At seventeen, Lenora Hope; Hung her sister with a rope; Stabbed her father with a knife; Took her mother’s happy life. So begins Riley Sager's latest book, The Only One Left.

This was a twisty, interesting gothic thriller. Kit signs on to be the caregiver for Lenora, bedridden 50 years after she was accused of murdering her family. Kit has her own demons she's fighting. Kit doesn't believe Lenora committed the murders, just like she was innocent of her own issues. What unfolds is a pretty intricate story, uncovering piece by piece what happened with some surprises mixed in.

This was a good thriller. It was a quick read and held my attention. I always enjoy Sager's books and this was another good one. While I don't have any major criticisms, this also just wasn't a 5-star for me. I enjoyed it but won't say I loved it and I'm not sure how much it will stick with me. Still, a good thriller to pick up if you are in the mood for one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

What a suspenseful and wild ride of a book. I loved this one and it kept me guessing until the very end. I thought the writing was the perfect combination of atmospheric and mysterious. I think this will be a huge summer hit once it gets into everyone’s hands. This is probably my favorite Riley Sager book yet!

YES, Riley Sager! I am such a fan of Sager and this new novel was an eerie, uncomfortable, and overall creep-fest. Which means it was amazing. Really enjoyed the parallels between Lizzie Borden and I will definitely be recommending this to others- so suspenseful!

In 1929, Lenora Hope murdered her family. Unfortunately, there was never enough proof that it happened, so the police never arrested her. Lenora has never spoken about that night nor left Hope's End, her family's cliffside mansion in Maine.

Fast forward to 1983, when Kit McDeere arrives at Hope's End to care for Lenora. Lenora's previous nurse, Mary, left in the middle of the night. After suffering polio and a series of strokes, Lenora can only use her left hand. She can communicate with Kit on a typewriter and proposes an offer Kit can't refuse when she types, "I want to tell you everything."

Kit helps Lenora tell her story and, in the process, learns even more about the previous nurse's departure. Kit also suspects there is more than meets the eye to Lenora.

The Only One Left is a wild ride, but I enjoyed every minute. As Kit learned more about the events in 1929, I couldn't help jumping to my own conclusions. Some of my guesses were right, and others were wildly incorrect. However twisted the events seem, I promise they're even more tangled and messy.

This is the first Riley Sager book I've read, and I'm so glad to have finally read one. I'm unsure how this holds up to Sager's other work, but I'm ready to read more of his books.

Fans of gothic fiction will love the insular setting and decrepit mansion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book had so much potential in the synopsis but the first 50% of this was so boring and drawn out that i forgot what made this book seem interesting in the first place. nobody was likable enough to root for so sadly, i spent my time thinking about the upcoming twist(s). and then i spent the last 50% coming to terms with the fact that riley sager used every single possible twist and turn you could think of.

just predictable, boring, unbelievably bingeable riley sager.

This is entertaining and it’s infinitely better than The House Across the Lake, but it’s also sloppy and predictable and lacks both the quality of plot and the delightful creepiness of Sager’s earlier work.

I love a good Gothic premise, and Sager has done well with this in the past, particularly with Home Before Dark, which I consider his best work. But the number one rule of Gothic is that it needs tremendously good atmosphere and a terrific sense of slowly creeping dread. The atmosphere here was okay at best, and there’s absolutely nothing creepy about this book.

Which makes me sad, because that fun, popcorn horror creepiness is what Sager does best. The snakes in the ceiling and The Sound of Music in Home Before Dark! The mysterious trespasser in Lock Every Door! Pretty much all of Final Girls! There’s just nothing scary about this book, which was a bummer of the first order.

Sager seems to have moved away from creepy and more toward typical Thriller motifs, which are certainly easier to churn out but also unoriginal and far less fun.

This has a lot of slop to it too. There are three big twists, two of which you may guess pretty easily and two of which require an astounding suspension of disbelief from the reader due to ridiculous coincidence in one case and sheer absurdity in the other.

All of that said, this is at least a fun ride, and we’re not being subjected again to anything like the icky and eye-roll inducing unreliable drunk narrator common to domestic thrillers that made The House Across the Lake so unlike Sager’s previous work and so incredibly bad.

In terms of quality this is closer to Survive the Night, though thankfully absent the imaginary disease plot thread.

Updated Sager rankings as follows

1. Home Before Dark
2. Final Girls
3. Lock Every Door
4. The Last Time I Lied
5. The Only One Left
6. Survive the Night
7. The House Across the Lake

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

First off, WOW. Highly recommend for fans of thrillers/suspense/mystery.
A community along the Maine coast was rocked by the Hope family murders of 1929, the lone survivor, Lenora Hope, believed to be the killer of her mother, father, and sister, though never found guilty, reduced to a creepy schoolyard rhyme…”At seventeen, Lenora Hope hung her sister with a rope…”
More than 50 years later, home-health aide Kit McDeere is battling her own presumed-guilty tragedy when she’s assigned a new case: caring for the elderly Lenora Hope after her previous nurse fled in the night. Rendered mute and paralyzed from a series of medical issues, Lenora begins to communicate with Kit through taps and a typewriter, and it quickly becomes apparent there is much more to this story and danger isn’t far.
I could not put this book down! Every time I thought I had an inkling of what was happening another twist would leave me shocked and turning the page.
Thank you to Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Happy release week!

The Only One Left gave me serious classic Stephen King vibes. It was hooked from page one and the ending was shocking. Riley Sager has done it again!

I love Sager's books and this one was no exception. The Only One Left was a bit slower than Sager's previous novels, but I didn't mind. The tension is just that good. No one can really write haunted settings than Sager and his newest book just demonstrates that. The ending is a bit complicated and confusing, but when I slowed down it was easier to understand. I needed to think through the twists in this one too, which is something I haven't needed to do before, but I rather liked.

This book was my favorite from this author so far! The first half was a bit more slow moving but then once it picked up, it really picked up. Huge fan of all the twists that I did not anticipate and kept me invested. Thanks for the advance copy, netgalley!

I loved the twists and turns in this book! It seemed predictable at first but, trust me, it wasn’t by the end. Riley Sager’s best yet, for sure. Loved it!

This is the best thing Sager has ever written. I thought he had topped it with the last novel but no, this is supreme. This is top tier. This is incredible. I cannot believe I was able to read this story. He has perfected thriller writing.

The Only One Left is the latest summer thriller by Riley Sager. This one is very loosely based on the old tale of Lizzie Borden. Lenora also has a child's chant sung about her and the horrible things she is accused of doing to her family. Set years after those events, Kit has come to be Lenora's caretaker after suffering her own scandalous loss. Soon Kit starts to suspect that all is not as it appears and the secrets begin to unravel. Read and enjoy!

This book had just about everything I love in a thriller: a spooky atmospheric New England Setting, a touch of duel timelines, and dash of locked-room mystery elements.

In late 1920s on the coast of Maine, the Hope family lives in a lavish cliffside estate until one night all but one family member is killed in a brutal massacre. Lenora Hope, the only surviving family member, is never convicted of the murders but much like Lizzie Borden, is assumed to have committed them. She spends her life locked up in the estate avoiding the public eye and keeping a low profile.

Cut to 1983 and Kit is a disgraced caregiver after one of her patients dies under mysterious circumstances. Forced to accept the only job opportunity she has, she takes a live-in position at the now weathered old estate to be Lenora Hope’s caregiver. As Kit settles in to the creepy old mansion she faces more questions than answers and begins to search for the truth of what happened that night back in 1929.

Sager’s past couple of releases haven’t been my favorite, but this one felt like a return to what I’ve loved about his writing. I love a creepy gothic setting and the amount of twists and turns had me second guessing my theories right up to the last pages. Not to mention the ending was shockingly…heartfelt? It wasn’t how I thought the book would end, but I was a fan of how this one wrapped up. I’m sure this book will be just as polarizing in reviews as his last releases, but this one will be going in my top 3 of Sager favorites.

4.5 ⭐️ overall
(The cover is a solid 5 ⭐️ though)

Thank you Dutton books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Only One Left is a Gothic horror novel about a young woman named Kit who takes a job as a caregiver for Lenora Hope, a woman who has been accused of murdering her family in a fit of rage. As Kit gets to know Lenora, she begins to question whether she is really guilty, and she soon finds herself caught up in a web of secrets and lies.

I really enjoyed The Only One Left. It is a well-written and suspenseful thriller with a satisfying ending. Sager does a great job of creating a sense of dread and foreboding, and he keeps the reader guessing until the very end. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the setting is atmospheric and creepy.

One of the things I liked best about The Only One Left is the way that Sager explores the themes of grief, loss, and redemption. Kit is a complex and sympathetic character, and I found myself rooting for her throughout the book. I also appreciated the way that Sager handled the subject matter of violence against women. The book is not gratuitously violent, but it does address the real-world consequences of violence against women in a way that is both sensitive and powerful.

Overall, I highly recommend The Only One Left to fans of mystery, thriller, and Gothic horror novels. It is a well-written and suspenseful story with a satisfying ending.

Kit McDeere is a home health aide returning to work after an investigation failed to prove that she was responsible for the death of her prior patient. Her new assignment is to care for Lenora Hope, an elderly woman confined to a wheelchair, who also happens to have a brutal past. Kit isn’t thrilled about caring for someone who supposedly murdered her entire family decades ago, but like with Kit, nothing was ever proven.

Ok so this book took me forever to read but I honestly think it was a me issue - I was definitely in a reading slump going in and probably should have given myself more time to mentally bounce back. Despite that though, I really did enjoy this one. It did start kind of slow (which didn’t help my situation) but it definitely picked up in the second half and I flew through the last 30-40%.

There were a lot of twists - some big and some small, and some I saw coming and some I definitely didn’t. This book really kept me on my toes! I literally couldn’t trust anyone and I loved that about it. I also loved the creepy gothic mansion setting, which added to the suspense of the novel. Sager’s writing is so easy to fly through and he really knows how to keep you engaged.

TLDR: I liked it a lot and recommend it!

I read this in a day so I'd definitely say it's a quick, compelling read. There were a few plot holes and things that didn't make sense which took me out of the story, but maybe I've been spoiled by reading Catriona Ward, the queen of plot twists and identity theft.

If you’re a fan of Riley Sager’s books, this one is going to be your next favorite. Sager is known for his twists, but those are nothing compared to the sharp edged turns, that this book takes. You will find yourself immediately sucked into the setting and the mystery of Lenora Hope.
Setting is everything in this book. The decrepit mansion, on a coastal cliff is the perfect setting for murder. The way Sager describes the scenery of the Maine coast, you feel the salt spray on your cheeks. This is so important to the story. The reader needs to constantly be aware of their surroundings, because they are unsteady. The cliff is slowly falling into the ocean, trying to take the secrets of the Hope family with it.
Fans of Gothic, slightly haunted house stories will love this one. It’s highly suspenseful, full of thrills around every corner. The lies and secrets that the Hope family is hiding will shock you. I did not see the last few twists coming. This is why I love Riley Sager.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down! More. modern fall of the house of usher vibes! Riley Sager hits the spot every time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🌊 love waterfront homes
🤯 want to read a mind boggling twist
👀 have ever been betrayed
👩‍⚕️ work as a caregiver

• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

When Kit McDeere comes off her six month suspension, she’s assigned to Lenora Hope, a notorious woman accused of murdering her entire family in October 1929.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

In 1929, Lenora Hope was accused of murdering her entire family. Home alone, nobody else could have possibly done it. Now it’s 1983, and Kit McDeere has been assigned to care for Lenora Hope, now age 71. Almost fully paralyzed and unable to communicate, Kit and Lenora eventually start to communicate via the typewriter in Lenora’s room, left by a former nurse, Mary, who disappeared one night, never to be seen again. As Kit and Lenora type together, the truth about that awful October night will finally fully come to light.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was such an incredible read. It took me a little while to get into, but I always love the descriptions Sager gives us. I was really able to imagine this home on the cliffside, as well as how it may have looked, even in the early 1980s. I was also blown away by twist after twist after twist. While the last one wasn’t super surprising (I had my suspicions), I liked that it turned out to be true. There was one twist that I loved the most (but of course I can’t mention it, just read this asap!) The Only One Left is definitely up there among my favorites of his, including The Last Time I Lied and Home Before Dark! I can’t wait to read his next release!