Member Reviews
Riley Sager continues to be one of my favourite authors with this new book! The House Across the Lake was a really great read that had me guessing until the end.
Casey, a widow who is just trying to get back to normal, is living in her family’s vacation house in Vermont. She passes the time with a bottle in one hand and a pair of binocular in another, spying on the new neighbours across the lake. As she starts to see a not-so-happy marriage and then when the wife disappears, Casey tries to solve the mystery. As the story unfolds, things are not as they seem for Casey!
I was not expecting some of the twists and turns in the plot but really enjoyed them! If you’re read any of Sager’s other books before you will not be disappointed!
Unfortunately, this book was a total miss for me. Something needed to happen during the first 70% of the book. Something other than the main character drinking and snooping. Something like character and plot development. When the twists finally came, it was a case of cramming way too many tropes for the sake of shock value. The shock just didn't work for this reader.
I give this one a 4.5 Stars :) I love Riley Sager books so I was super excited to have Net galley give me an early copy to read and this one did not disappoint. The only thing I disliked was the super long chapters but I pushed through that and enjoyed this book. I thought the take on this story was super interesting and a bit different than Riley's usual books he writes. I cant really say what I wanna say without giving things away so I guess just go into this story blind and enjoy every minute of it. I definitely didnt expect what happened, to happen so that was good. I was always trying to guess what was going to happen and never could. This book definitely did not want me to put it down and I really enjoyed each and every moment of it. Definitely a different story thats for sure!! I cant wait for it to come out soon and for everyone to read this .
I was a little apprehensive about this after not loving Survive the Night, but WOW this was a TRIP. Just when I thought I knew where things were headed, things took a turn, then another turn, and then ANOTHER turn! WOW.
I have some mixed feelings on how much the MC’s alcoholism was a part of the story, but overall, this was a really exciting thriller that Sager fans are going to LOVE.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an early reading copy!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Riley Sager is one of my "guilty pleasures" author. He writes books that won't make you smarter, that aren't the best written novels you'll ever read... and yet, it's enjoyable, and I firmly believe that is the most important thing about a book.
I've read and enjoyed his previous books, so I was really happy when I got approved for a copy of The House Across the Lake.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I enjoyed this book a lot less than the others.
At first, I was entranced. Of course, the idea go a woman watching what's happening at her neighbours' place has been written about again and again in the last couple of years, but I liked the setting. A creepy lake? I'm all in!
I also liked the backstory of the main character, famous actor turned miserable, drunk widow.
But then... it started reaaaaally dragging on. Things happened, but they weren't that exciting, and didn't really do anything to keep me 100% invested in the story.
Then the first twist happens, and they keep on coming for the last ~30% of the book. Suddenly, everything picks back up again... but I still want to say that it was too little, too late for me. What I expect from my thrillers / horror are books that are full of rhythm and barely give you any time to take a deep breath. The House Across the Lake wasn't one of those for me.
The last 30% were really interesting however, and though it's hard to talk about it without spoiling the main plot twist, I liked how the author led us somewhere I really wasn't expecting to go. I thought I had the plot mostly figured out, but nope, I definitely was not planning on what happened! Definitely good points for that, though I feel like other readers might feel like this was overkill.
There was one part that made me cringe in the last chapters, when the main character went on a mini rant on how women were treated like shit in today's world.
Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely true, but it very much felt like a "Look at me, I'm a feminist!" moment from the author, and left me a bit confused. Better not to say anything than to do it in a way that feels anything but heartfelt.
Anyway, this was definitely not a novel I hated, but not one I will remember for many months to come either.
I feel like this has the potential to be a very popular summer read, and wouldn't be surprised to see many readers holding it in their hands at the pool. Just watch out: you never know what might be hidden in there!
I thought I had The House Across the Lake figured out, but alas, I did not.
Casey Fletcher, a widow and notable actress, has retreated to her family’s lakeside cottage to escape some recent bad press. She spends her days drinking and using her binoculars to spy casually on her neighbours.
Casey spends her time spying on Katherine and Tom Royce, her beautiful and wealthy neighbours. Their newly developed house sits directly across the lake from her cottage.
When Katherine vanishes, Casey is determined to uncover the truth behind her disappearance.
Casey is the typical unreliable female narrator that readers see a lot of these days. Namely the main character with a drinking problem that noses her way into everyone else’s business. Usually, this type of narrator would be irksome to me, but in this case, it wasn’t. I think it’s because the reader knows at the outset that Casey’s husband recently passed away, so she’s just processing her grief. Sure, it’s not the healthiest way, but still.
I’ve read a few of Riley Sager’s books, and this one is slightly different from those. It started off as what you’d expect, but then it completely veered off course. If you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you’ll know that I don’t mind OTT - give me all the drama and theatrics. But this one was just a bit too weird. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it was an interesting way to go.
I will continue to read whatever Riley Sager publishes. His books are compulsively readable and always keep me entertained.
3.5
Thank you to Dutton for providing me with an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
In my opinion, I think @riley.sager is one of the best thriller writers out there today. I was blessed to get an eARC of his latest book, the House Across the Lake! His books are always on my most anticipated reads list.
The House Across the Lake starts out on a lake in rural Vermont. Casey is a former Broadway actress who is lying low in her family’s lake house after some bad press. She’s been drinking quite heavily recently after the death of her husband and she passes the time spying on her neighbors around the lake and downing glasses of bourbon. One day she decides to take a boat ride and finds a woman floating who she saves. The woman turns out to be Katherine Royce, the famous supermodel who recently moved into the house across the lake!
Casey begins to watch Katherine and her husband Tom even closer after observing that Katherine isn’t very happy. Was the near drowning accidental? When Katherine goes missing, Tom is immediately a suspect. But there’s also a too friendly former cop turned house caretaker that seems suspicious too. A few summers ago, several girls went missing around the Vermont lake area. Is the kidnapper back?
This was such a fun and quick read! Reminiscent of his other books in with the quick twists and turns, that I didn’t expect. I loved all the memories of Casey and Len and their relationship was fascinating. The book does take a slight paranormal twist that I didn’t really love, but it does fit into the book nicely and it still works. I will continue to read every one of Riley’s books. I can’t wait for the next one already!
Thank you so much to @duttonbooks and the author for my gifted eARC! The House Across the Lake is on sale June 21, and you don’t want to miss it!
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars
Along with all my other thriller lovers, I was in desperate need to get my hands on Riley Sager’s new release. If you were hoping for an eerie, look over your shoulder, don’t know what’s coming next kind of a plot, well you got it. This book is filled with twists and turns and had me hooked right from the beginning.
[Taken from the synopsis: Be careful what you watch for . . .
Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of bourbon, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake.]
Casey’s character is supported by amazing side characters who really have you confused on the “whodunnit” of it all. While the shocking twist might have readers split, which I totally understand, this is the kind of twist that I really didn’t mind and definitely did not see coming. This book is a highly anticipated release for June and I’m so grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to read an arc. Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Book Dutton (Emily!) and Riley Sager. If you’re going to pick up this book I suggest you keep an open mind and be warned that you may not sleep…
Release Date: 21 June 2022
I haven’t yet read a book by Riley Sager that I did not like. The House Across the Lake is no exception. What I love the most about his books is that they aren’t the same. Some authors stick to what works and repeat stories with slight tweaks to storylines. Mr. sager switches it up, all while keeping the reader entertained.
I don’t want to give any spoilers to the story, but I was hooked from beginning to end. Well done!
Riley Sager and most mystery/thrillers in general tend to be very hit or miss for me but I still keep wanting to pick up new books as they comes out. This is a fun and twisty thriller with an unreliable narrator who is spying on her neighbors when suddenly it appears that something terrible has happened. For the most part, I was enjoying the first part of the story as we try to figure out what is going on and find each new clue along with the main character. I was super intrigued to find out what was really happening even though I was suspicious of pretty much every single person we met along the way. The ending however and the reveal of the twist, left me confused and I'm honestly still not sure if I liked it at all. I just don't know exactly what I want from thrillers I guess but I don't think I loved the direction he ultimately took with this story unfortunately.
As a fan of Sager's past titles, I was greatly looking forward to The House Across the Lake being a redemption novel after his last. Unfortunately, it was simply average and stale for me.
The novel follows Casey Fletcher's POV in "Now" and "Before." though the structure will not be for most people. The sections are incredibly long with no small chapter headings. The structure makes sense in relation the MC's state of mind; the days are long and the drinks just keep flowing. The alcoholic narrator thriller trope can be retired now please.
Sager has a talent of bringing a setting to life in his previous novels but unfortunately the lake here didn't bring anything special to the table. The often prominent sense of dread was lacking, which I believe is due to the slow burn pace of the plot. The characters were underwhelming and surface level in order to pull off the twists. Having read all of Sager's backlist, there is somewhat of an expectation for how a mystery will be revealed and I was surprised by the direction The House Across the Lake went.
Overall I was bored and wasn't incredibly satisfied by this somewhat unoriginal plot. If you're new to the thriller genre, this might be a hit for you!
CW: alcoholism, death, drowning, gaslighting, abuse
That was a lot of twists and turns. Maybe too many twists and turns. I almost felt like I did with Invisible Monsters; there was more going on than there needed to be for a satisfying read.
This was actually my first Riley Sager. I've purchased fan faves but we all know how a TBR list builds. What a wild ride this was! I enjoy gothic pacing, in line with the direct Hitchcockian references in the book, but I was surprised not just by the twist, but when it hit. Then it didn't slow down, even amping up the twist with another, leaving room for a possible sequel? It's always fun when a book has Easter eggs, in this case to the film, "Rear Window." While that story device, used frequently with a similar unreliable narrator, has been having a moment, it's fun to see a book revel in the inspirational reference. 3.5 stars rounded up.
"What the (bleep) is going on?" the protagonist asks herself at a pivotal point late in "The House Across the Lake." What the bleep indeed. Riley Sager's latest comes with a twist so wackadoodle, it almost renders the previous 250-plus pages irrelevant. Why, we may well wonder, did we spend so much time (so very much time) sitting on the porch with actress turned alcoholic Casey as she drank heavily, wallowed in the loss of her beloved husband, drank more and spied on the neighbors if instead of a lake trout, all that was just a red herring?
Fans of Sager's "Home Before Dark" and "Lock Every Door" are likely to be less thrown by what he conjures up out of the lake than someone familiar only with his last, the straightforward "Survive the Night." Tricks and twists are part of the pleasure of reading mysteries, but this one -- about which I can't tell you more -- feels like cheating.
Riley Sager returns with a voyeuristic page-turner rife with fascinating characters, ratcheting suspense, and surprises aplenty.
After the unexpected death of her husband, actress Casey Fletcher spirals into an alcoholic binge. After being fired from a movie, she’s exiled to her family’s lake house in Vermont, where she spends days with a glass of bourbon in one hand, binoculars in the other.
Across the lake, Casey spies on former super-model Katherine Royce and her tech-mogul husband, Tom. But when Casey saves Katherine from drowning, the two strike an unexpected friendship. She soon uncovers the glamorous couple isn’t all they seem, an understanding that upends everything when Katherine suddenly vanishes.
Intent on getting to the bottom of Katherine’s disappearance, Casey is desperate to dig out the truth and targets Tom as the culprit, but what she uncovers in the end is something far more frightening.
With themes of grief, love, friendship, and revenge, Sager once again freshens a familiar trope to deliver something wholly unexpected. Between the blur of Casey’s bourbon benders and the unforgiving darkness of the lake, there’s a heavy, almost suffocating feeling that adds to the already sinister and paranoiac atmosphere of the narrative. And as the story gradually unfurls, it soon becomes clear that everything you thought you knew was dead wrong.
Entertaining and suspenseful—the perfect summer escape.
Wow, I don’t even know what to say except-what a wild ride! In this novel we follow Casey Fletcher, a widower and actress who is, quite simply put, struggling and barley getting by with more than a few drinks and a peek into her neighbors home.
I really enjoyed this book! From the main character(whose backstory I wish had another book about) to the twists and turns. We go from Casey’s less than common day to day around her family lake house to speculating with her when she notices her neighbor, Katherine, has disappeared. I recognize that this might not be everyones cup of tea, but for me this plot and its over the top ending had me gasping and my jaw dropping! Not every character was a standout but the writing style and the setting drew me in and had me so immersed that I got a little too spooked(reading this in broad daylight). 4.5, but we’ll round it up to 5 stars! Can’t wait to purchase a copy to add to my Riley Sager shelf!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Rounding up to 2.5 stars. What a bummer of a book. Definitely not one of Riley Sager's best. Felt like a poorly executed combination of Rear Window and Girl on the Train. I also didn't like the way he wrote the women in this one. And without sharing too much, the big "twist" was really weird, came completely out of the blue, and just wasn't what I was expecting at all. Kind of feels like he's losing his touch and running out of ideas.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
Riley Sager is a master of the suspense/thriller genre. The House Across the Lake is about Casey Fletcher who is headed to her family's lake house after some disastrous incidents with the press. Casey is an actor and widow who may just be an alcoholic. When she makes friends with the woman across the lake, she starts to watch from her house and when she seems troubling events.
Sager is fantastic at weaving supernatural elements into his books in an interesting and organic way. This one kept me guessing till the end.
I absolutely love Riley Sager and his books. This wasn't my favorite of his but I still really enjoyed it and will be buying it for my personal library
Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this title! Riley Sager is one of my favorites! It is no wonder he has become a LibraryReads Hall of Fame Author! Each year, I can't wait for Riley's latest to come out! This one was no exception. The perfect story in a great setting that features multiple twists! Just when you think your are on the correct path, Sager adds path for you to follow as your read about all the secrets contained in The House Across The Lake!