A Riley Sager historical mystery set on a train? Did I somehow manifest my ideal thriller concept?

Jokes aside, I loved how atmospheric this book was, and I am a big fan of a revenge plot. At no point during this book did I trust a single character, and I loved that uneasy feeling of constantly being suspicious of everyone. While I wouldn't go as far as to say this feels like an Agatha Christie novel, I will say that I loved how grounded this mystery felt, despite how many twists and turns Sager threw our way. I understood Anna's rage, and I really enjoyed seeing how that played out as her revenge plans changed. The small cast of characters were all so flawed, and I even understood their motivations, even if I didn't agree with them throughout the story.

My only real complaint is that I felt like this story was so fast paced that I felt overwhelmed towards the end. As I said before, it still felt grounded, but I did feel like I was getting twist after twist towards the end, and it had my head spinning some. I still really enjoyed it, but if you're going into this expecting cozy or Christie vibes, it's definitely more intense than that.

I would highly recommend this to Sager or thriller fans alike. 4/5 stars. Now excuse me as I go research train trips.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton, and Sager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a longtime fan of Riley Sager, I went into With a Vengeance with high expectations—and an immediate fascination with its striking title & cover and intriguing premise. A locked-room thriller set aboard a nonstop 13-hour train ride in the 1950s? Yes, please. The setting was easily one of my favorite aspects of the book: snowy, atmospheric, and classic in a way that felt like a nod to Murder on the Orient Express.

The book follows eight passengers on this isolated journey, and while I enjoyed the main character and appreciated her moral integrity, overall the story felt bogged down by an overabundance of twists. Instead of building tension naturally, the narrative began to feel convoluted—like it was trying too hard to surprise the reader at every turn. By the end, some of the plot developments felt outlandish and unrealistic, making it difficult to stay fully immersed in the story.

The pacing was mostly steady, if a little sluggish at times. The writing style itself is true to Sager’s previous work—compelling, with sharp descriptions and suspenseful beats—but the execution of this particular plot didn’t quite land for me. It felt like too much was crammed into one book, which ultimately lessened the impact of the mystery.

That said, readers who are already fans of Sager or avid thriller readers may still enjoy this for the atmosphere alone. If you're newer to the genre or to his work, I might recommend starting with one of his earlier novels, which I found more grounded and satisfying.

This review is posted on my Goodreads account and we will be discussing it on our podcast that has a release date of June 3rd

What does Riley Sager put in his books that makes them so addictive? I feel bad for reading them so quickly when I know a lot of hard work goes into writing! First rule of a Sager book: trust no one. Riley sends us on an atmospheric train joinery where everyone has a guilty conscious.

I love this book. The suspense was nail bitting. Another great book by Riley. The way Riley described the characters and flipped through them so effortlessly was amazing. One of my favorite thriller book authors. I feel blessed getting an arc of this book. Definitely recommend. It’s fast paced, suspenseful and a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with this ARC.

As a longtime Riley Sager fan who's read all of his books, I was excited to dive into With a Vengeance. It's well-written and leans heavily into Agatha Christie territory, with a closed-circle mystery, an ensemble cast, and plenty of secrets simmering beneath the surface.

The setup is solid, and the story has a cinematic feel that would translate really well to film. But as a novel, it felt like something was missing. The pacing dragged in places, and while the plot kept me curious, it lacked the transportive quality I've come to expect from Sager.

That said, it's still a fun, stylish mystery that fans of classic whodunits will likely enjoy. Not my favorite from Sager's catalog, but I'll definitely be picking up whatever he writes next.

3/5 stars - for me pretty quickly as the twists and turns revealed themselves, and I think Sager's twists are always so meh when they finally come to light. Very Scooby-Doo. Also, too long. Did not need some of the action scenes to get the point across. You've seen how short Christie's books were and they landed themselves into the foundational grain of mystery authors and books out there. A bit more editing could have made this one more ultimately enjoyable.

I spent thelast couple of days reading an arc of Riley Sager’s upcoming novel, With a Vengeance. This was clearly Sager’s homage to Agatha Christie and the locked room mystery, specifically Murder on the Orient Express. The premise is several strangers who may have been involved in a crime years before are invited on a luxury train trip by an unknown person who is looking for revenge.

I imagine this book will appeal to a lot of people, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I loved the book Murder on the Orient Express and the 1974 film version starring Albert Finney and Ingrid Bergman is amongst my all time favorite movies. Dark, serious and atmospheric, it is perfection. In contrast, I hated the most recent version with Kenneth Branagh- campy and over the top it felt ridiculous. I feel the same way about the Knives Out franchise. This book reads like one of those. Implausible premise, over the top characters and plot holes galore. A ridiculous twist in almost every chapter. I could almost hear the organ chords chiming! In all honesty, if I wasn’t a Sager fan, I likely wouldn’t have finished this one. Thanks to @netgalley and @duttonbooks for an arc of this book.

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

3.5 rounding up
Riley Sager is one of my favorite writers, so I will always read what he writes. However, this one was a bit of a miss for me. I loved the Agatha Christie vibes of this book, the setting and time where elegant and the world set up was enjoyable. I did find some aspects to be a bit predictable to me which is why my score is lower. While still a very entertaining read, it was not in my opinion the best Riley Sager book. I look forward to whatever he writes next!

I love the twists and turns Riley Sager always serves with their books. I felt like we were there with Anna and couldn’t trust anyone on the train. It did feel a little repetitive at times with the description of travelling up and down through the train carriages etc but in the whole a solid mystery thriller from Sager.

I just don’t understand how she didn’t get in more trouble for arranging it all. The ending was a little weird. Entertaining though!

With a Vengeance takes a classic Agatha Christie setup—a group of people trapped on a train, one by one meeting a sinister end—and gives it Riley Sager’s signature twist. The premise is compelling and the setting atmospheric, but the novel ultimately doesn’t live up to its potential.

While the murder mystery keeps the pages turning, the characters feel underdeveloped and sometimes interchangeable, making it hard to feel truly invested in their fates. Unlike Sager’s best work or more gripping modern thrillers, this one lacks the emotional depth and psychological tension that make twists truly satisfying. Speaking of twists, the final reveals lean toward the far-fetched, leaving more of a “Really?” than a “Wow!”

It’s an entertaining ride if you enjoy a closed-circle mystery, but don’t expect the tight plotting or rich characterization of either Agatha Christie or Sager at his best.

Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors! What I love about him is every story that he tells is completely unique from his other ones. This one is set in the Golden Age and on a train. It’s a locked room mystery with a ton of suspense. I enjoyed how different it was from his past reads. An enjoyable book!

Riley Sager is a hit or miss author with me, and I'm afraid this one was a miss. I suspected it might be, as I'm usually not a huge fan of closed door mysteries and this train-based thriller is definitely in that category. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the train itself and the time period, but the actual mystery failed to pull me in. The characters were interesting, but not as fully developed as I might have liked (especially as they kept dying and sometimes coming back to life). Serious Sager fans will probably enjoy this, but I won't be recommending it highly to customers.

I love a murder mystery on a train, and this one was a decent swing at it. I've read all of Sager's novels and this one felt notably different to me for some reason, and I felt it was lacking some of the fun/wackiness he usually has in his stories, making it feel like a more "safe story." Decent if you like the tropes!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

WITH A VENGEANCE was excellent. I liked the premise of this book, and how different it was than the authors other novels. It really kept me guessing. Highly recommend!

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

4.5 ⭐️. Riley sager did not let me down with this one! It follows Anna whose family was ruined when a train her father owned exploded, killing 37 people including her brother. Her father gets arrested and sentenced to prison for the explosion. Anna later finds out that he was framed and comes up with a plan to get the 6 people responsible on the same train and get her revenge. Only once the 13 hour train ride starts, people start dying and she doesn't know who is to blame! So many twists and turns. Just when you think you figured out it out. It turns about to be wrong!

I really wanted to love this book seeing as Riley Sager is one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I loved the idea of the book and the premise very much reminded me of a famous work of fiction by Agatha Christie. I wanted it so badly to be suspenseful and feel mysterious however with all the facts laid out on the table within the first five chapters there was nothing left to surprise the readers.

Sager, Sager, Sager. Riley. Sigh.

Riley Sager is no stranger to the twisty thriller, and With a Vengeance starts promising. The setup is intriguing and classic. Murder on a train. Revenge. Ok, I'll bite.

Unfortunately, that initial momentum doesn’t carry through. As the plot unfolds, and each twist is revealed, they stack on one another and make a mess. Rather than enhancing the story, each new revelation seems to undercut the one before it, creating a tangle of plot points that strain credibility. By the time the final "shocking" twist arrives, the narrative has collapsed under the weight of its own ambition.

Sager's tendency to over-twist brings the value of each story down. What starts as a sleek thriller turns into a bloated web of implausibilities that dulls the emotional impact and sacrifices character development for gotcha moments.

If you’re a die-hard Sager fan or just love chaos in your thrillers, this one might still entertain. But for readers hoping for a satisfying resolution and a clean arc, With A Vengeance might feel more exhausting than exhilarating. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the arc.

I was very excited to read this because I had enjoyed Sager's previous loose tie with the Lizzie Borden story in The Only One Left so I was very excited to read a sort of revisiting of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. This book, however, didn't have the same intrigue as AC's book. None of the reveals within the book were surprising and the characters didn't keep me very engaged either. I will continue to read Sager's books in the future but unfortunately this was a miss for me.

Recently Sanger’s books have included odd paranormal elements, however, With a Vengeance is a true who done it. Anna is on a mission to get the truth out of her father’s coworkers if it means renting out an entire passenger train for an overnight trip to Chicago. Anna learns more than she bargained for when people keep coming up dead and it looks like she is being framed. Luckily, Anna is after the truth and quickly solves the murder(s), along with why family friends ruined her father’s legacy and her family’s future. The twists were well planned out. Sager gave enough background on the characters.