If you haven’t heard of Riley Sager you might be THE ONLY ONE LEFT!
Riley Sager
Riley Sager is part of my summer tradition, and if you’ve never heard of him, you might be the only one left.
I have read a Riley Sager novel every summer for the last seven summers. I’ve come to depend on him for a thrilling ride. Every one of his books is different although similarities run between them.
Below I will go through a quick snapshot of each novel, give you pointers on which one might be for you. I tell you which one is my favorite, which is my least, how they all rank, and which one you should read right now. If you haven’t already.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. As always, thanks for being a reader of my blog.
Let’s do it!
Have you read Riley Sager?
FINAL GIRLS
Goodreads Rating: 3.84
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked #3
The one that started it all. It stars Quincy. Quincy experienced something awful and horrible ten years ago. Quincy went on vacation with five friends and was the only one to come back.
She is a Final Girl.
And now years later Quincy is struggling to put her life back together. Part of a Final Girl group she spends her time popping Xanax and baking her life away.
Until one day one of the Final Girls, Lisa, is found dead. This sends another Final Girl, Sam, right to Quincy’s front door.
Can Quincy and Sam solve the mystery of Lisa’s death before the again become one of the Final Girls left?
Read if you:
⭐️ Are a purist and want to start at the beginning
⭐️ Know what a Final Girl is and especially if you don’t.
⭐️ Take a stiff drink sans ice
THE LAST TIME I LIED
Goodreads Rating: 4.05
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked #7
Two truths, one lie:
In THE LAST TIME WE LIED we’re following an artist named Emma who paints the things that haunt her.
This is my least favorite Riley Sager of all.
I’ve read this one the most.
In THE LAST TIME I LIED we’re following Emma now an artist running from her haunted past.
Many years ago at summer camp Emma watched as fellow campers snuck out in the middle of the night. Never to return. Emma has always regretted that night. For what happened, how it unfolded and her role in it.
Today Emma’s paintings garner the attention of the owner, Francesca White, of the camp from so many years ago.
Camp Nightingale.
She is given the opportunity to come back, this time as a counselor with an opportunity to make right all of those wrongs from years ago.
Read if you:
⭐️ Often root for the underdog.
⭐️ Love a thriller that verges on horror.
⭐️ Have nightmares from that one year at summer camp.
LOCK EVERY DOOR
Goodreads Rating: 3.91
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked: #5
Set in New York and starring Jules Larsen. She is desperate for a fresh start and hopelessly ignoring all the red flags.
She was just hired as the newest apartment sitter for THE BARTHOLOMEW in the upper west side. This one is creepier the second time around when you know what’s coming.
Read if you:
⭐️ Are alone
⭐️ Don’t live in New York
⭐️ Don’t take things too seriously
HOME BEFORE DARK
Goodreads Rating: 4.08
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked: #6
In HOME BEFORE DARK we are following Maggie who now at her fathers death owns her childhood home of Baneberry Hall. Baneberry Hall is a once famous real life haunted house.
When Maggie was younger she and her parents lived at Baneberry Hall. An experience Maggie would rather forget. It ended with them leaving in the middle of the night and a best-selling “nonfiction” book accounting their experiences.
HOME BEFORE DARK is about Maggie finding out the truth about the infamous book and the haunted house. If she can make it HOME BEFORE DARK she’ll solve the mystery that surrounds the book and relinquish the hold Baneberry Hall has on her.
Read if you:
⭐️ Love to tour haunted houses and cemeteries.
⭐️ Can name all of the movies in THE CONJURING UNIVERSE in chronological order.
⭐️ Like gothic vibes.
SURVIVE THE NIGHT
Goodreads Rating: 3.52
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked: #1
Favorite
The scene is set shall we say.
It occurs over one night. Charlie Meets Josh at the ride board at her local campus. She needs a ride he needs someone to split the cost of gas.
They agree to meet at 9pm. Charlie shows up with a lot more baggage than Josh expects and Josh has more to hide than he let on at first.
Can Charlie SURVIVE THE NIGHT?
Read if you:
⭐️ Love a movie reference
⭐️ Think a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet
⭐️ Like to read books in one sitting
THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE
Goodreads Rating: 3.58
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked #4
Casey is an actor with a serious drinking problem and just enough secrets to keep her glass full and her eyes wary.
She is staying at her family lake house to hide from the press. One of her pastimes at the lake house is to watch her neighbors Katherine and Tom, across the lake.
Soon enough she strikes up a friendship with Katherine. And then one evening she thinks she sees something happen between Katherine and Tom that makes her think Katherine is in danger. She becomes a very sloshy sleuth from there.
Read if you:
⭐️ Know how to order a drink the way you like it
⭐️ Love to people-watch
⭐️ Have watched and liked REAR WINDOW
THE ONLY ONE LEFT
Goodreads Rating: 4.24
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ranked: #2
In THE ONLY ONE LEFT we are following Kit. Kit needs a job and there is a position at HOPES END that needs filling.
The Hope House is well known for being the house on the cliff where Lenora Hope allegedly murdered her entire family. It is hard to get someone in position to care for Lenora considering it’s history, her history and for some reason people who do get hired keep disappearing.
Kit thinks she’s up for the task though actually she finds herself particularly apt for this position. Once hired she forms a bond with Lenora and one day Lenora starts to confess to Kit all of the bad things she has done including that infamous incident where her entire family ended up dead.
Read if you:
⭐️ Have a past that haunts you
⭐️ Love a good horror trope
⭐️ Prefer reliability over spontaneity
Let me know in the comments:
Have you read Riley Sager?
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