After reading one of Riley Sager's previous books, I really wanted to read more even with such mixed views on their books, so I was a sceptic, but this book certainly set me on my way to being a believer.

One of my favourite films is Rear Window, so I knew going into this book I will probably enjoy this book going from the description, a girl watches the house across the lake and then someone disappears and she becomes the hunted after observing the people that live close by and I did. I really loved the tension the story built, the twists and the characters that come to life on these pages.

Casey is a great protagonist, a spiralling actress who has turned to drinking to numb herself after tragedy, her thoughts and observations on the couple across the water are interesting and in combination with the side characters build and craft an incredible story. I feel like Sager writes book you want to read twice, just to make sure you didn't miss something on the way and this is one of those books for me.

A really great read, especially if you were on holiday reading it like I was, this would be a great read for the journey, or the beach, or well anywhere.

The House Across the Lake is the sixth novel by Riley Sager and, as it always happen with his novels, I found myself on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading.

The protagonist of the story is Casey Fletcher. Daughter of a famous actress, an actress herself, she’s been exiled to the family’s lake house following a disastrous performance that made the front page of newspapers. Recently widowed, Casey has nothing to do, but drink all day, until, one day, she spots a body floating on the lake. The Royces recently bought the house across the lake and Casey manages to save Katherine Royce, former supermodel and wife to tech entrepreneur Tom, from drowning. Casey and Katherine seem to get along, but, as Casey spies on the couple across the lake, she notices that their life is far from perfect. And, when Katherine suddenly disappears, Casey knows that Tom is involved, but as she starts digging, she discovers that the truth is much more darker and twisted than she could have ever thought.

I enjoyed everything about this novel. Whatever I suspected, I was completely wrong. Everything is unexpected and surprising. The twists are many and the more you read the bigger and more shocking they get. The story is set entirely in Vermont where the suffocating atmosphere, the lake and its haunted legends, a few isolated houses, and a storm on its way keep the tension high.

Casey is a compelling protagonist. With a drinking problem and secrets that I didn’t expect, she is the perfect unreliable protagonist who no one believes when she accuses Tom of Katherine’s disappearance.

The House Across the Lake is yet another incredible novel by Riley Sager who is an auto-buy author for me. Chilling, dark, and immersive is not at all what you expect so get ready to be surprised!

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, was a very enjoyable and well written book. I will be recommending it to all

Alexa play ‘No Body, No Crime’ by Taylor Swift (feat. HAIM)🎶
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Casey, a recently widowed actress passes the time watching Tom and Katherine, who live across the lake. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two become friends. It soon comes becomes clear that Katherine and Tom's marriage isn't as perfect as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey immediately suspects Tom of foul play. There's more to the story than meets the eye--and that shocking secrets can lurk beneath the most placid of surfaces.
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I can confirm, Riley Sager has done it again! Was so delighted when Oliver from Hodder very kindly got in contact to send me a copy of ‘The House Across The Lake’. Incase you are newer to my account, my reading obsession started with thrillers and horrors before falling in love with romance so I’ve read my fair share of Riley’s books - some of them being my favourite thrillers!
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This is my favourite Riley Sager read by far, and if this isn’t adapted on screen soon I’ll riot. The slow intense build up was something completely different (in my opinion) to his previous books. It suited the plot PERFECTLY and it really lends itself to the development of Casey - who I was so invested in the whole way through!
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I thought I had the twist sussed out, was so confident and then I couldn’t have been more wrong 😂 It was one of those moments, when I was so shocked I turned the book over and took a breath!
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I read this book whilst in Portugal and on the odd occasion I read it out on the balcony at night, and so many times I had chills and was looking over my shoulder! If you are going to read one Riley Sager book, please let it be this one! It’s available to buy now!

This was one of my favorite books of the year! I love the fact that there was very few characters in this book in a close knit lake side community so the reader could really get to know each character well. I have read a few Riley Sager books, so the twist at the end, although unexpected, was in the vein of a Sager book.
The way Casey's alcoholism is addressed is superbly researched and delivered.

This was the perfect book to read while on vacation...at a lake...with a lake house visible just across the water! This was a great new thriller from @riley.sager. It takes place on the beautiful, remote, and undeniably creepy Lake Greene, Vermont, a small lake that is the exclusive summer home of some rich and famous inhabitants. One of whom is Casey Fletcher, a recently-widowed actress who is spending time at the family lake house, hiding out from the paparazzi as her drinking problem spirals out of control. The first half of this book reminded me of the @netflix show the Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (anyone else?!), which actually made it a bit more amusing than it was probably supposed to be. The second half...I could not have seen coming in a million years! A few great twists, one of which made me slam the book shut in shock! Overall, this is a fun, creepy thriller full of unbelievable twists and turns and a great summer read. Many thanks to @netgalley and @hodderstoughton for the advanced copy! It just came out on July 7th.

Question of the day: What is a lake house called where you live - cottage, cabin, camp, or something else?

#thehouseacrossthelake #rileysager #netgalley #bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations

Parts of the story were over the top and unbelievable but I still loved it regardless. So many twists and turns right up to the end. Another brilliant Thriller from Riley Sager. I had a great time reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Riley Sager for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest Review

I was so excited to get the opportunity to read this and I was not disappointed! I would categorize this as thriller/horror because there is a paranormal aspect to it. Thankfully, that’s something I enjoy, and it made this book that much more interesting for me. And I can honestly say, there was no way I even had an inkling of the many twists toward the end. I was shocked and had my face glued to my kindle toward the end, drinking up every single word. I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about this one but for me, I loved it! 4.5 out of 5 stars, rounding up to 5 stars on Goodreads.

The biggest thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton, and Riley Sager for providing me with this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 ⭐️ a wild ride of a thriller.

SYNOPSIS:
"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.

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."

WHAT I LOVED:

✔️ I have so much fun with Riley Sager's thrillers and this one was the same for me!

✔️ The Woman in the Window and Rear Window vibes I was here for all the usual thriller tropes.

✔️ Casey, the unreliable, alcoholic, protagonist, yes she's flawed and written by a man but I still enjoyed where she took us in this psychological thriller.

✔️ In true Riley style there's never just one twist, and none of them I saw coming - some of which I understand other readers won't love but I just went with it, suspended belief and was utterly entertained.

✔️ It's a fun and over-the-top thriller that gripped me from beginning to end. Sometimes this is the kind of thriller I need and love to read.

✔️ Riley Sager always guarantees me a page-turner!

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.My true rating for this book would be 3.5 stars.

This book is about Casey who is a widowed actress who now has a problem with alcohol. Her mum who is also a famous actress gives Casey the choice of rehab or staying in the family’s lake house which is quite isolated. Casey finds her late husband’s binoculars and starts watching. What she sees is a body floating on the lake. When she goes to investigate she finds that she is able to save Katherine who is a former model. The two become friends. Because Casey has been watching Katherine’s house, when Katherine goes missing Casey is convinced that Tom Katherine’s husband is behind it. She decides to investigate.

This book felt like a combination of Rear Window, The Woman In The Window and Behind Her Eyes. I was really enjoying the story until one particular twist. I could then not take the story seriously and lost interest.

This book marks the release of Riley Sager’s 6th thriller/suspense/mystery book and it’s one of my most anticipated releases of the year - THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE.

Sager is such a gifted storyteller. The suspense, characters and unpredictability in this book, all add up to an excellent psychological thriller that has you gripped. The setting was so authentic and precise that I will be judging the movie version of this story hard - and there absolutely should be a movie version of this made.

You can just tell that Sager is a huge movie fan when you read his books, in this one especially, you can really feel the Hitchcock vibes. Think Rear Window, think voyeurism, lies, darkness and murder, these are all wrapped up in this exciting and bing-able thriller.

The genre veers off course slightly about 2 thirds of the way through which threw me a little but all is forgiven, because that ending! I am in awe.

4 stars

I was really looking forward to reading this after I read my first Riley Sager book last year, He is a great thriller writer this wasn't my favourite. For the first 75% I was gripped and wanted to know how/why everything happened and the characters are well written flawed people with their own motives which is great. I think the issue with this book is the curveball thrown towards the end of the book for me it didn't fit the narrative and build up. I will still read more Riley Sager and if this is on your TBR it is still worth a read I think my middle rating is primarily a taste thing. #netgalley @TheHiuseAccrossTheLake

What the heck did I just read?

This was such an odd book. I did not expect it to go where it went, at all!
But unfortunately, not in a good way.

I picked this book up, as the author was someone I have heard a lot about and never really read a book from. The cover is beautiful too, which always is the way I decide my next read - it was really nicely done and to my liking :)

About the book itself...
To start with, I did not see this book labelled as fantasy or sci-fi or occult/folk-come-to-life, but it was, which I found strange.
For the first 20%-30% in I was indeed interested in this book and loved the secluded lake location, the cosy atmosphere, and the plot progress.
Then, the plot twistens... where do I begin? I found it did not make sense in order to accommodate all the twists and turns, the start of the book did not fit it. It just did not make enough sense for me to believe it or buy the explanations.

And then the repetitiveness.. oh my goodness, please! I got it the first time it was said.
It did not feel like the author respected the reader enough to allow them to figure anything out by themselves, which I also do not enjoy.

The characters I found not only unlikeable but also unbelievable and unrealistic.
And the ending... I would not call it twist after twist, I would call it convoluted. Just.. nope.

All in all, this was not the book I thought it might be and could be. in all honestly, a lonely-lake-creepy-neighbour suspense thriller without anything paranormal and without all the craziness would be much much better!

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

I have mixed feelings about this one.
I did not HATE it as I saw some people do in their reviews, but at the same time I did not LOVE it either.
I guess this is a one-time read at its best.

I really wanted to like this one but it seems like every new Riley Sager book that I read, I like it less than the one before. Very slow to start and difficult to really get into so probably won’t pick up another one by this author.

This book was a wild ride and not what I was expecting. Some of the twists were shocking. However, I found it a bit slow to get going and found my attention wavering in between the drama. It’s different to my usual thriller but I did enjoy it. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Casey but I found myself liking her more as the book went on. I just think the woman with alcohol issues who spies on her neighbours and see’s something bad trope is a bit overdone. As with all of Sager’s books he really knows how to set the scene and man was it a creepy one. I definitely preferred Final Girls and Last Time I Lied though.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

After Survive the Night I was done with Sager’s books, but I got drawn in by the synopsis of this one (which is on me) and the cover. The ‘mystery/thriller female protagonist who drinks/take pills and so is unreliable’ thing has been done to death and here it isn’t even something Sager seems to commit to. The twists felt silly rather than spooky and the characters are so thin and without substance that the whole thing feels like a waste of time. After The House Across the Lake I can safely say that Sager’s books don’t work for me at all, though clearly they work for some avid mystery/thriller fans!

Another day another Riley Sager novel that I desperately wanted to love slightly more than I did. This wasn’t bad by any means, but I did find the ending ultimately overwhelming after a fairly intense build-up throughout the first half of the book. I didn’t dislike it, but I do feel like I’m still chasing the high of my first Sager book.

I’ll start with the good stuff. The writing is still good, and the book is decently paced. There are before and after sections and the after sections were well-spaced out. They kept me curious without spoiling the narrative arc of the before sections. The pace picked up as the book went on and really fit the heart-pounding feeling of watching a horror movie as you get closer to the end. I read most of it in one sitting, and it was as easy to read as ever. The hints scattered throughout built intrigue and made me want to know more, even as I wildly theorised. I liked the premise a lot, but that leads me to my main points of frustration – the execution.

I don’t mind a good trope, and the alcoholic sees something across the street (or across the lake) and nobody believes her is a decent trope when done well. Unfortunately, Riley Sager doesn’t write Casey in a particularly convincing way. It makes her fall flat in several ways, and undermined what could have been some really wow-ing plot twists. The romance was aggressively shoe-horned in. It didn’t really make any sense, and I absolutely refuse to be convinced that he’s a good person. Not happening! No way!

The depiction of Casey’s alcoholism really irritated me. In some scenes she was shaking and desperate for a drink, and in others she went a whole day before ‘remembering’ she hadn’t had a drink. There was no kind of withdrawal, even though we were told she was actively and explicitly drinking daily. Equally in one scene she had a few drinks and was passed out cold, and in another scene, she had twice as many and rowed full pelt across a lake. I’ve never experienced alcoholism, but it didn’t feel authentic to me, just that it was being used as a plot device.

I spent a week after I finished HOME AFTER DARK fuming that I wanted a paranormal ending to that novel. And after reading THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE, I’d have preferred a non-paranormal ending. I find myself increasingly frustrated as Riley Sager builds up atmosphere and twists pretty well but the endings are consistently underwhelming. I wanted to see something new from him but, I guess not like this. At this point I think that this is very much a me problem, and Riley Sager’s books aren’t for me. Time to put my hands up and admit it.

I was really looking forward to The House Accross the Lake and was quite enjoying it up until a certain twist happened which I really did not like, it was definitely unexpected but not in a good way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my ARC.

Casey Fletcher is staying in the family house located on Lake Greene. She is an actress but is taking time out to get her head together except she likes to drink, alot. She takes an interest in her neighbours across the lake and watches them through binoculars and then something happens and Casey wants to find out what and why.

I have only read two other books by Riley Sager and have found them just ok. The prmise of this book sounded promising so wanted to give it ago. The story is a thriller for most parts but does have a supernatural element to it.

Casey is a drinker so may not be a reliable narrator as she watches her neighbours. This for me is very much like another book " The Woman in the Window". Think also Hitchcock and "Rear Window" and you will get the drift of the plot.

I loved the first part of the book. The story really had my interest and then came along a big twist. After that it was for me the explanation, and then playing out the rest of the story. The supernatural element did work but this book could quite easily have remained a thriller.

Overall I enjoyed the book and for me it has been the better one I've read so far. I would read more by Riley Sager in the future.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the book.