A brilliant well paced thriller - I'm annoyed that I didn't guess the twist but that's a testament to Riley Sager's writing!
4 stars.

I stayed awake much too late last night finishing this book. Its the first book I have read by Riley Sager, it will not be the last.
An excellent twisty, fast paced read, full of suspense and it kept me guessing. I had to read it with the light on!

Really enjoyed it. Great page turner with believable characters.
Recommend.

“On the surface, it was a bright day. Just below, the night waited”

Across the lake from Casey Fletcher’s lake house that has been in her family for generations, built by her great-great-grandfather in 1878 – almost a parody of New England quaintness with its gingerbread trim, latticework and a wrap-around porch that practically overhangs the lake – sits Katerine and Tom Royce’s lake-side home. Made from glass, steel and stone, it reflects the chilly water and grey autumn sky, using them to mask whatever might be happening inside. Five houses sit beside the water of Lake Greene, ranging in style from comfortably quaint to conspicuously modern – a beautiful Vermont hideaway, with hidden secrets a lot darker than the seemingly endless depths of the lake.

Casey Fletcher is an actress – the daughter of the formidable and beloved broadway icon Lolly Fletcher (an old school star) who has put Casey in time out at the family lake house after showing up drunk to set on her latest play – Shred Of Doubt. “Casey’s Booze Binge” was the New York Post’s headline! That afternoon, her mother showed up with her driver – and now Casey is finding herself alone (in solitary confinement) sitting on the porch staring out across the lake with her only company being of the liquid variety, the ones that got her into this situation in the first place. Oh, and her husbands’ old binoculars!!

“I make jokes, because it’s easier to pretend I’m not feeling what I’m feeling than to actually feel it.”
-Casey Fletecher

Casey has been on a downward spiral ever since her husband died fourteen months ago – ever since he drowned – in this very lake. As Casey passes the time by viewing her neighbours through the binoculars across the other side of Lake Greene – Tom and Katherine, who have just bought the large glass, steel and stone house catch Casey’s attention. He, the owner of a tech company with a new social media app called Mixer (a combination of LinkedIn and Facebook) and she, a supermodel. At this time of year – Autumn, most of the houses lay empty with the summer season over. The only other residents who are still at the Vermont hideaway are Eli – the only full-time resident, who has been there as long as she can remember and Boone Conrad – a stranger to the area who is staying at the Mitchell’s place while he does work on their home. A very good-looking stranger who has earned the binoculars attention a time or who, maybe three – but hey, who’s counting?

When Katherine goes missing just a few short days after Casey saves her from drowning in the lake and they begin a new friendship, Casey is determined to figure out what is going on. Is her husband, Tom behind her disappearance? After witnessing some strange behaviour through their windows, he seems like the most logical suspect – but then how much of what she’d seen is reliable? She was drunk most of the time, after all!

I really enjoyed this book. Riley Sager writes women really well and this book, with its excellent dialogue, was like a breath of fresh air. I’m so pleased after being disappointed by Survive The Night last year – I don’t know what happened with that one, but it wasn’t for me sadly. (And I so wanted to love it) However, I’m glad Mr Sager has come back swinging with this atmospheric Rear Window meets Woman In The Window twisty tale. With a small cast of characters and switching between a then and now timeline, the story felt fresh and exciting. The pace was good throughout and there was one major twist that felt very reminiscent of Grady Hendrix to me; something that Riley Sager doesn’t usually have in his books. There was a certain amount of belief suspension involved, but I did like it. It was very unexpected but was worked into the story quite well. This was a fun binge read for me that gave me a nice escape from reality for a few hours. It grabbed my attention fully and didn’t let go until I was on the last page. I recently watched Netflix’s The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window and noticed that this book has a little starting role in one of the scenes, so I’m assuming there is some connection there. I can see how the Netflix series is very loosely based on this book – among others in this genre probably. I’d highly recommend both!

“The lake is darker than a coffin with the lid shut.”
-Marnie

My thanks to the author and Hodder & Stoughton for my advance copy to review via Netgalley

I was looking forward to this one and the premise sounded great, but could not get on with it at all.

Ah man, Sager does it again. An absolute stonking read.

Casey a disgraced actor who has lost her husband to a drowning accident retreats to the family summer house by the lake to escape the press and appease her mother. Fired from her Broadway job for being drunk, its the only place she can escape to, despite it being the same lake that her husband lost his life in less than a year ago.

That tragedy has Casey reaching for the bottle to take away the pain, the bottle that eventually cost her career and is her only friend in the isolation of the house on the lake.

One day while out on the porch drinking bourbon she spots a body floating on the lake and rushes out in her boat. She pulls the body from the lake but the woman appears dead. Eventually the woman springs back to life and Casey finds out that she is a famous supermodel and herself and her husband have bought the huge mansion on the other side of the lake, the one with the big glass windows, one of only five houses on it in total.

When Casey finds a pair of old "birding" binoculars that belonged to her husband, she decides to look out through them and scan the lake as she gets them into focus. She stops on the supermodels house and notices she can see into every room at the front of the house when it is dusk as it is all glass.
The more she watches the more she is convinced that something isnt right in the marriage and that maybe the husband isnt all that he seems and may be trying to kill his wife!

Thats sort off the gist of it. I just loved loved loved this one. More than a nod to Hitchcock, this one will have you feeling uneasy, laughing at the fun of it and finally rubbing your backside more than once as the carpet is pulled from beneath your feet on more than one occasion.

There is just something about Sagers writing that appeals to me. There always seems to be a nod to past, be it slasher movies of here Hitchcock(although it does all go completely mental in the final quarter, in a good way). Some might find this a slow burner or be annoyed by the slightly unreliable narrator but I loved her character and she is a drunk pretty much throughout the whole book.

I cant recommend this one enough. If you like mysteries, murder mysteries, horror, supernatural or thriller then there is something here for you. If you like all, like me, there is everything to like and love about this book.

5 stars without a doubt.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

Well this was a waste of time. I truly regret reading this. Did Riley write this just to fulfil a contract? Did everyone on his team seriously think this was of quality? This book is the epitomy of lazy writing from beginning to end.

First and foremost, can we stop with the I-drink-too-much unreliable female narrators? Please?! That trope is old, boring and has not aged well.

Secondly, the paranormal element was lazy as well as stupid. The moment that happened I switched off and should have DNF'd this book. If I did, I would have saved myself the trouble of discovering the red herring later on

Come on Riley, you can do so much better than this.

I have to admit Riley Sager is becoming one of my "guilty pleasures". The plot and twists are completely bonkers and will certainly prove very controversial with most readers, yet I just could not put the book down with its straightforward writing and memorable (if heavily cliched) characters.

What can I say about The House Across the Lake other than WOW! I devoured this book and didn’t want it to end.

When Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress, retreats to her cabin by the lake she meets famous couple Katherine and Tom. Bored and drink Casey finds her deceased husband’s binoculars and starts to watch her new neighbours, soon realising that things aren’t quite what they seem.

I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t put this brilliant read down. At one point I though I had it all figured out then BAM another twist. Another fantastic book from Riley Sager that I will be recommending to everyone!

At first the concept seems familiar. Young widow, in this case an actor, drinks too much after her husband’s death and ends up at the family lake house in Vermont, banished by her mother after her very public (live on the Broadway stage) drunken fall from grace. Now jobless, Casey Fletcher is working hard at her alcoholism and her other hobby, watching the couple in the modernistic house across the lake. The house with the sweeping glass windows and, yes, Casey has binoculars. The show put on by tech startup genius Ted and his supermodel wife Katherine is at first dull but when Casey rescues Katherine after a near drowning, the fun begins.

And that’s all I can say. Very The Woman in the Window or The Girl on the Train, you think? Wrong, very wrong. Riley Sager is so much better than that. The House Across the Lake is a mixture of murder, love, the supernatural, suspicion and confusion tied up in a thriller. Just don’t start reading when you are alone. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Riley Sager for this ARC.

Thirty-something actor, Casey Fletcher, was recently widowed when her husband, Len, drowned in Lake Greene. Due to constant attention from the paparazzi & Casey's tendency to overdo it with the drinking, her mother packs her off to their summer home - on the shores of the very lake where her husband died. Not sure how much that is supposed to help but anyway, the other houses at the lake are occupied by retired author, Eli, married couple entrepreneur Tom & ex-supermodel Katherine Royce, a hot rugged handyman named Boone staying in one of the houses whilst he completes some work on the place, & the final place is empty for now.

Casey is sat looking out across the lake when she spots someone in the water. It's Katherine Royce & it looks like she's in trouble. Casey goes out in her boat & rescues Katherine who nearly drowned. They become friends & Katherine confides in Casey that she hasn't been feeling good recently. Later that evening, Casey is drawn to the Royce's home which is glass-fronted & lit up at night. Casey starts to watch them through her binoculars & soon sees that their marriage isn't as happy as she originally thought. One evening, she sees a fight which ends with Katherine slugging Tom in the face & the next morning she is gone. Tom says she returned to their home in the city, but Casey isn't convinced especially when Katherine fails to answer her phone & their building doorman hasn't seen her return. Initially Casey is reluctant to go to the police, because 1) she shouldn't be spying on them, & 2) she is pretty much drunk or hungover most of the time & will they believe her? Enter hot handyman Boone stage right who happens to be a former police officer, but he has his own secrets. Can Casey trust him?

I love Riley Sager books, I haven't read one that hasn't absolutely delivered until this one. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book. It's very readable, & there are some excellent twists that practically give the reader whiplash, but the main one is a doozy - the reader doesn't have to just suspend their disbelief, they have to pack in a box & mail it to Mars. Casey is a difficult character to like at first, she's rather irritating especially with the constant drinking but the reader does eventually start to warm to her. I don't want to say too much more in fear of giving anything away so I'll end by saying that it is worth reading, but it's not the author's best book by far. 3.5 stars (rounded down on sites where half star ratings are not allowed).

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

his was a book of two halves. The first was a bit "Rear Window" as it focuses on Casey who is herself focusing on what is going on across the lake from her. She is holed up in her family home on Lake Greene, Vermont. Supposed to be drying out after a bit of a to-do when she was fired from her job for being drunk on set. Opposite her is a house owned by IT guru Tom Royce and his model wife Katherine. It is Katherine she sees floating on the lake early on in the book, it is Katherine she saves from drowning, and it is Katherine she starts to fixate on. To spy on. And it is Katherine who later disappears after a strange night that Casey witnesses...
All going swimmingly (apart from the near drowning) so far... And then the rest of what happens follows suit - spoilers obviously prevent me from expanding - and then... well.. and then it all goes bit weird. Weird like I experienced in a different book which irked me so much I dnf. But this book is written by an author I am more familiar with and whom I like. So.. I plodded on and was mostly rewarded by a cracking ending. Once I had swallowed what had happened that was. Which I did albeit reluctantly initially as the rest of what I was reading was so good. But I can see this becoming a marmite book... I don't believe but I can accept, and forgive... which it why I only knocked one star down...
I wasn't too sure of Casey initially either but I did warm to her as I got to know her along the way and, by the end of the book, well, I can't say we were friends but we definitely had a mutual respect. Other characters were well drawn and, within the confines of their own stories, played their parts well! Pacing was good, a bit slow initially but there is setting up to be done and intrigue to build up. The second part was a bit of a rollercoaster.
All in all, not my most favourite of this author's works but it did entertain and that's the point of reading for me! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I would call myself a somewhat staunch Sager fan - in the sense that I read his books when they first come out & he’s pretty much an autobuy for me at this point - but Survive The Night didn’t tickle my pickle & this one, to me, felt like a thriller from a far less established author. Aka, generic, predictable & full of heavy handed ‘foreshadowing’ that clonked me on the head WAY TOO FREQUENTLY. I predicted everything. Every last thing. And I am sad.

I think if you’re new to the genre then this would probably be really fun but to me it felt like a mash up of a bunch of other thrillers (The Woman in the Window & Layla being at the forefront of my mind) & it just didn’t feel fresh or unique. As much as it pains me to say it, this book is about as basic as it gets & it’s also extremely tame & PG given the subject matter. I feel like Sager could have REALLY gone there but instead everything is surface level & watered down. Plus there were so many tropes being thrown around, I’m pretty sure I have whiplash. Unreliable narrator (check) alcoholic protagonist (check) suspicious but sexy side character (CHECK) gorgeous rich white couple with a secretly fucked up marriage (checkety check CHECK). Honestly, I could go on for hours with this game.

I gave it 2.5 stars because, as always, I enjoy the authors writing style & it was fast paced enough to smash out in a day - if not thrilling, it was at least engaging enough to finish. Unfortunately though, I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to recommend it.

If you’ve haven’t previously read from this author, skip this one & head straight for Home Before Dark or Final Girls (which I gave 5 & 4 stars respectively!)

I will start by saying that I did enjoy the book but I definitely had set the bar further up for this.

The general storyline is nice and interesting and undoubtedly the writing is good. However, there is disproportionate action in the book with the first half delivering nothing of significance and the second part being packed with twist upon twist.

The characters weren’t anything spectacular and I didn’t really connect with anyone particularly. They felt a bit flat despite the potential.

What I liked a lot was the scenery used as set for the plot. The descriptions of the lake are lovely, and make the story creepier. However, what I truly disliked was the supernatural element. For me this ruined my reading experience and I found this totally unnecessary. Had a different twist being used instead, my review would have been completely different!

A classic Sager with unbelievable, meandering twists that spring up from nowhere!

Synopsis -

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed and struggling actress, has escaped to her family’s lake house in Vermont to stay low and away from bad press. She can’t help but watch the house across the lake that belongs to the star couple Katherine and Tom Royce. As Casey strikes a friendship with Katherine, her obsession with them reaches an all-time high and soon she realizes their marriage might not be as picture perfect as she thought. It’s when Katherine goes missing that Casey begins to unearth some dark secrets about her own life and theirs.

Review -

Having read most of Sager’s books, for once I was relieved that his main protagonist isn’t as annoying as the others. Given her addiction to alcohol, Casey wasn’t entirely reliable as she seemed to lose track of time and blank out at times.

But Sager’s plot construction is solid, moving at a slow yet steady pace that keeps you at his mercy. I found an evil smirk crossing my face, feeling as though I was on board with Casey, as she kept up with her relentless stalking of the Royce couple, in spite of knowing that it is wrong.

Writing about female characters is Sager’s forte. That prowess comes alive in this book as the storyline revolves around the unlikely friendship between two famous women – one whose marriage looks perfect yet dubious and the other who is unable to cope with the loss of her husband.

About half-way, I can vouch that you will end up gasping with disbelief with the twists that pop up to smack you right in the face. That’s when it becomes impossible to stop going until you are done!

It was going really well until the end with which I didn’t entirely agree with. In my view you will either love it or struggle to come to terms with how it all comes together.

Nonetheless, that didn’t dampen my enjoyment or the satisfaction. Without much gore or violence, Sager pulls of a clever and compelling thriller that is certainly a treat for his fans.

Definitely worth a read to even just experience the ride!

Thanks NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange of an honest review!

Sager is the king of misdirection and even though I'm well aware of this from all of his previous novels, I'm still shocked by every single book.

Now because I am that breed of weirdo, I decided to read The House Across The Lake whilst vacationing in a house, on a lake!
The atmosphere was perfect, as if I was sitting in the story itself matching everything Sager had described to the world around me.
I'm not a big drinker but anyone who struggles should probably skip this one as the alcoholism is very heavily featured, I found I was constantly getting a thirst myself whilst reading how much Casey knocks back.

We're given Casey's history in a unique manner; 'How To Become Tabloid Fodder In Seven Easy Steps'. Sager has Casey imagine how she'd explain her life from a gossip reporter's perspective, I thought this an excellent way to avoid an info dump whilst neatly summarising the details we need.

Told from Casey's perspective in first, we switch between present day and events of the previous week when she first meets her neighbours Tom and Katherine Royce.

The pacing is bang on and I was quickly invested in both Casey and Katherine's characters, very much enjoying the instant friendship they built upon circumstantial kinship. It was interesting to read about the 'normal' lives of celebrities when outside of the limelight, or fallen from grace as Casey had. Sager did a fantastic job with her character development.

At first it seems we're in for a well written, yet well trodden trope; nosy but unreliable main character spies on her neighbours and jumps to conclusions. Oh but there is much, much more to this story. I urge all thriller, mystery and suspense fans to pick up The House Across The Lake.

This was an interesting thriller and I was really invested in the first half until it took a weird turn that I didn't enjoy. At the start of this book is a quote from a Taylor Swift song no body, no crime, I love this song and it seems a lot of inspiration came from it. A female friend trying to figure out what happened to her friend who has gone missing, the husband being a strong suspect and the friend being willing to do whatever it takes. I did find that when we got to the twists and turns and the wrapping up of all the mystery this book was similar to the authors last book Survive The Night.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book and the premise of spying on rich and famous neighbours was interesting. It is interesting how being an outsider looking in can change how things are viewed. I also enjoyed learning more about Casey and her life leading up to this point, she was an interesting character if a bit selfish at times.

When the book takes a more supernatural turn it just got less enjoyable, there was really no need for it at all. This did not fit with the rest of the book at all and really ruined it a bit for me anyway. It didn't seem like that kind of book and it was just so ridiculous and not explained well enough to be believable in any way.

I would say it is quite a twisty book and I did like that it wasn;t really predictable but I think I would have preferred a different ending and just something more real going on! I also really wanted to see more of a friendship between Casey and Katherine. I assumed they were going to be proper friends and thats why Casey was so invested in discovering the truth. I'm all for female friendships and we really need more stories with strong friendships!

Overall a decent thriller but could have been better executed and the ending was just really disappointing to me.

The House Across The Lake plunges you into murkier depths than Sager has delved before, concocting a unique spin on the mystery genre that you will not see coming.

I’ve previously read and enjoyed Sager’s work, so was intrigued enough by that tantalising premise to request this title. Earlier this year, I reviewed the superb Survive The Night and thought that it was a well-rounded thriller that combined elements of the psychological, suspense and a good old-fashioned unreliable narrator to create a chilling new tale.

This was such a classic thriller, playing with my expectations and tropes of the genre. As always with Sager, the twists come thick and fast and spin the story in an entirely unexpected and new direction. The psychological drama and suspense here is perfectly encapsulated in our protagonist, Casey, who is caught up in a web of grief, guilt and a world weariness spun from her legacy of fame. She is a deeply flawed and often unreliable narrator, but you still root for her anyway.

The suspense and depiction of grief is stellar, with surprising depths and levels to it. This is one of those books that will keep you constantly guessing and the twists take it to new heights. If you genuinely manage to work out the full story early on, then hat’s off to you because this is a story that kilters left field fast and only keeps diving into brave new territory at every chance it gets. Within that, there is also a really interesting rumination on death, legacy and particularly fame. It digs beneath the veneer of perfection and examines the false show of happiness performed by these characters.

The House Across The Lake is a book that will keep you up at night, racing through its pages in order to discover that last devious twist Sager has in store.

I love a thriller, and this psychological, isolated drama certainly delivers.

Recently widowed actress Casey has retreated to her family’s lake house to escape the public eye and drown her sorrows too many glasses of bourbon. She notices that the house across the lake has some new residents, millionaire former kodel Katherine and tech titan Tom. Perfect on paper, but is everything as it seems? Casey can’t help but watch them from her porch and wonder, is there anything darker hidden beneath the surface?

I found this to be a really easy read. I was intrigued early on and got hooked really quickly! The narrative is split between ‘now’ and ‘then’, and both are equally gripping! There multiple layers to this story, and Sager has plotted it perfectly; the different strands of storyline all culminate in an eye-opening ending.

Sager set a wonderfully eerie scene, with Lake Greene a character in its own right-isolated, dark and mysterious with secrets hidden in its depths…

I love the fresh twist on Hitchcock’s Rear Window, with the theme of voyeurism and ‘who is watching who’ playing with us as the reader and adding to the unsettling feeling of Lake Green.

As what often happens with a thriller, you can’t help but suspect most characters of foul play, but the twist of this book shocked even me! I don’t want to say too much and spoil it but, despite not being a huge fan of this type of twist in a thriller, I think it works very well here and made for an exciting and unexpected finale.

With mixed feelings about Sager’s previous title Survive The Night, The House Across The Lake has reignited my interest in Riley Sager’s writing and I am looking forward to the next one!

Treading Water in the House Across the Lake

This was not the book for me. Obviously, the title should’ve raised some warning flags, BUT I consider the author an autobuy and I had high hopes for Sager doing something unique with the trope of a woman spying on her neighbours. WELL, he certainly did something unique- I’m just not convinced I liked it.

Opening on a moody lake scene, Sager dredges up an intriguing premise and wades out into uncanny territory. Evocative and intriguing, the atmospheric writing instantly lends itself to a sense of mystery and character. I certainly felt fully immersed from the start.

Quickly, however, the story falls into a seemingly generic plot of an unreliable (drunk) narrator watching her neighbours. Unfortunately, this trope is becoming a little tired and I could barely stifle a yawn as she stays up late watching a random couple’s marital antics. At this point, the only thing I had to worry about was being bored.

… Annnnd then the book went right off the deep end. I guess the good news is it’s nothing like all those books where the woman watches a murder. Bad news: it’s a very weird book.

Of course, there were the typical twists and turns you can expect in a book like this, some of which I rather liked, yet then it went a little too far and I felt like I was drowning in the unknown (where all the ghosts and ghoulies dwell 😉). I can’t be too harsh, because as I’ve hinted at already, there was a promise of something supernatural- I can only blame myself for not taking those hints seriously enough.

Without spoilers, I can say that this starts as a psychological thriller- then abandons reality somewhere in the murky middle. So, if you like supernatural genre benders, like Behind Her Eyes, then this could very well be the book for you… Otherwise, this was a well written book of utter nonsense.

Rating: 2½5 bananas

I’ve loved every Riley Sager book so was very excited for his the latest one. The House Across the Lake is a gripping mystery and while I’m sure the crazy twists/ending will divide opinions, I personally really enjoyed it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.