This thriller left me guessing until the very last page. Riley Sager continues to write intriguing page turners, I am always exciting for the next novel.

So, I am definitely a fan of Riley Sager and was sad that I didn't care for The House Across the Lake but woo-eee what a ride The Only One Left was! Starting with the creeptastic rhyme "At 17 Lenora Hope hung her sister with a rope, stabbed her father with a knife, ended her mother's happy life". In the 1920's the Hope's were a very rich new money family until it all came crashing down with the murder of 3 of 4 members of the family. Everyone has always suspected the lone survivor Lenora Hope of doing the dastardly deed but could never prove it. Now years later, after a scandal of her own, Kit McDeere takes on the job of caretaker to the infamous Lenora in the now crumbling estate. After a series of strokes that left her mute and paralyzed, Lenora indicates to Kit she is ready to reveal all by typing out her story with her one good working hand on an old typewriter. Will the truth finally be revealed or are there those out there that still want it buried after all these years. This book had the perfect amount of everything-suspense, twists, old manor creepiness, love triangles and a very unexpected ending. Got a little confused as the book was concluding-I mean what in the ? was happening??? But it was ultimately satisfying and surprising. I think this one is up there with Final Girls for me.

“‘If I were you, I wouldn’t spend too much time typing with Miss Hope,’ he says. ‘The past is in the past. It doe no one any good to start digging it up.’”

Wow. I think I can honestly say I’ve never read a book with this many shocking twists and turns. In fact, once I hit the halfway point, it felt like every chapter had a mind-boggling reveal that had my eyes widening and my breath catching. Riley Sager truly outdid himself this time, and while I was able to predict some of the outcomes, I doubt anyone on Earth could’ve known everything that was going to go down at Hope’s End.

Summary:
Kit McDeere is a caretaker. After six months of unpaid leave due to an incident involving her previous patient, Kit is given a second chance by her employer to start working again. However there’s a catch: her patient would be the infamous Lenora Hope, who allegedly killed her entire family fifty years ago when she was only 17.

Unable to earn any money elsewhere, Kit begrudgingly takes the job, afraid of Lenora, but also recognizing what it means to be a falsely accused young woman. As she settles into the creepy, run down, former mansion of Hope’s End, Kit begins to realize there’s more to the story. After all, the previous nurse disappeared in the middle of the night with no warning, Mrs. Baker—the home runner—has incredibly strict rules when it comes to interacting with Lenora, and to top it off, Kit has started to hear strange noises coming from Lenora’s room at night, which shouldn’t be possible, considering Lenora is paralyzed.

When Lenora indicates to Kit that she will reveal her whole story through the use of a typewriter, Kit is intrigued. Curious beyond belief, and desperate to stop feeling afraid, Kit agrees, helping Lenora type letter by letter. But as the pages accrue, things seem to make less sense than ever. Suddenly, Kit finds herself in a web of secrets that no one seems to want untangled, including Lenora herself. Will Kit be able to figure out what happened that fateful night in 1929, or will she be buried under the weight of Hope’s End’s secrets?

Thoughts:
I am truly impressed by Riley Sager. The Only One Left was not only well-written, but well-timed, with reveals coming at the perfect moment to keep readers hooked and a plot just convoluted enough to keep me intrigued rather than confused. The cast of characters at Hope’s End added even more mystery to the story, including the mansion itself, leaning more and more precariously over the cliff with each night, willing itself not to collapse into the sea.

This is only my second Riley Sager, but after The Only One Left, consider me a fan! I audibly gasped multiple times throughout this book, and was unable to predict every reveal, which is a win for a mystery lover like myself.

Fans of Verity by Colleen Hoover, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn will love The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

4.5/5 stars.

If Riley Sager writes it, I will consume it. I loved this new book. It was much slower starting than I would have liked and not the best book in his catalogue however I love how different this one was. Each of his books feel like they take a chilling tale that you think you know and then turns them on you into twists. I really liked this one and will be recommending it

I’m a huge Riley Sager fan but this book was not a favorite of mine. I really enjoyed the first 75% of this book but felt like it hit a lull for the last third. The big plot twist just wasn’t very satisfying for me at all. I still recommend reading this if you’re a huge Sager fan, but do not recommend if this is your first experience with this author. Sager has much better books.

Riley Sager's "The Only One Left" delivers a unique premise that drew me in from the start. The concept of being a caregiver to a potential murderer is utterly gripping, especially considering the inherent empathy required in such a role.

This book, my introduction to Sager's work, offered a robust atmosphere that was a standout feature. It carried me through some of the slower parts, which did affect the pacing a bit. At times, I found myself impatiently wanting to push the story forward, and wishing the reveals had come a few chapters earlier for a more engaging experience.

The main character's unlikeable nature persisted throughout the narrative, leaving me without a strong emotional connection to her. This detachment somewhat dampened the impact of certain revelations. While she did possess a thread of personality crucial to the plot, it felt like the sole point of interest in an otherwise bland character. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the insights into the history of the house and its residents.

Lenora, on the other hand, was a surprisingly well-developed character with a compelling backstory. The major plot points related to her character, much like the rest of the story, suffered from delayed reveals that, in my opinion, could have been more impactful with earlier disclosure.

Despite these quibbles, I did find enjoyment in the book and am now eager to explore more of Sager's works. "The Only One Left" weaves a chilling narrative of secrets and suspicion, offering a haunting tale that kept me engaged from beginning to end.

I love Riley’s work! He never disappoints me! This was another excellent mystery thriller that has interesting plot, characters, and a big creepy factor.! I loved how I could t figure out the twist in this tale. 5 stars! Cannot wait to read his next one!

All the twists and turns of this book kept me interested the entire time. Kit had lots of things she needed to figure out. The surprises go until the very last page.

Riley Sager does it again! The secrets, the characters, the unravelling of sanity! I can go on and on. You will not guess the ending. You just can't! I had to go back and reread chapters to see if I missed the hints! If you are Sager fan, then you will not be disappointed!


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

Did not finish. I skimmed them read the ending after reading 100 pages. I picked this up for a summer thriller and found it to be a bit too slow for me. It was not atmospheric enough to keep me engaged. The ending ruined it for me.

My absolute favorite of Sager’s so far! I thought the beginning was slow, I restarted twice before I could fully get into it, but once I got past the part where Kit finally makes it into Hope’s End, I was hooked. I love a spooky house, I love Lizzie Borden, and I love a hood plot twist. This book had all of these rolled into one. Once we got to the back end of the story, one big plot twist happened that I kind of saw coming, following by SO MANY MORE. They all kept adding to the drama for me, I was absolutely loving it. Somehow I fell in love with many of the characters, something I think can be difficult to achieve in thrillers. I was actively rooting for many of them to either do the right thing or make it out alive! I was desperate to know what was going on, I need all the answers asap. And baby, did I get them! I couldn’t put the book down, I was so captivated by the mystery. Sometimes Sager’s books can feel slightly far-fetched for me, but this one was perfect. Everything had an explanation, and everything was tied up neatly in the end. I would highly recommend, especially if you also love Home Before Dark. It gave me similar vibes!

2.5/5 stars - A twisty mystery that twists all the twists it can while also being sort of boring? I'm an outlier in this review, but I was not entirely engaged with this book as it went along, and often found myself skimming to get through some of the plodding parts of the exposition. There was a TON of "let me explain my tale to you," which sometimes works, but for this book just felt like filler. I've enjoyed others of Sager's much more.

Sadly, this wasn´t for me. I thought it tried to do too much, and at the same time it was quite predictable imo.
It was my first Riley Sager, and I´m not sure if his way of plotting books is for me. I did like the writing style though. And I´ve heard many people raving about this one, so maybe it´s just not my cup of tea.

Riley Sager brought the twists and turns with The Only One Left. I could not have predicted where this was going, but it was a wonderful and fun ride!

This was my first Riley Sager and it was wild ride. This book gave me everything I needed and wanted and more! The gothic vibes, the mysteries, and the constant twisting and turning were delicious. I specifically enjoyed the pace of the book and the timing of the little clues we got every now and then. I have nothing but amazing things to say about this read! Highly recommend!

Rating 2.5/5 Stars
Author Read Alikes: Simone St. James, Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena
Recommended Reads Instead: The Family Upstairs (Jewell), The Broken Girls (St. James), Someone You Know (Lapena)
In Short: Great premise, but tries to do too much resulting in an imperfect execution.

I went into this one with high expectations, as I've loved Riley Sager's other novels. Unfortunately, this one wouldn't rate as one of his best novels for me. Sager has a signature style of adding insane twists near the final chapters of his books and I appreciate that... however; this was too much stacked onto the ending. When there is a twist involving almost every single character, it becomes difficult to keep track of - even for someone who is used to character heavy novels. I think this book could have spread the reveals involving minor characters throughout the middle of the novel; rather than, the book dragging to a slow pace then exploding through the ending.

To me this would have resulted in a sustained page turner. The pacing wasn't for me. There was a major piece of the ending that made me stop and go "that makes no sense for this person to say that." It was an unsatisfying end to Kit's side story.

I would like to thank Penguin Group & NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for a honest review.

Rating: 4/5
Genre: thriller, mystery/suspense
Read if you liked: The Book of Cold Cases

Sager's books are always top of my most anticipated list each year, and THE ONLY ONE LEFT was no different. I feel like his books can be very polarizing (which is why I think they make great book club picks!), so overall I liked but didn't love this one.

TOOL started out sooooo strong for me. I ate up the creepy setting (a house on the cliffs in Maine overlooking the Atlantic ocean. oh and crumbling into the ocean as well !!) and thought it was perfect spooky with lotsss of surprising twists and secrets. I personally binged the story so fast, but agree with other reviewers that felt it got repetitive at times. Still, I read this in less than 48 hours.

For me the ending got more convoluted than necessary. I didn't love the revelation about her dad being Ricky. I was very suspicious of the detective and I personally felt that would have made more sense. It was good but not my favorite of his! Still I did enjoy it and would recommend!

Everything from the cover to the writing and plot were so perfectly executed! Riley Sager has long been an auto-buy mystery/thriller author for me, and he never disappoints.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley. Book was full of suspense up until the end. A plot based loosely on Lizzy Bordon. Who is Lenora? What happened in 1929. So many twists and turns couldn’t put it down