Casey Fletcher is a former NYC actress and a recent widow. She is trying get some peace, quiet and relaxation at the family lake house on Lake Greene in Vermont. She also drinks too much with a penchant for bourbon. With plenty of time on her hands she takes to spying on her good looking neighbors across the lake, Katherine and Tom Royce. When one day Casey saves Katherines from a drowning incident, the two women become friendlier. Before long Casey is thinking that the couple across the lake isn't the perfect, happy couple she initially thought they were. She begins to wonder if perhaps Katherine should fear Tom.

This is one of those thrillers with an unreliable narrator that starts out a bit slow but, I still remained engaged and kept wondering what the heck was going on. The set up, think The Woman in the Window, AJ Finn or the movie Rear Window. Yes, it is a style that has been overused and, in the end this book had more twists than I could have anticipated -- yes, some were a bit much.

This was a combo read/listen and although Bernadette Dunne has been a terrific narrator that I've enjoyed in the past, she was inappropriate for the voice of the younger Casey. Bernadette, although a great reader, she has a raspy voice that makes her sound like an elderly woman. After a while I found it necessary to switch to the print edition. Overall, this was an okay read but, it did not wow me by any means.

This is my 8th book read from my initial 20 Books of Summer list.

Rating - 3.5/5 stars

This is a nicely paced, twisty read. That said, there is also an element of predictability. But overall, I enjoyed this book as a first time reader of Riley Sager.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I have read one other Riley Sager book and didn't really enjoy it, but thought I would try again. I don't love the way he writes female characters and in both titles I didn't enjoy the plot twists. I love thrillers but there is something about the writing style I just don't connect with.

I was so excited to finally read a Sager book but unfortunately this one was a let down. The plot just didn't make any sense. Sager starts off with the whole "spying on your neighbor" trope and then out of nowhere the plot becomes paranormal. I didn't mind the paranornal angle, I just felt like the execution of the plot was poor. Also none of the characters are even likable. I might go back and read his older stuff

Kudos to authors for taking risks. For throwing in a twist that NO-ONE SAW COMING. For doing things a bit different. For having the courage to not write that SAME thriller that everyone else does.

This one's at the top of my Sager list now- I've read them all, and it's hard to pick favorites, but I got to the ending and I WAS SO MAD I got fooled. OK, let's be honest - this one fooled me MULTIPLE times. I always guess the big twist and Mr. Sager, you done me dirty. And for that - I applaud you. Bravo.

Review of The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I had very mixed feelings about this one. I was vacillating between 3-3.5 stars for this one. So the very beginning started strong for me. Loved the setting. Then there was a long stretch where I contemplated briefing not finishing but then it picked him for me and I loved the ending. I know a lot of folks hated the ending so much and I know it is behind realistic but I loved it. I said what I said. Yes I am just as tired of the overused alcoholic unreliable main character as everyone else and she annoyed me to no end at times but overall her heart was in the right place and I ended up really liking her by the end. I do hope the next book is more in the vein of final girls and other earlier novels though…

Thank you to @netgalley for the early copy!

I liked this thriller! I found the second half extremely bingeable and full of twists which came off as authentic and sent the book in a direction I didn’t expect. Loved going back to all of the previous details after reading it all. The setting was perfectly *Vermont lake*

As a reader, I am a bit tired of the unreliable, drunk woman main character. This didn’t make or break the book for me but it definitely wasn’t my fave part. I also wish there was more closure/details with Casey’s family and Boone.

Overall a great summer thriller!

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read Riley Sager's The House Across the Lake which was not really my cup of tea. I really didn't care for the protag and felt the constant lists of all the alcohol being consumed unnecessary and annoying. The whole story was too unbelievable for me.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the author’s previous books, and this was definitely not at all what I expected. Which is usually a good thing but in this case I’m not sure. A lot of the story was too focused on the narrator’s alcohol consumption and didn’t add to the story in any way. You would think it would have made them an unreliable narrator but nothing in the story indicates that.
It was an usual story, I’ll give it that at least.

This is my second book by Riley Sager and I definitely enjoyed it.
If you like twists and turns for suspenseful thrillers, then you need to read this!

LOL. That should be the review, that's it. This is the nail in the coffin for me and Riley Sager's work. Listen - I actually do dislike negatively talking about an authors work, because I know this is a me issue - the writing just doesn't work for me. I rate my thrillers by eye rolls and maybe it's because I've read too many or I'm just too picky, but my eyes get stuck in the back of my head reading his books. Yet I keep torturing myself reading each one that comes out and they're worse than the last and I KEEP DOING IT. So this is my declaration for everyone to hold me accountable - I'm done wasting my time.

The first half of this book is the main character describing how much of an alcoholic she ISN'T, because she knows she's a drunk and it's because of her life and her past that she drinks. But she doesn't have a problem. And she's sad. We get it. The second half (was it even half?) was packed full of constant WTF is happening in the worst way moments, with the main character making ridiculous bone head decisions but not because she's drunk, no she just had a few drinks to take the edge off. This is very common of Sager's female main characters - absolute morons with zero good decision making skills. When I got this arc, there was an email along with it saying please don't spoil the twist because it's SOOOO GOOD AND SOOOOOO AMAZING. I'm not even commenting on the twist in fear of my eyes permanently leaving my body because they're sick of rolling into the back of my head. I've just had enough.

Clearly after looking at other reviews, I'm in a huge minority here with the amount of dislike I have for this book. I'm not even going to suggest you go read it because I'm not being held responsible for wasting someones time like that, but hey - check out other reviews and see if they entice you! Adios, Sager

LOL. That should be the review, that's it. This is the nail in the coffin for me and Riley Sager's work. Listen - I actually do dislike negatively talking about an authors work, because I know this is a me issue - the writing just doesn't work for me. I rate my thrillers by eye rolls and maybe it's because I've read too many or I'm just too picky, but my eyes get stuck in the back of my head reading his books. Yet I keep torturing myself reading each one that comes out and they're worse than the last and I KEEP DOING IT. So this is my declaration for everyone to hold me accountable - I'm done wasting my time.

The first half of this book is the main character describing how much of an alcoholic she ISN'T, because she knows she's a drunk and it's because of her life and her past that she drinks. But she doesn't have a problem. And she's sad. We get it. The second half (was it even half?) was packed full of constant WTF is happening in the worst way moments, with the main character making ridiculous bone head decisions but not because she's drunk, no she just had a few drinks to take the edge off. This is very common of Sager's female main characters - absolute morons with zero good decision making skills. When I got this arc, there was an email along with it saying please don't spoil the twist because it's SOOOO GOOD AND SOOOOOO AMAZING. I'm not even commenting on the twist in fear of my eyes permanently leaving my body because they're sick of rolling into the back of my head. I've just had enough.

Clearly after looking at other reviews, I'm in a huge minority here with the amount of dislike I have for this book. I'm not even going to suggest you go read it because I'm not being held responsible for wasting someones time like that, but hey - check out other reviews and see if they entice you! Adios, Sager!

Okay, this was one twisty ride and I was totally here for it. I was very apprehensive about even reading this one because I feel that the “drunk female MC” trope is so over-done. However, this was way different then The Woman in the Window (a book that frustrated me to no end) so I enjoyed it waaay more then I expected to!

With that being said, I did feel that it took a long time to end after the big reveal. For the last 50+ pages of the book I was like “okaaay, wrap it up, please!” This one didn’t give me the creeps the way some of his others have, but I was pleasantly surprise by this one.

*note: my review for this book will be posted on my instagram page @leannaslittlelibrary tomorrow 7/8

This was... weirder than I expected? I kept guessing what was going to happen next (duh, it's a mystery that's kind of the game) and let me tell you. I was never going to guess these twists!
Sager is great at making you feel like you've got all the pieces in place and then whacking you upside the head with another one. Which I feel like SHOULD be annoying but it actually is just so fun and exciting and keeps me on my toes!
Not my favorite Riley Sager I've ever read but still a great read!

*Unpopular Opinion* or maybe not? 2.5 ⭐️s rounding down.
Riley Sager’s first books made me become a huge fan of his and I will continue to read his work. However, this book was a swing and a miss. The writing felt disjointed and it didn’t grab my attention at any point in the book.
This is not what I want in a thriller. The only reason I finished this book was due to name alone and I kept waiting for something HUGE to happen. The twist at the end, it felt juvenile to me and is something that is found in many of my middle graded readers books.

It was basically full of filler for the first 75% and the last 25% should have been marketed as a middle grade thriller.

Thank you to Dutton and PRHA for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

2.5 stars. This one started out strong, giving just a few characters, but also just enough information to realize you don't know what is going on or who to trust. And then the author switched routes and what was an interesting, suspenseful read, was now just out there and a disappointment.

I'm unsure how I feel about this book. As mentioned in other reviews, it really does feel like a mash-up of several books, mostly The Woman in the Window and a few others that I don't want to name (spoilers). It was entertaining if a little slow and not my least favorite Riley Sager but it wasn't my favorite either. It was so strange also but didn't leave me intrigued enough to keep going; I really just kept going because I was reviewing for NetGalley. The ending almost made it worth it but by then, I was only half invested in it.

I've read all of Riley Sager's books, and this is definitely the oddest and worst.

SUMMARY
Casey is a washed up alcoholic actress recuperating from the death of her husband and emotional breakdown at her family's cabin on an isolated lake in Vermont, which happens to be the same lake her husband died in. After saving her across the lake neighbor Katherine (who happens to be a famous former supermodel married to a tech mogul) from drowning, Casey becomes obsessed with watching her and her husband in their house across the lake through binoculars. One night, drunk Casey suspects that something sinister happens to Katherine by the hands of Katherine's husband and decides to do some investigating along with the help of her neighbor, a widower and recovering alcoholic. Unbelievable, weakly written, poorly plotted hi-jinks ensue.

OPINIONS
Riley Sager needs to stop writing through a female/feminine perspective. This has always been a weak quality of all of his writing, and it's omnipresent in this book.

I get the feeling the author only had a glimmer of an idea about the plot of this book when he started writing it and was writing this book to complete a specified book deal.

The supernatural elements were horrible. I think this author was trying to channel Grady Hendrix and fell flat.

Yes, the plot is a common one of an unreliable drunk female lead obsessively watching the goings-on around her, but I had high hopes this author would put a unique twist on it, and although they technically did, I almost wish they had done a more run-of-the-mill who-dun-it story.

This will be the last Riley Sager I read unless any future ones are HIGHLY recommended to me by trusted sources.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers from an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars...

Well, this one left me a little dissatisfied. I was REALLY into the first 60-70% (very propulsive and intriguing; reeled me right in), and then it took a strange turn of events…. a twist (?) a substandard, strange, supernatural (ish) twist. I felt like it went downhill from there.

I know everyone complained about the drunk girl protagonist being “overdone”; I didn’t mind that at all… it sounded like it could get good, and it was…UNTIL….. (if you read you know, if you didn’t, I don’t want to give away spoilers.) In my opinion, this was a VERY REAL scenario (widow, at a lake house, spying on neighbors), and then the author took a turn that didn’t even allow me to suspend enough belief, it seemed too farfetched and implausible for a storyline that appeared so real-life like.

Consequently, that was my main hiccup that I couldn’t get past. This would’ve been 4 stars, but I can’t get over the unnecessary whiplash, that didn’t quite feel like the twist this book deserved.

A brilliant well paced thriller - I'm annoyed that I didn't guess the twist but that's a testament to Riley Sager's writing!
4 stars.