Oh, my goodness! This has firmly put Riley Sager back on my list of favourite authors, after having felt a little let down by the last two books I'd read by him. But because I generally like thrillers and absolutely adored the creepy, gothic cover of this book, I decided to take a chance and give this one a read. And I'm so glad I did!

I was immediately pulled into the story, thanks to the eerie setting of a crumbling mansion atop a cliff by the unrelenting Atlantic. The house is massive, very spooky and completely tilted, leaving the characters living within it with a permanent sense of vertigo. I can imagine nothing worse. Or, actually I can. Because this house has also been the scene of three murders and a fourth, potential, one. The story flits between memories of the fateful 1929 murders and the "modern" day, set over fifty years later. I did need to remind myself that the main part of the story seemingly takes place in the 1980s and didn't feel that this was conveyed particularly well. It could have just as well been set in the 2020s and nothing would have felt amiss.

I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but the general gist is that someone knows something and that someone is likely the only survivor of the 1920s murder. Only problem is that this survivor is paralysed, unable to speak and only able to communicate using her left hand. But her caretaker, Kit, is determined to find out the truth. But the closer she gets to revealing what actually happened all those fateful years ago, the closer she gets to becoming the next victim.

It's a whodunnit with classic Sager twists, set in a gorgeously creepy setting. I loved this!

I felt like every time I tried to summarise this book I wouldn’t do it justice or I’d spoil one of the twists so here was the description that hooked me on NetGalley.

“Everyone believes that Lenora Hope is a mass murderer. 

When the Hope family was massacred decades ago, she was the only one left after that tragic night.

Mute, paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora has never been able to tell her side of the story. 

Until her new live-in caregiver Kit brings her a typewriter. 

And with one working finger Lenora begins to type: 

I want to tell you everything.”

This book oh my goodness. This is my first Riley Sager book I’ve read and I’ve already bought two more since. I really enjoyed his style of writing and the twists oh my! Even the twists had twists. Every time I said oh surely that’s it, there are no more surprises, he’d come out with another one. This is definitely in my top 3 of the books I’ve read so far this year. I’ve tried to write down what I liked so much about the book but kept spoiling it so I won’t say too much other than if you like thrillers then you 1000% NEED to pick up this book this year!

I really want to like it, as it is my first book by him. And look at the cover, it gives off eerie vibes that are promising.

But turn out, i only enjoyed two or three chapters. I feel it would work for me if the main pov is from Leonora herself in her past day rather than from Kit in the present day. It would be more thrilling.
As the time jump from the past to the present is too long.

I’m so sorry but the twist is all over the place. Revealing in one time, and after all Kit’s playing detective the twist reveal just simple as having a deep talk with your friend.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the eArc

This has been the BEST book to date of Riley Sager! I'm a big fan of gothic thrillers and this book left my heart pounding and inner brain mini-explosions in most of the chapters.
✅It had me playing detective
✅I've failed to discover the truth but only one I guessed right.
✅Creepy mystery that held me all night, carried away in my dreams.I can't stop thinking about it and I had sleepless nights.
✅Countless twists I can't even negotiate 😵
✅ Most of the characters are strange and leave me unnerving and trusting no one.
✅ The 80s vibe got me absorbed into it.
✅ The cover of this book explains enough how much mystery and creepiness is involved. I loved the cover so much that it alerts me!
✅Riley Sager is an expert in creating an atmospheric feel that you can visualize yourself right there on the premise (again I highlighted this in a previous review of one of his books)
✅Well played. Mr.Riley Sager got me really good with this one
✅ can't tell much about it I've got to keep this spoiler-free. If anyone has read please just DM me to discuss because I can't move on.

I will always recommend this book to those mystery/thriller/horror readers. Just read it you can't imagine what is in store for you.

⚠️Trigger Warnings ⚠️
❗️death, murder,suicide ideation, sexual assault, infidelity.

Publication date: June 20, 2023

Many thanks to Netgalley & HodderBooks for providing this highly anticipated ARC with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this one. The characters were vibrant, the setting was spooky, and the setup drew me in immediately.

Were the twists entirely unguessable? No. But did I have a blast trying to get all the little pieces together before it was revealed and failing to? ABSOLUTELY.

It's not that I couldn't put it down - it's that I just didn't want to.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5556098159

Wow! Riley Sager has been my favorite Mystery/Thriller author and I was jumping with joy and so very thankful to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an e-ARC of his book in exchange for an honest review, and man! He's done it again! And I think this one is my favorite thriller by him!

The writing style and the scene build up is pure perfection in this book. The story grips you right from the first page and you're pulled into this mansion sitting at the edge of a cliff in a deteriorating state, tilting towards the edge of doom as the waves crash into it, taking away bits and pieces with each turn. The way Riley has painted the house in my eyes made me feel like I was living in the house with the rest of the people, observing everything with a tilt. And for it to be named as "Hope's End"!?!? Genius!!

"At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead"

This house is famous over the town because of its history of 3 brutal murders that occurred in 1929 and the only survivor was Lenora Hope, who wasn't convicted of the crime, even though she was the primary suspect, because of lack of enough evidence. Now, in 1983, we follow Kit, a caregiver, who is just resuming her duties after being suspended for 6 months. She is assigned to take care of Lenora Hope and live at Hope's End. She is scared and devastated, but is also desperate to get out of her home and in need of cash, thus relenting. What follows is an enrapturing tale as the mystery of that night begins to unfurl, while Kit also tries to discover the secrets of the house and keeping her own close to her chest.

"Here, we give young women accused of terrible deeds the benefit of the doubt."

I absolutely LOVED this book! It kept me on my toes at all times. Everyone in the house had something to hide. Everyone was a suspect, but the author also made you understand why these characters did what they did. I really enjoyed how multidimensional our main characters were… even though they were doing terrible things, I as a reader understood them and all their decisions only made them human. Also, even though I had thought of every possible way that this book could have ended, I was NOT prepared for THAT ending. By the 80% mark, the book just gave and gave and gave! 😄 It was like being on a roller coaster that only went up! 😅 And, I've always loved Riley's style of endings and I'm so glad the way he did this one too.

I'd highly recommend this to every person who enjoys a thriller as I'm sure you're going to enjoy it.

Move over Home After Dark! The Only One Left is my new favorite Sager! I had such post-reading whiplash and was so grateful I had someone to talk to about what this reading experience was like because love or hate it believe me you will want to talk about this book! On top of that the moment I finish it, I felt the urge to reread it because I feel there are so many details and nuances that I will appreciate more in retrospect.

Kit is a caregiver who due to personal and professional circumstances find herself forced to accept the position of a caregiver to Lenora Hope at her home Hope's End. The house was a sight of a gruesome murder of Lenora's family in 1929. One many believe Lenora is guilty of but was never charged with.

I was hooked from the first page. This is the type of story and setting that make me want to devour the book in one sitting. The first part of the book reads like a spooky gothic novel while the last 1/3 had me flipping pages at an Olympic speed. All the twists and turns were so satisfying and had my mind working at such speed, trying to reconcile everything I've read with everything I was being served at the end. My favorite part was that the house, its surroundings and its inhabitants came alive for me. The picture Sager paints for the reader is so vivid, it was so easy to imagine myself within the story not simply reading it.

Another thing I love about Sager is that he never leaves readers feel indifferent. One way or another this story will leave you with strong feelings. The kind of feelings that will make this a wonderful book club/buddy read pick. If you are looking for a memorable reading experience you simply have to grab The Only One Left!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

At 17 Lenora Hope,
Hung her sister with a rope.

Stabbed her father with a knife,
Took her mother’s happy life.

‘It wasn’t me’ Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead.


Wow. Riley Sager does it again. I’ve loved every book he’s written and this one is no exception.

Set in 1983, Kit McDeere, a caregiver, is left with no option but to go and care for Lenora Hope at Hope’s End - a sprawling mansion set atop a crumbling cliff top - after facing scandal and gossip following the death of a patient under her care.

Curious of the rumours following the brutal murders of the Hope family in the 1920’s, Kit is desperate to find out the truth of what really happened that night. Lenora, now housebound and unable to walk or speak can only communicate using one hand. She begins to type out bits of her story, pulling Kit deeper into the mystery of the Hope family murders. What she discovers are secrets, lies and deception.

Who killed the Hope family? Will Kit find all the answers?

If you love gothic thrillers, full of mystery and suspense then this book is for you. It kept me guessing right til the end.

Absolutely deserves 5 stars.

Thank you to Net Galley for sending me this ARC to read in exchange for my review.

I have loved every single one of Riley Sagers books and this was no exception! I never see his twists coming and they leave me on the edge of my seat every time! I have my physical book pre ordered as he is not an author I will ever miss! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book.

Following a suspension from work after one of her patients was found dead and she blamed for it, Kit gets assigned to a new case - caring for the infamous Lenora Hope, the lone survivor of the Hope family massacre and the one accused of the murders.

Upon arriving at the mansion, she meets the now bedridden Lenora. And as the two women spend more time together, strange things begin to happen and secrets are uncovered. A LOT of secrets.

I really wanted to love this book as it started out pretty strong. I love the setting of the old and creepy mansion set atop a hill surrounded by crashing waves, the cliff slowly collapsing threatening to take the mansion down into the ocean, the stormy weather - it all adds to the eerie and gothic atmosphere.

Where it fell apart for me are the many, many, ridiculous and over-the-top twists. While I definitely did like some of them, it just became too much and too unrealistic. Such twists don’t make the story shocking, it just makes it really messy and convoluted.

That said, I can still recommend it as an entertaining mystery thriller with a creepy atmosphere and a lot of twists and turns.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars.

Thank you to publisher Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A twist on Lizzie Borden, with creepy moments that made me question everything. I really enjoyed this book despite the kinds of twists given sometimes being overdone this was actually really great fun and I didn’t find it too similar to anything else. I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager and will read anything he writes, but this was a great one for me!

"At seventeen, Lenora Hope, hung her sister with a rope, stabbed her father with a knife, took her mother’s happy life.“

— With a line like this, how could I not be hooked?

This very much felt like a gothic novel set in the 1980s! Complete with isolated estate, people keeping secrets, the young ingenue caretaker who sets out to solve a mystery, and stumbles upon decades of intricate puzzles that she has to unravel.

The story follows Kit, a caretaker with some pretty dark baggage, who comes to an isolated manor house on the edge of a cliff to take care of a disabled Lenora Hope, who, may decades ago, was suspected of murdering her family. Seems like a fairly straightforward job, until the previously speech-impaired Lenora starts writing to her using a typewriter.

Creepy, right?

And I think that's the best part of this story, the mixed media of Lenora's flashbacks via typewriter script and Kit's point of view, as everything came to a head. The characters were great, everyone acting like with an appropriate amount of suspicion that you could easily believe they were a murderer. Coupled with a spooky estate and people refusing to believe Kit as all manners of weird things continue to happen, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Riley Sager has done it again friends. He is absolutely an auto read author for me and ai was thrilled to be granted access to an early copy thanks to Hodder and Stoughton. This is easily a rad in one sitting bingeable read. He just has a way of drawing the reader into his stories and making us just need to keep turning those pages. This one is set in the 1980’s as well so there were plenty of throwbacks to great music which is always a winner for me.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mothers happy life

This is the song and the story that Kit McDeere has grown up with a lit the creepy old house on the cliff. Back in 1929, Lenora’s life changed forever. Now in her 70’s, she is confined to a wheelchair and cannot move on her own or speak. Kit is coming back from suspension in her work as a caregiver and is given the assignment of caring for the infamous Lenore. The house is creepy, not only because of the triple murder, but it is also slowly sinking and sliding tears the edge of the cliff.

Lenora communicates through hand taps in the one hand she has that she can control, and the use of a typewriter. Kit is shocked when she tells her that she wants to tell her the truth of what happened that night.

This is a creepy page turner that I just could not get enough of. I loved the story and the mystery of not really knowing what has happening, was it the house moving or were there ghosts walk-in the hallways? So much fun to read and a shocking ending to boot.

Riley Sager fans will love it, gothic style readers will love it. Add this to your TBR now.

Massive thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy to read. Publishes on July 4th.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Kit McDeere, a has had the worst six months of her life. Her mother died in a suspected overdose but Kit has been accused of murdering her and as consequence has been suspended from her job, as caregiver to the sick and elderly, with no pay.

Now the charges against Kit have been dropped, Kit has been offered a live in caregiver position at the infamous Hope’s End where fifty-four years ago in 1929 a triple murder took place, Lenora Hope was the only one left alive after her mother, father and younger sister were viciously murdered.

Kit has been assigned to care for sixty-nine-year-old Lenora Hope who is completely paralysed and only able to move her left hand. Kit starts her assignment determined to find out what really happened on that fateful night. A few days after Kit starts her new job she finds the body of Mary, the caregiver that Kit has replaced, who has not suddenly left in the middle of the night as everyone previously thought.

Now Kit “can’t shake the feeling that her future rests inside Hope’s End where tragedy struck twice. Two separate nights. Decades apart” and Kit is determined to find out how Lenora is linked to them both.

This is a wonderful book that I would recommend for everyone to read it. The twists just kept coming and left me dizzy.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

First of all I would just like to thank NetGalley, Riley Sager and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC of “The Only One Left” in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I don’t even know where to begin with this one. This is potentially the best thriller I’ve ever read. Sager’s prose is excellent and his vivid descriptions are perfectly balanced so that you know enough detail to picture the settings clearly, but not too much that you become overwhelmed with descriptive detail.

This is packed with exceptional twists that I guarantee you won’t see coming for miles- I’m honestly still in shock. I’ve never audibly shouted “WHAT?” so many times in my life.

Only an extremely intelligent author could plan and execute a plot as ingenious as this. It is truly mind-bending to think about. I can’t say much for fear of spoilers but I really empathised with the protagonist, Kit, and a few other select characters. At times this book was as equally heart wrenching as it was thrilling.

The only reason that this book falls flat of a five star rating for me (and trust me I’ve debated this for a long time) is because of the ending. Whilst sufficiently wrapping up the story, I felt that some of the last twists were nonsensical. It was a bit overwhelming to be honest; how many twists there were in the conclusion of the novel. Subsequently, I found it became quite convoluted.

However, I’m only deducting half a star for this because honestly this book is a magnificent piece of work. It’s absolutely brilliant at keeping you guessing and becoming engrossed in the unveiling of the plot.

During the beginning portion of this book, I definitely got “Verity” and “The Turn of The Key” vibes (if you’ve read either of those two books). Which honestly, is a brilliant combination and made the atmosphere all the more thrilling.

This a jam-packed thriller/mystery that will have you glued to the edge of your seat and guessing incorrectly until the very end.

I gave this book: 4.5 stars.

„At seventeen, Lenora Hope, hung her sister with a rope, stabbed her father with a knife, took her mother’s happy life.“

Lenora Hope, the ultimate villain. She was only 17 years old when she brutally killed her entire family. At least that’s what everyone thinks she did. But is it true?

Someone is about to find it out. Kit McDeere, a caregiver who was suspended for 6 months because she was alleged to have killed one of her patients, returns to work and is assigned to become a live-in nurse for an old lady living in a big mansion right on the cliffs.
This old lady is the infamous Lenora Hope, now 71 years old, confined to a wheelchair and unable to move or speak.

And Lenora wants to tell Kit everything about the night her whole family was murdered.

This was my first Riley Sager and definitely not my last. It had me hooked from beginning to end even if the pace was a bit slow at times. I thought I had the story figured out a few times but each time a new plot twist changed everything. The descriptions of the old mansion were really creepy and I wouldn't have wanted to spend a single night there.

The end was a bit over the top but I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining and well written read.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother's happy life

This spectre from schoolyard chants is to be Kit's new patient. She has no other prospects other than to retreat from the world, and her only problems, into the once magnificent and now decaying Hope's End, and the realm of Lenora.

Riley Sager never fails me! This twisted and Gothic thriller, with its rural setting and quantity of unlikeable and untrustworthy characters, was no exception there. I did guess one of the final reveals but many more were peppered throughout this, keeping me glued to the page and puzzling out who each of the characters truly were and what they stood to gain from their time at this remote manor house.

Riley Sager books were my equivalent of beach reads. They had that homage to old horrors which gave me a nice nostalgic feel, taking me back to my teenage years (from MANY moons ago) when I would binge all the 70s and 80s classics and discover the new classics that the 90s were creating. His stories were never too taxing on the brain and usually pretty entertaining. However, this one was very reminiscent of Verity - just less headboard biting. I had the distinct sense of deja vu throughout. And the twist was not only too far fetched for me but also had too many holes in it and just kept spiralling into a ridiculous oblivious!

I feel like there’s been a definite shift in his writing which now leans much more firmly into thriller territory. I think this might be appealing to fans of Freida McFadden (maybe even Jackie Collins!) and thrillers written in that vein - where authors try to outdo themselves for the most absurd plot twist. I’m all about a bit of escapism and entertainment but there’s a line…

This book! It's crazy!
The main character Kit isn't in a very good place in life when she starts working as a caregiver for Lenora Hope - a woman who people believe to have killed her whole family as a teenager. And let me tell you that things go downhill from there.

My wild prediction is that people who enjoyed The House Across the lake will also enjoy this one - maybe because I did very much, even though the books are very different. If you like over-the-top plot twists, you will like it.

I very much enjoyed the setting and atmosphere in this book, as well as the writing of course. Sometimes when I was reading at night I had to take a look over my shoulder.. which says a lot about the atmosphere portrayed in this book.
The only reason why it's not a 5 star for me, is that I didn't really connect with the characters and there were some plot holes within all the over-the-top plot twists. Didn't mind it that much though.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder Books for this eARC.

4.5 Stars - will read everything this author writes.

Im quite a fan of his and this one didnt disappoint this is definitely his best one so far a creepy mansion and creepy characters and I liked the telling of a certain person's story throughout the book and that twist wow it was definitely unexpected there were twists aplenty in this book I think this book will be a big hit when it's published read this book you will not be disappointed i loved it so it's 5 stars from me can't wait for his next one