Thanks to Netgalley and Dutton Books for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was hooked immediately and loved (almost) everything about this story. The way Sager made the mansion slant more and more as the suspense built was pure genius. And then those twists! I can’t believe how many there were and that I never saw any of them coming. I was convinced that this was going to be my favorite Sager book and possibly even the best book of my year until that last chapter. It was too unbelievable and unnecessary imo. I’m just going to pretend the book ended one chapter sooner and not let the ending spoil my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Dutton for this insanely creepy book. Sager is an author where anything he writes , I will give it a try. I devoured “ The House Across the Lake “ and was beyond excited to revive an ARC of “ The Only One Left”. This novel centers around Kit , a caregiver for patients that are at the end of their life and need constant care. Since she is just coming out of a suspension with work, she is offered one of the least desirable patients , Leona, who was accused but never convicted of brutally murdering her family. This book, in typical Sager fashion , has so many different twists and jaw dropping moments that I devoured this book in 48 hours. Always remember when reading Sager, nothing truly is as it seems.

This is one wild ride! It's Riley at his best, fast-paced, addictive, a gothic, immersive setting, and a twisty mystery at the center of it all.
The main character is Kit McDeere, an elderly caregiver, who has been out of work for a while due to her being under suspicion for helping one of her patients end their life. At the start of the novel, Kit's probation period ends and she is offered an assignment to care for Leonora Hope, the town's version of the boogeyman. Kit has grown up hearing rumors of how Leonora Hope murdered her entire family in cold blood when she was young. Now Leonora is in need of a caregiver, and Kit is offered the opportunity to care for this cryptic and enigmatic woman. She reluctantly takes the job, eager to get away from her childhood home and the constant disapproval her dad emanates toward her. But soon, Kit is about to realize she is way in over her head, because once she gets to Hope's End, where Leonora resides, she can't stop pulling on the thread that will inevitably unravel this decades old mystery.
I'm rating this book 4 stars, the twists (as it often is with Riley Sager's books) were a little too much toward the end of the book, so much so that it was a bit hard to follow. But the very end was absolutely beautiful, very unexpected but it was a nice surprise.

I could not put this book down. Riley Sager is exceptional at writing a twisty thriller and this was exactly what I expected.

The first half dragged and felt repetitive, but then at the halfway mark I was hooked and couldn't put this book down. I was reading while eating, working, whatever I could do to get to the end. The final plot twist was not for me. I didn't love the way women were depicted and that caused me to become increasingly annoyed with all of the characters. But I don't have to love everything about a book to have a good time, and that's exactly what this was.

That said, it's not my favorite Riley Sager, and I did find myself rolling my eyes at characters often. It felt simultaneously too complicated with the constant plot twists and too simple (I think this could have been shorter).

It's not groundbreaking, but it did keep me up late wanting to get to the end. Overall, I had a good time and I didn't see many of the twists coming. Riley Sager remains an author I will read every new release from.

Review will also be shared on my YouTube channel @katiemariereads in my "June Wrap Up" video which will be posted on July 2nd

Riley Sager does it again. You might guess one twist, but there is no way you could guess all of them. Absolutely insane. What a ride.

Mr. Sager knocks it out of the park again. Read this on in one sitting. All of his books should be made into movies.

Well, I guess I found my least favorite Riley Sager novel. Riley Sager is an auto-read author for me and he will continue to be, but THE ONLY ONE LEFT didn't hit the mark for me. I appreciated Sager's pivot to a gothic atmospheric mystery, but the plot really just didn't connect with me. When Kit McDeere is assigned to be infamous Lenora Hope's caretaker at her hillside estate, Hope's End, she is extremely nervous. After being suspended from her job due to controversy (to say the least) at her job, she's given one last chance taking care of Lenora. Lenora is notorious for being accused of murdering her parents decades earlier and the entire town gossips about her. When Kit arrives at the dilapidated Hope's End, Lenora decides she wants to come clean about her upbringing and put all the rumors to bed before it's too late. However, as Lenora begins to detail her life events leading up to the murder, Kit begins to question what's real and what's not. Kit's living in a rumored murderer's estate and she'll need to protect herself at all costs.

I really thought the plot here made no sense. Like the story evolves from Kit arriving to this old woman being like "let me tell you my story" and she starts telling nuggets of information as the book progresses, but people don't do that in real life. If you want to clear your reputation or come clean, wouldn't someone just immediately tell you their truth once they feel like they can trust you? Prolonging this mystery just felt like a waste of time, honestly. I wasn't invested in any character and the ending felt a bit ridiculous and rushed after dealing with 180 pages of slowly moving topics. It took me over a week to read this book, and that is unheard of when it comes to me with thrillers. I would say this is more gothic mystery/suspense over thriller, but ultimately it just felt disjointed.

This was one of my favorite Sager books! I loved the gothic manor setting and thought the twists were clever and fun. This was a slow burn, but I liked that. Perfect Summer thriller!

“The Only One Left” by Riley Sager is a slow burning, creepy thriller with heart ❤️

In 1983, home health aide Kit McDeere is sent to care for Lenora Hope, a wealthy old woman who lives in a historic mansion on a crumbling cliff on the sea. In 1929, Lenora was accused of killing her parents and sister and is confined to a wheelchair after a series of strokes. Lenora’s previously aide left her job in the middle of the night, and Kit begins to suspect Lenora is capable of more than she lets on.

Whew! This one is a wild ride, and the middle of the book had me genuinely creeped out. Riley Sager’s books are just so readable, engaging and entertaining. If you are into Gothic books, you’ll eat this one up. The ending isn’t anything I would have dreamed up, but I loved it, and it’s the reason I say this is a thriller with heart.

HOLY SMOKES!! The Only One Left takes you on a wild ride involving a gothic house, multiple murders, family secrets, and much more. The main character, Kit, is an at-home caregiver assigned to the infamous murderess Lenora Hope. Lenora Hope supposedly killed her entire family in 1929, but now, in the 1980s, she’s elderly, paralyzed, and still living in her family’s cliff-side mansion.

This book had everything I needed in a thriller. There were so many twists, and I was SHOCKED by all of them. Still SHOOOK from all the big reveals!! Loved the creep factor, the characters' unreliability, and the murder mysteries! Looking forward to the next Riley Sager novel.

“At 17, Lenore Hope, hung her sister with a rope.
Killed her father with a knife, and took her mothers happy life. “It wasn’t me” Lenora said, but she’s the only one not dead. “

This book was an amazing tale of twists and turns I never saw coming. My favorite of Riley’s so far.

Follow along with the life of Kit McDeere as she ends up the caregiver for Lenora Hope in the mansion where her family was murdered all those years ago. Did Lenora kill her family? Is there some other explanation to what might have happened to the rest of the hood family on that fateful night? Read along and slowly everything is unraveled and secrets are told.

4⭐️
- enjoyed the storyline of a young caretaker with a suspicious past taking care of an alleged murderer
- the gothic setting of the house on the cliff was exciting and spooky
- psychological thriller unreliable narrator
- locked door thriller vibes
- Bingeable! I thought the first half was a bit quicker than the second
- wish we got to know some of the side characters a little more. None of them were especially likable to me.
- twisty! Some twists I expected, others I did not

Riley Sager is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. The Only One Left is a fast paced mystery/thriller which kept me guessing till the end. A great read. Thank you for the opportunity!

The Only One Left is a delightfully eery mystery. The crumbling mansion of Hope's End is the perfect setting to send your imagination running wild. This story is by far one of Sager's best, as it keeps you guessing until the end.

Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors and this book is the perfect example of why. It's incredibly creepy and, while it bears a resemblance to a certain story we've all heard of, it wastes no time in going off in a completely different direction. It's one of my favorites of his and I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this fun and campy gothic thriller!

It follows a young caregiver thrown into the world of a woman accused of a horrifying massacre, drawing parallels to the infamous Lizzie Borden case. The story is brimming with atmosphere, creating a suspenseful and nail-biting experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat

As a devoted fan of Riley Sager's previous works, I eagerly delved into this newest release, and it did not disappoint. Sager's signature style shines through, delivering a narrative that is both compelling and filled with unexpected surprises. While some of the plot twists were far-fetched, that didn't stop me from enjoying this engaging tale. A perfect summer read!

Another amazing story by this author!!! He outdid himself! Mysterious, eerie like he likes his settings, unputdownable, keeps you guessing with twists you don’t see coming!!

I will forever pre-order any of Riley Sager’s novels. I haven’t been let down by a single one, and this one doesn’t change that.

Haunted by her tainted past, Lenora Hope lives a secluded life after she was accused of murdering her family. After the last caretaker leaves, Kit arrives to be a companion and nurse to Lenora. Whether she believes Lenora to be guilty or not, Kit does her job. Until Lenora offers her what everyone wants - the truth.

Really enjoyed the plot his newest work! The pacing and character development was well done and I would 100% recommend this to anyone who loves a good, creepy thriller!

After the “oh, come on” twist in Riley Sager’s previous thriller, “The House Across the Lake,” he’s back with a straight-up, old-school gothic. And that’s a relief.

In “The Only One Left,” it’s 1983, and home health aide Kit McDeere needs work. Back from suspension after a mishap involving an overdose, she’s assigned to the home of a notorious, Lizzie Borden-like killer. Take it, her boss tells her, or leave it.

Kit takes the job, arriving at the Hope family’s crumbling mansion, Hope’s End. (Kudos for that one, Mr. Sager.)

Her patient is Lenora Hope, 71 and bedridden, unable to speak or move anything but one hand. More than 50 years earlier, Lenora’s whole family was murdered in the home. She’s “the only one left,” and the presumed killer; there was even a playground chant (a real earworm) about her.

Lenora wants to tell her story, and Kit sets out to help her, using a convenient typewriter. (“I didn’t do it,” Lenora pecks out.) But sinister elements are working against them, notably the stern housekeeper, Mrs. Baker.

“The Only One Left” is overly long, and Sager often ignores logic. The nurse Kit replaced disappeared in the dead of night, leaving everything behind, and no one thought that odd. The house is breaking apart around them, threatening to slide into the sea, and no one screams, “Run for it! when a huge new fissure appears.

But never mind. “The Only One Left” is deliciously creepy, and the final revelations are satisfying — albeit not as satisfying as if they’d come 100 pages sooner.

I absolutely loved this book! I am a huge Riley Sager fan and I think this is my favorite of his books to date. The Only One Left is a chilling story with a perfect atmosphere and twists that you’ll never see coming!