I'm a big Riley Sager fan since I read Lock Every Door back in 2019 and read anything he has put out since then, so this was no exception. While Sager's consistency in quality has dropped a small amount since releasing titles on an annual basis, I would say this one is slightly ahead of the middle pack. I would describe it as a cross between the movie Clue and Murder on the Orient Express, so if you're a fan of either of those you'll enjoy this. While I mostly guessed the big twist early on, there were still a few unexpected surprises along the way.

Mysterious, propulsive, engaging, and fun. I love this new take on the whodunit genre. Feels like an updated Agatha Christie! Really enjoyed.

With a Vengeance had an intriguing premise; revenge on a luxury train with a deadly twist; but it didn’t fully live up to its potential. The setup was promising, and the suspense built well early on, but the pacing quickly became uneven. The characters, especially Anna, felt underdeveloped, and the constant twists became more predictable than shocking. The reveal was somewhat lackluster and lacked the depth I hoped for.
While the tension on the train kept me engaged for parts of the story, the book ultimately didn’t deliver the level of suspense or emotional payoff I was expecting. Overall, this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.
I appreciate the ARC and will purchase this title for our library

I could not put this book down - it is a must read. The tragic twisty story of a locked room mystery unfolding as an express train barrels down the tracks will keep you guessing until the very end!

This was the first Riley Sager book I have read because I had always heard good things about his novels. I really found the premise a bit overdone – vengeance and murder on a train, like Murder on the Orient Express. I found that the story was quite flawed, and while I generally enjoyed the read, I am hoping that his other novels will be better. Just okay!

The plot of this book has hope and I love Riley Sager as an author. This one however missed the mark for me because it was slow to start. 140 pages in and barely getting to the mystery after pages upon pages of character development was a bit much. Not my favorite but not too bad.

Was so excited to read this one but it was a huge disappointment. Nothing at all like Sager’s other novels. The entire novel takes place on a train over the course of 9 hours. The protagonist has invited all of the people on the train aboard because they were all involved in a plot that killed her brother and framed her father. But.. (this is very important and we hear it so many times) she doesn’t want them dead! No! That would be too easy. A murder on the orient express like closed door murder mystery ensues except you’re never quite sure who is really alive or dead. By the end I just didn’t care who was killed or who did the killing.

With a Vengeance is a locked room type mystery from Riley Sager! Only instead of a locked room in a house it takes place on a TRAIN. I thought this was a lot of fun. It reminded me of Murder on the Orient Express actually. And while it may not be my favorite book by Sager I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery!

I will ALWAYS grab his books, hands down couldn't talk me out of it. This intriguing mystery was fast-paced and pure entertainment. I loved the main character, Anna, and rooted for her as she sought revenge on the train with the many smucks who did her father wrong. Anna Matheson has waited 12 long years. Six people are responsible for the downfall of her family and the deaths of those she loved the most, and they've gone unpunished--until now. "Revenge is a dish best served cold," the saying goes, and for Anna, she's planned every last detail. I really enjoyed the locked room aspect, the twists and turns that were perfectly executed, but most of all, I loved the moral dilemma presented. In addition to being a stellar thriller, I think readers will appreciate the depth in this plot.

Usually I enjoy Sager's books. They're fun, fast paced, have a few twisty turns tossed in and make for a generally good read.
Not so much this time around.
It just felt convoluted, rather than twisty, bloated, instead of fast paced and I never really found myself invested in the whodunit of it all.
Anna has gathered all the people who she believed ruined her father's, and therefore her, life. Greed and jealousy caused them to set her family up to take the blame for a tragic train crash that cost her family their company and her brother, amongst many other, their lives. She has the proof and she's going to make them all pay. But first? A jaunty little train ride so Anna can gloat a bit. Unfortunately, the train ride is interrupted by murder... oh wait not a murder... and another murder.. or not.. oh yes.. and so on.
By the time they reached Chicago, I rather hoped NONE of them would make it... but alas...




Thanks to Netgalley and this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this dark thriller-cum-murder mystery from Riley Sager, we are once again transported to another place and time. This time, the luxurious Philadelphia Phoenix train in 1954, travelling from Philadelphia to Chicago.
The characters were wholly dimensional, and seemed so well developed that they were as real to me as anybody at my side.

I pored over my Kindle devouring this, happy to find my mind completely satiated at the end for the mystery, however I was quite upset at how seemingly abrupt the book finished. Indeed, I would have liked to know a little more about what happened to Anna after reaching Chicago.

Nevertheless, this is without a doubt one of the best books I have read by the author, and I look forward to reading more.

Don’t go into this one expecting a book like Sager’s previous ones. It looks like he wanted to try something different. This one is more classic mystery, think Agatha Christie, with many moving parts and twists to keep you guessing until the conclusion when all is revealed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free eARC. I usually save Riley Sager books for vacations - it was honestly a little weird to read it normally and not in a big gulp! (although I did read a substantial chunk of it during an afternoon off)

This is another historical setting - I feel like I generally enjoy those more than his contemporary ones. It also has Agatha Christie and Hitchcock vibes, which is always fun. It’s borrowing quite a bit of story DNA from Murder on the Orient Express, which weirdly *doesn’t* get name-checked by any of the characters (and I checked - it was released in the ‘30s, so they definitely would have been aware of it). It’s also reminiscent of And Then There Were None.

Our main character is Anna Matheson. Her father used to work for the railroad, until a tragic accident (in a train he personally designed and built) ends his career. Even worse - Anna’s brother was on that train, so in one fell swoop she lost two of her family members (Dad went to jail and didn’t make it out alive, mom died shortly thereafter). Now twelve years have passed and Anna is ready for revenge. She calls together all of the people she believes are responsible for her family’s demise and gathers them on a luxury train traveling from Philadelphia to Chicago. She’s sent threatening notes to each person, basically promising to go public with what she knows if they don’t show up. They all do, of course, but things don’t go quite as planned. And once the passengers start dying, Anna realizes she may not be the only one out for vengeance.

Like pretty much every Riley Sager book, it’s hard to say too much more without giving away the plot! This one isn’t too reliant on twists (I’m pretty sure I still have whiplash from The Only One Left). I’ve seen other reviews lamenting that the characters are all terrible, which is certainly true - that’s kind of the point? These are the people whose actions led to a LOT of deaths, so yeah, not much sympathy to be had here. Anna herself is kind of annoying - basically a one-woman vengeance machine. There’s not a whole lot else to her personality. And this is one of those plot-plot-plot stories that doesn’t rely very much on character development. If you find the plot engaging - which I did – that won’t bother you. It’s not the *most* original plot - it’s certainly been done already. But I was interested enough in the outcome to keep reading, and that’s really all I’m looking for in a popcorn mystery like this one.

Riley Sager’s With a Vengeance delivers a high-stakes revenge tale set aboard a luxury train in 1954—a setting that lends itself beautifully to the classic closed-circle mystery format. With echoes of Murder on the Orient Express and a fresh, revenge-driven twist, the premise is undeniably compelling: one woman, six targets, thirteen hours to justice. What could go wrong?

Well, quite a bit, as it turns out—and not always in the way the plot intends.

The story wastes no time setting up its central tension. Anna Matheson’s carefully plotted plan to expose and punish the people who destroyed her family is thrown into chaos when a murder disrupts the journey. Suddenly, she’s not just seeking retribution—she’s trying to survive. The tight quarters of the train heighten the tension nicely, and Sager's skill at using setting to create suspense is once again on display.

Where the novel stumbles, however, is in its character work. While Anna is a reasonably well-developed protagonist, the supporting cast often feels too thin to invest in. The shifting perspectives are a clever structural choice but don't always add the depth one might hope for. As the body count rises, I found myself more intrigued by the mechanics of the mystery than by the fates of the characters involved.

Pacing-wise, the novel is solid—it keeps the momentum going and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Still, some of the twists were predictable, and a few plot beats veer into cliché territory, particularly in the final stretch. A key reveal late in the game felt especially contrived, undercutting some of the tension that had been so carefully built.

All that said, With a Vengeance remains a fun, page-turning ride. It’s not Sager’s strongest work, but it will likely satisfy fans of classic whodunits and those who enjoy a well-contained thriller with a vintage flair. Just don’t expect too many surprises beyond the initial hook.

With a Vengeance
by Riley Sager
Pub Date: June 10, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.
This book was a major disappoint to me.
What I Liked:
1. Riley Sager has great covers
2. Train mystery

What I Didn't Like:
1. So many plot holes
2. Unrealistic scenarios
3. Unrealistic characters
4. Very slow and boring
5. Addressing everyone by their full names the whole way through the book
6. Way too long for how slow this book is - could have been 100 pages shorter
7. That ending

Anna's father owned a luxury train line in the 1930s. She had the dream life, loving parents and an amazing older brother. All of that changed when one of the trains holding soldiers - including her brother - explodes resulting in her father's arrest and eventual murder in prison.

Twelve years later, Anna gathers the individuals actually responsible for the explosion on an overnight train from Philadelphia to Chicago. The plan is to get them to admit to what they have done and turn them over to the FBI in Chicago. The plan derails as the six individuals she tricked into coming on the train start dying one by one.

First line: The train isn’t empty, although it certainly feels that way.

Summary: Anna Matheson’s life was destroyed by a train disaster in 1942. For years she has ruminated on the people who ruined her life and now she has uncovered the truth behind their deeds from over a decade before. In a master plan to take down all of them she lures them onto a train from Philadelphia to Chicago which will end in their arrest for their crimes. However, someone on board the train has another plan for the conspirators. Anna must hunt a killer amongst them in order to get the justice she has been waiting years for which means protecting the people she hates the most.

My Thoughts: Once again Riley Sager has changed course from his usual format, not that it’s a bad thing but different than what he has written before. He has returned to a female main character but rather than only one narrator we get the perspective of all the passengers of the train. Early on you get the feel of Murder on the Orient Express and I was in for it.

I did really enjoy this book. I love closed door because it makes you pay attention to every little detail because these are the parts that may give you a clue to the killer’s identity. Everyone is a suspect and there are only so many places to hide. I think the addition of giving us other perspectives helped enhance the mystery but we still cannot trust anyone.

I had a lot of fun reading this but my one critique is near the end where there was cliché scene that felt silly. When you read it you will understand. It seems to be added because it is almost expected but I could have done without it. Even with this scene I found the mystery intriguing and entertaining. If you love Agatha Christie and a good closed door mystery, then I’d highly recommend Sager’s newest novel.

I’ve long been an admirer of Riley Sager, having thoroughly enjoyed every book he's published up until now. Unfortunately, With A Vengeance didn’t live up to the high expectations I had.

One of the major issues I had was the overwhelming number of characters which ended up diluting the impact of each character’s arc. The second issue was the repetitive nature of the storytelling. It was as though the same themes were hammered home again and again without adding much depth or new insight. Instead of keeping me hooked, these repetitive moments made the book feel sluggish, and I lost all sense of excitement.

What should have been a race along the tracks in a train time gone by ended up being a desire to just get to Chicago already. So disappointed!

All I have to say about this book is that I was SHOCKED at it. I'm a huge fan of Sager's work and I had started being able to predict how books were going to go. With this one, I couldn't predict anything. The writing was superb, I felt like I couldn't put this book down. Sager did it again with this book and has proven again why he is one of my favorite authors.

I absolutely loved *With a Vengeance* by Riley Sager! The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the pacing was spot-on. Sager has a knack for building suspense and keeping readers guessing until the very last page. The plot is clever, dark, and full of mystery, which made it impossible to put down.

That being said, the female main character, while certainly central to the story, was a bit annoying at times. Her actions felt a bit forced and her decision-making sometimes lacked the nuance I was hoping for. Still, this didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing the ARC. This book is definitely worth picking up for anyone who loves a good thriller with plenty of twists!