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

The Only One Left is one twisty, creepy story. Every year I look forward to the newest Riley Sager book and this one did not disappoint. It’s 1983 and Kit is a disgraced home-health aide, forced to take the least desirable assignment, a woman who is suspected of murdering her whole family in the 1920’s. Lenora, the patient, is now wheelchair bound and in her 70’s. When strange happenings start occurring on the property, Kit realizes that she may be uncovering the true story of what happened the night of the murders and that she may be in danger because of it.

I almost always love a book that switches back & forth from the present to the past to uncover a mystery and I enjoyed the way it was done in this book. Typed pages that Kit reads to learn about the murders from the point of view of Lenora, but can she trust her? I loved that you were able to read what Lenora typed but had to take everything with a grain of salt, I felt like it really put the reader into Kit’s shoes, trying to uncover the truth.

Not only is there the mystery of what happened the night of the massacre and what lead up to it, but what secrets is Kit hiding and what happened to the previous home-health aide? Everyone at Hope’s End seems suspicious because most of them are hiding secrets of their own. All the secrets are uncovered in an interesting way and don’t drag on.

I was surprised by the twist; I did not see it coming and I am usually good at figuring them out about halfway through the book. Sager usually has a couple of twists in his books and this one is no exception. If you are a fan of other books by this author, I recommend picking up this fast-paced read that will have you turning the pages as fast as possible.

I have enjoyed several books by Riley Sager so when I saw this Lizzie Borden-style thriller I knew that I had to read it! I will say that it kept me in suspense and I had to finish it to find out how it all played out but, I thought the twists and turns that were made were made simply for the sake of it and not in a logical or even thrilling way. I was disappointed with this one. I found our main protagonist to be a bit irritating, blaming everyone at every chance she got but yet, things were often solved quickly for us through the narration or she gave up quickly on the blame game just to pick it back up again. I will say that I enjoyed the bits of sing-song style poetry but overall, I was so tired of being thrown around at the end I was glad to see the last page. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Riley Sager books for me are always a fun ride, with all the ridiculousness and crazy plots and this one was no exception. In fact, this has been my favourite of his recent books as I thought the Gothic setting worked really well. Hope's End as a house was a character and there was a real sense of threat from the house itself throughout the narrative, not in a supernatural sense but from the very real problem of a house being built at the edge of a cliff. The characters here all had a Gothic feel to them, with the invalid Lenora Hope, the suspected killer of her whole family, or the prim Mrs. Baker, the housekeeper who rules the house with an iron fist. Throw Kit into this mix as a caregiver for Lenora who has a checkered past of her own. I thought the storytelling aspect worked very well, as the typewritten sections were interspersed into the narrative, maintaining the tension throughout. I also thought that the many twists towards the end were very fun and I didn't see them coming. Overall, a super entertaining read that I will definitely recommend.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I had no idea what was actually happening, who or what to believe, but of course that made it all the more exciting! The creaky old home provides the ideal setting for this spooky thriller.

Sager has written a mystery and suspenseful tale that keeps the pages turning ever-faster with twist after twist near the end.

4 Stars
I was immediately pulled into this, it definitely spooked me a few times (enough to not want to read it in the dark lol). I did figure out a bit of the big twist early on but those last few chapters still left me gasping. I did feel like maybe a bit much happened in the end that the book would've been fine without, some of it felt unnecessary and confusing. This is a fast paced, eerie, gothic thrill ride with a good sprinkle of WTF? twists (some good, though some I really could've done without). All in all, another great read from Riley Sager that had me hooked from the beginning.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC!

I've read every book from Riley Sager and I truly feel like he does gothic best! A creepy house + some spooky circumstances make for a great time.

I feel like since I've read everything from Sager, I've come to learn his style and what to expect. His thrillers lean on the side of fun/ridiculous/over-the-top plots and twists, so I had a great time knowing that's what I was in for. The final 10% was a bit of a whiplash experience, but I was prepared for a crazy ending like that knowing Sager's style so it didn't make the story fall apart for me.

If you liked Home Before Dark, The House Across the Lake, Lock Every Door, and especially Verity by Colleen Hoover, I think you'll have fun with this one.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Featured in this reading vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBnfw57KFkM

Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors, making this one of my most anticipated reads of the year. There’s just something about picking up a new Sager novel 🤩

THE ONLY ONE LEFT is an atmospheric thriller and felt like it was a return to Sager’s earlier books. I loved the setting and the creepy schoolyard chant that really sets the scene of the previous murders that took place in the mansion.

🔪 “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.”
🔪 a falling-apart mansion on the coast of Maine
🔪 gothic, atmospheric vibes
🔪 twists I did NOT see coming

Sager’s storytelling is eerie, thrilling, and had me constantly questioning things. I kept trying to picture myself in Kit’s shoes — all of the noises in the mansion, possibly taking care of a murderer, so many secrets and not knowing who you can trust… NOPE! I couldn’t do it.

I really enjoyed the majority of the book, but the ending didn’t do it for me. There were SO many reveals which felt overwhelming and one twist after another took away from the shock value of some of them.

It really wouldn’t be summertime without Riley Sager. I'm so happy I got an early copy of this because I absolutely loved it! I’ve already seen the typical Sager divide on Instagram, as people tend to either wildly love or wildly not enjoy his new releases. I personally think Sager is a home run hitter every time he focuses on a big creepy house or space (Lock Every Door and Home Before Dark) and applies his typical twisty turny plots and expert pacing. This one follows Kit, an in-home health aide that finds herself with a troubling assignment following a workplace incident that left her suspended. Her new ward? An old woman, Lenora, who also happened to be the town boogeyman after she was accused of murdering her parents and her sister in her youth. Acquitted but an outsider, she spends her days in a dying mansion on a cliffside- Hope’s End. And when she offers to tell Kit her story, it uncovers buried secrets that some would kill to stay buried. The pacing in this book is incredible, such a propulsive narrative style that forced me to read it in almost one sitting. Is everything in the plot plausible? No. Was it really fun? Hell yes! This is such a gothic, atmospheric mystery that really had me hooked. One of my most anticipated of the year, and it didn’t disappoint!

My review will run on my Instagram on the Pub date - @boozehoundbookclub

This might be one of the twistiest mysteries I’ve ever read! It kept me so engrossed that I finished it in less than a day. I certainly wasn’t able to predict most of the surprises. Fans of gothic murder mysteries will greatly enjoy this one. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To say I was hesitant going into Riley Sagers latest novel is an understatement. His last few books have been so underwhelming and filled with ridiculous tropes of “unreliable” women and weird supernatural nonsense that I delayed reading this ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised by the tone shift in the book. While our main, Kit, is wracked with guilt after a careless oversight caused the loss of her mother, she is not constantly drunk, high or generally unreliable. This was a step in the right direction for Sager who, as of late, had only been able to write one type of woman.

While I did predict a couple of the twists (there are many) and this novel was definitely not as “thrillery” as I would have liked, I did enjoyed this story of a scandalous 1920’s Lizzie Borden-esque series of murders, overlaid in a “present day” (1980’s) crumbling mansion where nothing is quite what it seems.

The pace was solid, the storyline was intriguing and while it did at times feel claustrophobic since so much of the plot took place at the mansion, I felt that was intentional to give the reader an inkling into how Lenora felt for the past fifty years.

While I would have liked a few of the ultimate “culprits” to have been different, I think this is hopefully the start of Sagers’ comeback. The last time that mansion door swings shut was so artfully written I got literal chills. This is a great pick to throw in your tote as a beach read or in your bag for the plane as it will definitely keep you turning pages and guessing until the very end.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Rating: 3.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This is the first book I have read by this author and after reading this one, I am definitely going to read his other novels.

This story kept me engaged throughout and in fact, I finished it in one day. I couldn't stop reading it until I knew how it was going to end. The ending shocked me, I had convinced myself I knew how it was going to end but I loved the twist in the plot.

4 out of 5. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller.

A new Riley Sager novel is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate. He is such an astute student of horror fiction and I love how he takes a genre trope and subverts it for a modern audience. This tale drips with Gothic atmosphere and, let me say, nothing is as it seems. Full of Sager's signature twists and turns, the story builds to a genuinely shocking denouement and, once again, cements Sager's status as one of the preeminent modern master's of the psychological thriller.

Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors and The Only One Left is no exception to his brilliance. It is full of all the excitement and twists, turns and surprises that we have become accustomed to from Sager.
Kit has not only lost her mom but her father in the process as well. She is forced to take a job at the mansion on the cliff and take care of the woman who the town knows to have killed her mother, father and sister, Lenora Hope. Not long after Kit arrives, she discovers a body on the beach. Since Kit doesn't have much to lose, she digs to get the truth Nothing is as it seems and in the end, Lenora's story and hers are more connected that what she could have ever imagined!

My head is still spinning! I was so excited when I first saw this one. That creepy cool cover, the equally creepy synopsis! Riley Sager is an auto-read author for me so I was down either way. But The Only One Left felt special, right up my alley. And I was not disappointed.

Kit is a caregiver going through a tough time and pretty much forced to take a job she'd rather not. She has to tend to Lenora Hope, someone believed to have murdered her whole family. She's very nervous but professional, after all Lenora only has the use of her left hand and is therefore harmless..right?

The old mansion she'll be living in is situated on a cliff that is slowly but surely crumbling into the Atlantic. That only adds to the feelings of tension and dread as Kit hears strange noises at night and tries to figure out if Lenora is indeed guilty. Because Lenora wants to tell her the whole story.

With the use of a typewriter, Lenora reveals what lead up to that fateful day in 1929. You are kept guessing right along with Kit as she questions people in the house and tries to piece things together. I certainly didn't have it all figured out! The twists were shocking to say the least.

Basically The Only One Left has the vibes of a Gothic soap opera. It's a bit over the top and dramatic. Some things that happened and certain character's actions didn't make sense and seemed unnecessary. But I've come to expect that from a Sager novel and that is in no way a complaint. Quite the opposite, in fact. I wanted a dark engrossing thrill ride and I got one!

Thank you Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early!

Wow. This one blew my mind and was reminiscent of Sager’s first few novels.

Packed with atmosphere and so many twists, The Last One Left had me hooked from the beginning.

“At Seventeen Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope”

A family massacre 54 years ago left Lenora Hope holding the rope and the lead suspect of her family’s murder. She’s an invalid now and still lives in the infamous Hope mansion.

Kit becomes her caregiver after she has no choice but to accept the assignment after being suspended for the suspicious death of her own ill mother.

She is no clue what’s she’s in for.
It’s everything from a ramshackle mansion that could fall into the sea at any moment, to Lenora trying to ‘tell’ her all her secrets of the past with a typewriter that Lenora can only type on with her good hand.

This gets twisty and I truly loved every page. I was still gasping so close to end as the secrets just kept coming! I LOVE this kind of read and it was much needed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Where. To. Begin. 😧 Only One Left sucked me in from page 1. Something horrible happened, and a family is slaughtered. There is one survivor, daughter Lenora, who is presumed guilty. Without evidence to convict her, the case goes cold. The town doesn’t forget, though, and soon the privileged 17 year old is a town legend; their very own Lizzie Borden.

Fast forward 30ish years, and a caregiver (Kit) with an iffy-reputation is tasked with the care of Lenora. Rendered paralyzed and immobile due to strokes and polio. One day, Lenora types into her typewriter, “I want to tell you everything” 😦😦😦😦😦

Knowing the truth might be the biggest burden Kit has ever heard. Will she regret it? Maybe some secrets shouldn’t be told. (Dun dun dun!!!!)

Nothing. Let me repeat: NOTHING is quite what it seems in this page-turner by Sager!!

love the gothic atmosphere, loved the buildup more than the reveals, but I definitely didn't see almost any of them coming. it felt like whiplash, but that's Riley Sager for ya. I thought some parts that were randomly reiterated were kind of unnecessary and trying too hard to be red herrings. I liked the very very end because it confirmed something I wanted to happen about halfway through, and I appreciated a bunch of questions being answered, but there were still some unanswered in my head when I finished the book. I liked this one significantly more than his last book, however. I've read every Sager book to date and will continue to pick up what he writes next.