Riley Sager is a master of suspense and thrills, and has carved a prominent place for himself in the world of contemporary fiction. With each page, he skillfully weaves narratives that leave us breathless, on the edge of our seats, and yearning for more. He has the ability to transport us to worlds both familiar and unknown, filling our hearts with fear, anticipation, and a craving for the next twist.
The gripping Riley Sager books below will have you turning pages into the night, uncovering the secrets, suspense, and storytelling mastery that have made Riley Sager a must-read author for any thriller lover. Take a look and let me know which ones you've read and if you have a favorite!
Lock Every Door: So twisted … oh my gosh... left me wondering if this can really happen?!?!? I loved every moment of this book - it kept me on the edge of my seat! This was the second Riley Sager book that I read, and the first one that I had the chance to enjoy with my book club. When I say that our discussions were animated, that is an understatement! This book sparked lots of conversations!
Imagine that you are a young adult in need of a job (and place to live). You see an opportunity to be an apartment sitter at an well known Manhattan building (called the Bartholomew) that sounds amazing. That's exactly what Jules finds when her recent break up with her boyfriend leaves her looking for her next place.
The rules seem easy enough: no visitors, requirement to sleep in apartment at night, and leave the other residents alone. Jules takes the job and even befriends another apartment sitter, Ingrid. However, Ingrid starts telling Jules about the sordid details of the past of the Bartholomew, sparking her imagination and frightening her.
When Ingrid goes missing the next day, Jules is on a mission to find her before it's too late.
The Only One Left: This is the most recently published book as of this moment and by far one of my favorites. Kit is a care taker, but has recently been on a work enforced sabbatical when her last patient died in her care. It's now finally time for her to return to work and take the next assignment, but it's at the Cliffs and she'd be taking care of Lenora Hope. Rumor has it that Lenora killed her family when she was 17 (about 70 years ago) although she was never found guilty. Kit tries to refuse the assignment, but she needs money and is told that Lenora has had a few strokes and cannot move, so she has nothing to worry about.
She reluctantly takes it and finds Lenora intriguing. They can communicate to some degree as Lenora's left hand still works (so she can indicate yes, no, and even slowly type). But the house is extremely strange and unusual things keep happening.
Kit is never really sure who to trust all the way up until the end. Lots of plot twists coming at you in the last 1/4 of the book - You'll be riding a rollercoaster!
Home Before Dark: Another great Riley Sager chilling thriller! This one about all of the mysterious deaths that occurred inside Baneberry Hall spanning many generations.
The Holts buy the Victorian estate in the woods dirt cheap, but almost immediately begin to hear noises in the dark. The young daughter, Maggie (only 6 at the time), claims that she sees ghosts in her room. The family last a mere 3 weeks before fleeing Baneberry Hall. Seeking some sort of income, Ewan pens a book about the experience, never returning to the "House of Horrors".
Told in two perspectives - the father's (Ewan) daily experiences during his time at the house; and then Maggie's perspective 25 years later when she goes in search of the truth upon inheriting Baneberry Hall after her father dies. She was too young to remember her time in the estate and firmly believes that her father's story is just that - a story. Until those same strange occurrences start happening while she's there revisiting the house.
Of course I read this book over the course of two nights that my husband was out... not recommended! It certainly did not help when I heard noises in the middle of the night :( haha
Final Girls: Books like this just amaze me. So many stories interwoven with twists and turns all along the way, Final Girls is a book you finish in one sitting. I'm always impressed when the author manages to shock me with an ending that I didn't see coming!
Final Girls is a club that you DON'T want to be in. The three members are sole survivors of brutal attacks that left others dead in their wake. Lisa, Sam, and Quincy have all survived horrifying ordeals that nobody else did and are bonded by that one similarity.
Then Lisa is found dead in her bathtub and Sam seeks Quincy out to meet in person without being caught by reporters. Up until this point, Quincy has managed to suppress her trauma with a hefty dose of Xanax and Sam is trying to bring her past back to the surface so that she remembers what really happened that night.
Another book with lots of twists and an end that I was not expecting!
The Last Time I Lied: This suspense novel is a summer camp thriller told in two different timelines. At Camp Nightingale, it's not uncommon to play the game Two Truths and a Lie, but all camp activities came to an abrupt halt when three girls went missing 15 years ago.
Emma was in her cabin laying down and groggy the night her three friends snuck out, hushing her before closing the door. That was the last time she saw them.
Now the camp is opening back up and Emma's paintings have caught the eye of the camp owner and she's asked to return to teach the new campers how to paint.
While at the camp, memories resurface and flood her mind as she's drawn to the mystery around her former camp friends and what happened that fateful night. Emma begins chasing clues and the last 1/3 of the book is a series of twists and turns that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat!
The House Across The Lake: This was an interesting thriller - be aware that there is a fairly big piece of the story where you have to suspend disbelief in order to really enjoy the book. If you can do that, it's full of twists and turns with an ending that was very unexpected.
Casey has moved back to the family house on Lake Greene following a widely publicized fall from grace. As an actress in NY, it's not uncommon to be in the tabloids. But ever since her husband died a year ago, Casey has been drinking it up. Her mother encouraged her to leave her NY life for a while and recover at the lake house. So she's appeasing her mom and staying out of the limelight.
The lake has five houses on it, one next to Casey's and the others across the lake. Casey spends much of her time using her binoculars spying on the houses across the way - in particular, the house of Tom and Katherine Royce - especially after an eventful first meeting with Katherine as Casey saved her from drowning.
There's also a mystery around three girls that went missing in the past two years. When Katherine goes missing, Casey is sure that Tom has killed her and is trying to figure out how to prove it.
Survive The Night: This book started off a bit slow and I was a bit nervous that it would just be a story of an evening car ride with a stranger. Initially, it was just about the awkwardness, but then it became more captivating as unusual activities started to occur.
Charlie (a female) can't stay on campus another day, but she's got no way to get back home to Ohio. So she posts on a ride share board that she's looking for someone to share the ride home with and Josh happens to be there doing the same thing. Luckily for her, he's heading in her direction.
The next night they set out in the evening for the six hour drive. They are fairly silent at first, but then start sharing more. The more they talk, the more nervous Charlie gets that she may be in the car with the "campus killer". But she is struggling to differentiate between the movies that play in her mind and real life.
Conclusion for Riley Sager Books:
In the world of literature, authors like Riley Sager are a treasure. HIs books possess the power to evoke fear and excitement all at once. So, whether you're revisiting the harrowing final girls, braving the eerie settings of "Home Before Dark," or preparing for a night you won't survive in "Survive the Night," one thing is certain – Riley Sager's books offer a journey you'll remember long after you've turned the last page. Grab one of these thrillers, find a cozy reading nook, and get ready to go on a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns with this exceptional author. Happy reading!
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