The House Across the Lake: the utterly gripping new psychological suspense thriller from the internationally bestselling author

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Overall: I was planning to give three stars after that unexpected, out of nowhere twist but last third was way too much gripping, fast pacing and entertaining for me! So I decided to round up 3.5 stars to 4 girl power, haunting lake stars! The women in these books are always so ridiculous. There is so outlandish and jump to conclusions so fast it's insane. I love how she's had like three conversations with this Katherine lady and suddenly she knows that she's been murdered by her husband because she's not returning her phone call.

Do y'all remember when we were super excited once we finished home before dark and wanted Riley to publish a supernatural book? Yeah? Right? Yeah, so this isn't it. The only differences here are that Boone isn’t a local, my heart’s too shattered to melt, and there’s no such thing as happily ever after. There’s only happy for a short period of time before everything falls apart.” That probably is just me and my reading tastes here speaking, but I guess I prefer my mystery/thriller without any monsters or ghosts or the like. People who know me know I’m a relative newbie to the mystery/thriller genre. I tend to go for nonfiction and sci-fi/fantasy reads. They come up with a plan to tell the police that Katherine was just found coming out of the woods lost. What about the rope burns on her wrists? There's no evidence that she was out in the elements for days.I turned my thinking cap on with bated anticipation to see what twists get thrown my way and try to solve as many as I can. Spoiler, I don’t solve them all. 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 liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

Not sure if Sager has lost his touch/giving into pressure and demand for more books, but this one and Survive the Night were not it. I’m mad I wasted a libro.fm credit on this one. I think I’ll never get that reading high like I did for Home Before Dark and Last Time I Lied ever again…I’m still giving this a 3* because I enjoy Sager’s style of writing and this could have been more engaging if the twists had been more well placed throughout instead of all left until the end! Be forewarned, spoilers are ahead: The fact that there was a supernatural aspect in this book took me by surprise as Riley Sager has never included a supernatural aspect before since some other books of his would fit the concept better. I buddy read The House Across the Lake with my sis Irina, and we ended up having identical thoughts on all the ins and outs of what makes this story so divisive. On the one hand, it's incredibly difficult to put down, even with the worn and tired set up of "traumatized alcoholic female spying on glamorous couple across the way and thinks she sees something detrimental occur" trope at play. On the flip side, the main plot twist is really make-or-break it for the entire story, because everything else is so recycled it felt like reading the same tale for the millionth time. In fact, even though this book promised to be one where you think you know what will happen, but don't, it did take a leap similar to Behind Her Eyes and Layla, so even that didn't quite give me the gasp I was hoping to receive. The ending of this is completely over-the-top and caught me by surprise. It's definitely one of his more memorable conclusions. Trust me when I say, it's a wild ride. The House Across the Lake is an engrossing and entertaining thriller, at the center of which is an emotionally complex woman that readers will find themselves cheering on as she searches for her new friend, but the truth eludes her until Sager dramatically unveils a twist that feels completely organic and satisfying. But take Sager's advice and go "in blind, . . . The less you know, the better."

Her mother, a film star in her own right, has given Casey a choice. Enter rehab or spend time at their secluded lake house in Vermont. Casey chose the latter. Being alone however has only made her drink more and she finds herself bored and spending time on her porch staring out at the dark surface of Lake Green. When she finds her husband’s binoculars which he used for birding, she begins to spy on her neighbors across the lake. They are a famous couple, Katherine is a supermodel and her husband Tom is pioneering a tech company. Pennington, Gail. "6 mystery novels offer new angles — and a few new favorites". STLtoday.com . Retrieved 2022-07-11.

I make jokes because it’s easier to pretend I’m not feeling what I’m feeling than to actually feel it.” Casey is more developed than the previous main characters in Riley’s other books, but at the same time she feels just like all of the other main characters in his novels. Casey did feel more complex with different motivations and traumas that impacted her personality with her biggest flaw being an alcoholic. When I say alcoholic, I mean drinking to keep her demons at bay constantly. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving. Why is there always some kind of actor in his books? The last one was a girl who dreamed of movies and now this one is an actress. I don’t think this will be my favorite book of Riley Sager but I have to admit : it’s absolutely unusual, creative, twisty, mind spinning!

I have stated many times that I’m tired of boozy narrators but this time I wasn’t bothered, because Casey is not an unreliable narrator and I never once thought she was imagining things. There are shades of Rear Window, a favorite movie of Casey’s, so this is hardly a new theme. As always, I loved the unique plot & many twists that Sager brought with this book. I could not have guessed in the slightest where this book was going, it was such a ride!

Go into the book blind for a full experience. The clues are definitely there for you to piece together but I was still surprised. You will be questioning everyone and everything, making this book such a fun read." - Mystery and Suspense I put this on here a long time ago and I've no idea why. And it wasn't even very good. There's an American writer who has a boat. And for some reason he ends up having to ferry some party guests over to the house of a wealthy man and his femme fatale trophy wife.