This book was incredible! It was gripping and a good thriller. It kept me into the story the whole through and I could not predict the ending. It was an amazing book and I recommend highly.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for this e-arc.*

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑰 𝒂𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔.”

Riley Sager is an auto-read author for me, so I was extremely excited to be approved for an ARC for his newest release (although how I had the patience to wait to read it and didn’t dive right is is beyond me… however it was well worth the wait!)

I always like that Sager’s books don’t always take place in present day; there’s something about no cell phones that amp up tension and a feeling of isolation. I enjoyed the references sprinkled throughout to books published in the Eighties, especially the shoutout to one of my personal favourites, Ordinary People. This book is less thriller-like and more Gothic suspense compared to Sager’s other books, but what doesn’t change is his cinematic way of writing; the setting of Hope’s End feels like a character itself, with a darkness that presides over the stuck in time crumbling mansion. The mansion and the “murder rooms” of the hallway, the billiard room and the ballroom reminded me a lot of Clue (which I also love). I was equally enthralled with Kit’s point of view in 1983 and the typed memoirs point of view “taking place” in 1929, with a whole slew of characters hiding a multitude of secrets. The story held me captivated, turning pages WAY past my bedtime with Sager throwing out twist after twist which meant I couldn’t stop reading. I did predict one piece of the ending, but it felt very appropriate (and strongly hinted at throughout) so I wasn’t disappointed in any way that I had predicted it.

The Only One Left is a story of isolation, presumed guilt, suspicion, betrayal and survival. Sager is at the top of his game with this Gothic mystery, which would read perfectly on a stormy night. A huge thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC!

Kit is a home health caregiver assigned to care for the infamous Lenora Hope.  She doesn’t want to take the job but caring for Lenora is her only option after a 6-month suspension, where accusations were made against her.  She moves in and begins to find out if Lenora is guilty of the Lizzie Borden-type massacre involving her father, mother, and sister she was accused of.

This gothic mystery is told in first-person alternating through Kit and Lenora.  The atmosphere is both creepy and sinister.

I found myself completely immersed in both the atmosphere and the story.   The twists and red herrings had me guessing throughout the entire book.  I thought I had things figured out, but the twists kept coming.

This is dark, a little dramatic, and I was completely engrossed the entire time.  This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.

This is a must-read for fans of gothic mysteries, creepy atmospheres, and shocking twists.  This book is another reason Riley Sager will always be my favorite thrilling

What a wild ride! I think by far this is my absolute favorite Riley Sager book to date!
Just when I thought I had the entire thing figured out and I truly thought I had it all tied up with a bow Sager threw in multiple different loops and sent me reeling.

The whole premise of the book starts with a young girl 1929 as the main suspect in the murders of her family.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life.....

Now if that doesn't want to make you read the book then I don't know what would.
The book starts in 1983 when Kit McDeere fresh off her own trauma and scandal takes a job at Hope's End caring for the one and only Lenora Hope. Not only does Kit not want to be apart of this job but things are definitely strange at Hope's End. From the cliff sides falling into the water the house in utter decay, Hope's End seems like a place where secrets go to die or do they?

I do not normally 5 star things but this book by far was 5/5 must read.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC read in return for an honest read.

Riley Sager’s latest release, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧, is a gothic thriller centered around Kit McDeere, a home-health aide assigned to be caregiver to the infamous Lenora Hope, who was accused, but never convicted, of murdering her entire family decades prior.

In the years since the deaths of her family, Lenora has become bedridden and unable to speak, communicating via typewriter. And she has never spoke about what happened to her family…until now, when she decides to tell Kit everything.

Set at Hope’s End, the crumbling cliffside mansion where the Hope family massacre took place, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧, is a wild ride that captured my attention from start to finish and had me questioning everyone and everything as the mystery unfolded, which I always love!

Add this one to your TBR if you enjoy:
- Atmospheric settings
- Unreliable characters
- Plot twists galore
- Eerie/spooky vibes

This was a rollercoaster all the way through. It was my first time reading Riley Sager, and my first thriller in a while, and it definitely did not disappoint. The twists were unexpected and frequent, but didn't feel overwrought at all. I'd recommend for all thriller fans and note Riley Sager as an instant read for all future books.

i don’t even know where to begin?!? that ending was so satisfying but also bittersweet and just when you think you have things figured out BOOM there’s another twist. i couldn't put this book down and even when i wasn't reading it, i was thinking about it. a new fav!!!

The Only One Left by Riley Sager
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬: Mystery/Thriller, Gothic
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: Physical
#DDTreview

QUICK BITS
•Gothic
•Story in a story
•Supernatural?

REVIEW
"Saying a lot without saying anything at all."

I feel like this quote kind of sums up my reading experience with The Only One Left.

I was was really invested in the first 25%, but then things seem to have gotten repetitive and although there was a lot being said the story did not feel like it was moving forward.

I am not a fan of using one piece of a mystery as a sort of carrot pulling you to want to keep reading, always teasing to it being revealed, without actually giving new information.

To make matters worse, the last 25% was FILLED with twists upon twists to the point where it became a bit ridiculous.

With so much to be revealed, why not start rolling them out earlier and really expanding on them to create a more dynamic reading experience.

Although I didn't love everything within this one, as always, I am always a fan of Riley Sager. For me, his books become an all time favorite...or not.

I did enjoy the bones of the story, even being one who doesn't love gothic mysteries. This would be a great read for those who are leery of the thriller genre and are looking to settle into a slower paced unraveling.

**SEE RANKING OF SAGER BOOKS BELOW**

RATINGS
6 Characters
8 Atmosphere
6 Writing Style
4 Plot
4 Pace
6 Intrigue
7 Enjoyment
3 SOS Bonus
TOTAL= 41+3= 44/14= 3.14

3.00/5.00 SOS Rating
--Honestly the number of twists in here, this should be a 5 SOS, but I do believe one can do to much.

3.25/5.00 Rounded Rating

My Sager Rankings:
1. Lock Every Door
2. The House Across the Lake
3. The Last Time I Lied
4. Final Girls
5. The Only One Left
6. Home Before Dark
7. Survive the Night

A huge thank-you to @netgalley and @duttonbooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kit has been suspended from her job as a caregiver when it is suspected she left medication out unsupervised and the patient overdosed. She has been loving with her father which has not been enjoyable for either of them. When she goes back to work, her only option is to stay with Lenora Hope, modern day Lizzie Borden. Kit doesn’t want to stay with her, but there literally is no other option for her. Once she moves in with Lenora, she finds out there may be reason to still be afraid of the woman who is now an invalid that doesn’t speak at all.

This book is wild. The end is so twisted. The best part is that there are so many twists, but it isn’t rushed like so many other thrillers. The truth is revealed in such a way that my mouth stayed on the ground for the last 30 minutes of the book. Fantastic read!

The Only One Left is a Gothic thriller by Riley Sager that tells the story of Kit McDeere, a young caregiver who is assigned to work for Lenora Hope, a woman who has been accused of murdering her family in a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

The novel is told in alternating first-person perspectives from Kit and Lenora, which allows the reader to get inside the minds of both women and see the events of the past unfold from their different perspectives. This makes for a more suspenseful and immersive reading experience, as the reader is constantly trying to piece together the truth about what happened that night.

Sager does a masterful job of creating a sense of atmosphere and dread in the novel. The setting of Hope's End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre took place, is both beautiful and sinister, and Sager's descriptions of the house and its surroundings are enough to make the reader's skin crawl. Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Books for the chance to review this advance copy.

Kit takes on a caretaker assignment to care for Ms Hope, an accused murderer. Ms. Hope was accused of murdering her whole family years ago and said to not have spoken a word of it since. Kit also has been accused of wrongdoings and has a bad reputation from her mother's death. So, imagine her surprise when she was given the job to care for Ms. Hope. Now I had my theories as to why she was selected after what Kit was accused of, but boy, was I wrong! Once she gets to the house, Kit finds herself in the middle of trying to find out what happened with Ms. Hope and the murders years ago. All the while, she's staying in this creepy mansion sitting on top of a cliff with dangers of the cliff collapsing!

This one jumped to the top of my Riley Sager book list, and it has taken the number 1 spot! I loved this one. It had mystery and psychological thriller, thriller vibes from beginning to end. There were twist after twists that had my mouth literally wide open when things started to reveal! I paired this one along with the audio and the narration brought the thrill out even more because it was so good. Some of the voices were chilling themselves!

I read my first Sager book, The House Across the Lake, a couple months back. I’m still unsure how I feel about it. I didn’t love it nor hate it. I was a little hesitant going into this one, as I wasn’t sure if Sagar is an author for me, but I ended up really enjoying this one!!!

Kit is hired as caregiver for Lenora Hope. Lenora is bedridden, unable to move or speak. Years ago, Lenora was accused of killing her entire family, however she was never convicted due to lack of evidence.

I really enjoyed the creepy mansion vibes this book offered. I felt like I was right there in the mansion, fearing for my life. There are so many twists and turns, that I was seriously at the edge of my seat the entire time. The last 50 pages were action packed and filled with shocking moments. I will definitely be recommending this one all summer long! This book also made me want to read Sager’s entire backlist!

It’s been a while since I truly loved a thriller book and this book made me feel like when I first read Sager’s earlier books.

Kit is sent on a in home care assignment to Hope Ends, an infamous mansion that was the scene of horrific murders over 50 years ago. In 1929 Lenora Hope was accused of murdering her mother, father, and sister but was never found guilty. After a series of strokes Lenora Hope is now mute and is confined to a wheelchair with only the use of her left arm. Lenora uses a typewriter to communicate with Kit where she says she would like to tell Kit everything. And the more Kit learns the more she realizes there’s far more to the story and it has present day consequences.

Sager does a very good job at making all of the twists and turns throughout the book compelling. The need to know what the answers to the mysteries propelled me to the end pretty quickly. Both Lenora and Kit are both likable but throughout the book I kept feeling like I couldn’t trust either. And with every question answered several more popped up.

The setting of this book was also perfect. Set in New England, the run down mansion is set on a cliff that overlooks the ocean. Not only does the setting add to the creep factor, the fact that Kit is now tending to a possible murderer in a creepy mansion, but also the state of the mansion adds even more tension to the already strange circumstances.

A story with many mysteries sometimes ends with disappointment or a bit of lackluster but I truly loved the ending to this book. It all made sense in a reality is stranger than fiction sort of way even though this is a work of fiction. I also love when an ending gives you a little bit more than just the answers you’re looking for and this book delivered.

Highly recommend this as a fun thriller read.

I wanted to love this more but it really took me some time to get through. This gothic mystery centers on Kit McDeere, a caregiver in the 80's down to her last job. She is tasked w/ taking care of shut-in, Lenora Hope, who was accused some 50 years ago w/ killing her whole family. There was not enough evidence to convist but the court of public opinion has spoken. But Kit was also accused of killing her mother and that is why she is down to the job that no one wants.
Lenora is in frail health, palsied from polio, and only able to type using her left hand. She was in the midst of typing out her story for her caregiver, Mary. But Mary left abruptly one night (or mysteriously vanished) without taking any of her belongings. What happened to Mary? Did Lenora actually do the things she was accused of? Did Kit?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for this e-arc.*

Wow! Just wow!
Having read one other Riley Sager book, I was interested in trying out something else from this author. I enjoyed the other book I've read by him (The House Across the Lake), but it didn't blow me away.
This book... This blew me away.
This is one of those mystery/thrillers that catches you right at the start and keeps your total and complete attention until the last page.
I was so frustrated with my schedule over the few days it took me to read this book. All I wanted to do was keep reading, but work and life were getting in the way!
And the twists? I didn't see any of them coming! They were so so juicy, but also made sense for the story. One aspect of the plot (mistaken identity due to similar names) was a bit clunky, but that was very minor and every other aspect of this story was thoroughly enjoyable.
If you're looking for an intriguing, captivating, shocking mystery this is the book for you!

I love gothic thrillers and The Only One Left is a satisfying story that immersed me in the tension and atmosphere of the narrative. Set at Hope's End a decaying mansion on a Rocky Cliff, the location added a sense of impending danger and isolation. Our main character, Kit has found herself in a difficult personal situation, so when she is offered the less then ideal position as nurse to Lenora Hope, she reluctantly accepts the job. Lenora is thought to have killed her family as a teenager but there was never enough evidence to convict her. Now, years later, Lenora has suffered from multiple strokes, is bed ridden and unable to move except for tapping yes or no. Almost from the beginning Kit can tell that something is not right at Hope's End, and it seems that nobody really knows what happened to the previous nurse. The other members of the household staff all seem to be keeping secrets and it is hard to know who to trust. As Kit digs into what truly happened all those years ago, she finds that someone doesn't really want the truth to come out.

This is a well written, gripping horror. This is my first book by Riley Sager I have read, and will definitely be picking up his back list.

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced reader copy to enjoy. This is my honest review.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager is a mystery thriller that appears as a gothic ghost story.

In 1929, Lenora Hope murdered her parents and sister, but this was never proven. It was turned into a schoolyard rhyme and Lenora never stepped out of her cliffside mansion.

In 1983, Kit is hired as a caretaker for Lenora who is mute, in a wheelchair, and can only move her left hand, which she uses to type out sentences on a typewriter. One night Lenora decides that she wants to tell Kit everything about what led up to the murders.

Thrillers always start out a little slow for me, but it had some great scenes. The creepiest part is the house. It's often mentioned that this is where the sister was hung, oh look there's still blood stains on the stairs, and the house tilts! It is slowly tilting off the cliff and I would never be able to deal with that. When they look out the windows, it's like they're about to go into the ocean and when Kit wakes up she has slid down the bed! I'd be out of there so fast.

Of course, I was suspicious of everyone, but Sager always comes in with a twist I never expect even if it involves the people I'm thinking of. I did feel like so much information was dumped at the end that I felt exhausted after finishing. I thought it was actually a bit of a sad story and feel that it's similar to Lock Every Door by Sager.


It comes out tomorrow, June 20!

Thank you @netgalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

A caregiver digs into a past murder when she’s assigned to the town’s own "Lizzie Borden."

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

Following her own controversy, home-health aide Kit McDeere is relegated to a job others have refused—to care for Lenora Hope, who in 1929 was accused of murdering her entire family. Lenora needs constant care after her stroke, which has left her unable to speak. Kit moves in to the notorious, now crumbling estate—Hope’s End—which sits atop a cliff off the coast of Maine.

Curiosity over what transpired consumes Kit, especially as Lenora and she begin to communicate via an old typewriter. Her time at Hope’s End takes an inescapable turn one night when Lenora offers, “I want to tell you everything.”

Sager masterfully builds a sinister, gothic atmosphere with both characters and setting. Ratcheting tension and a clamoring curiosity drive the narrative, while a bevy of intricate (arguably too many) twists shape the last quarter of the novel.

The vibe of the book is akin to Sager’s HOME BEFORE DARK (which I loved)—the derelict house of horrors dripping with decades-old secrets of murder, greed, envy, and forbidden romance. Parallels between past and present intensify stakes as the past rouses to life by the story’s jaw-dropping climax.

Dark, deliciously gothic, and dripping with drama, I couldn’t put it down.

riley sager is my favorite thriller author, and he has written my absolute new favorite of his novels with this one. a perfect story and deviates from his sometimes formulaic tropes. i couldn’t predict it!!! so good

Twist after twist after twist. Till my head was spinning. And then he left me in tears at the end 🥹. This is my 5th Sager book this year and they have all been 5⭐️. (I am in my Sager era 😄.) Buckle up for this Lizzie Borden inspired thriller y’all 🖤!
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In 1929, a small town on the coast of Maine was rocked by the massacre of the affluent Hope family. Teenage daughter, Lenora Hope, was the only survivor. And while evidence could never prove it, the whole town suspected she aaa also the killer.
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It’s now 1983, and home-health aid Kit McDeere has been assigned to care for the 70 year-old heiress, who has been paralyzed and left mute by strokes. Lenora only has use of her left hand, which she
begins using to type out a story. A story that could reveal the bone-chilling truth about the Hope family massacre. But is a member of the house staff trying to keep the truth hidden? And is Lenora really as harmless as everyone claims she is?
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This book alternates between Lenora’s narrative of the events leading to the 1929 murders, and Kit’s perspective in present day 1983. The second half of the story takes off like a freight train. I was so stressed reading! Heart beating, adrenaline pumping, never knowing which way the story would veer next. It hurt my brain a little trying to absorb all the twists and reframe the story with the truth in mind 😆.
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Friends, Sager has done it again. Do not sleep on this one! Thank you to @duttonbooks and @netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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The Only One Left - Riley Sager
5/5⭐️
Pub Date: 🎉6/20/23