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.

5 ⭐️

I am simply convinced that Riley Sager is one of the most prolific mystery/thriller authors of our time. This story was phenomenal, kept me guessing until the end, and left me feeling all the good feels.

The story itself reminds me of the board game Clue- constantly trying to figure out who killed who in what room of the enormous home on a hill that looks out towards the ocean. You will undoubtedly fall in love with the characters.

10/10 recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Shari Lapena for supplying me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.
 
Riley Sager actually surprised me in this book. There were moments in this book where it actually spooked me since I was reading it at 2am & it was a very easy book to read.
 
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.
 
In 1929, there was family murder surrounding a mansion on a rocky cliff side in Maine called Hope’s End. The only surviving member was the daughter Lenora Hope who was the main suspect. She was not convicted however due to a lack of evidence including her denial. She stayed at Hope’s End never to be seen outside the mansion and the story became some sort of a legend.
Now it’s 1983, and Lenora’s primary caretaker left in the middle of the night disappearing without a trace so Lenora is in need of a new caretaker which can be sort of a problem since people fear Lenora Hope & Hope’s End. Lenora is confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak or move, except for her left arm due to a series of strokes.
 
Kit signs up to be her new caretaker since Kit unfortunately, doesn’t have much of an option since she was accused of a crime so Kit accepts the job which involves living at Hope’s End.
 
Kit is dead set on finding out if this ghost story is true that a 17 year old Lenora could kill her parents and her sister or if there’s more to the story. Kit starts helping Lenora tell her side of the story by using an old typewriter to find out the truth of what really happened that dreadful night in 1929.
 
Kit starts wondering if the seemingly harmless woman in her care is far more dangerous than she first thought.
 
Thank you again, Netgalley, & Shari Lapena for supplying me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have read most of Riley Sagers books…LOCK EVERY DOOR is still my favorite. This one was pretty good. Kit is a caregiver who was suspended from her job when a patient under her care passed away and Kit was seen as negligent. Now she's back to work and they only have one job available. To work at Hopes End, a dilapidated mansion at the Sea cliffs edge, caring for elderly Lenora Hope. She's not exactly excited for it because Lenora was a suspect in the murder of her family in that exact mansion, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge her. After that, Lenora has multiple strokes and now only has use of her one hand, and uses taps to communicate "Yes" or "No". Kit finds out that the previous caregiver left in the night and never returned…and left all of her things. Now Kit is staying in a room that connects to Lenoras room. She hears footsteps at night, and notices things are being moved…but Lenora can't be doing this as she is debilitated. One day, Lenora starts typing messages to Kit with her help. She wants to tell her what happened that night, but is only doing it bits and pieces at a time. You cannot trust anyone that is in the house like Mrs Baker who runs the home now, or the groundskeeper. This was a really good mystery and Sager leaves a trail of clues throughout. The ending was not what I was expecting and I thought it was well done. The reason this wasn't 5⭐ for me was that I wanted Lenora's story up front. Definitely another entertaining read though, that I did enjoy.

Out June 20.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon once it publishes.