost made no sense. I was really hoping for a solid thriller from RS, but I guess I'll have to wait until his next one!

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!

Description: 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.

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.

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.

My thoughts: this is my first Riley Sager book and I had high hopes based off mutuals loving Riley’s former books. In the end though I just couldn’t get into this book and ended up DNFing.

Riley Sager is an auto buy author for me so I was thrilled to get approved for The House Across the Lake. He did not disappoint. I found this one very entertaining and can’t wait to see what he comes with next!!

Riley Sager is the best of the best. This book is everything I wanted it to be and more. I went in knowing not much (just that I’ve loved all five of his other books) and this did not disappoint! Actually, the twist may be my favorite twist of the entire year! So wild and out there and perfect.