The New York Times best-selling author of Final Girls and Survive the Night (“a master of the twist and the turn” – Rolling Stone) is back with his most unexpected thriller yet.
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.
With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.
The Review
But what if I told you it was better?
I was 100% skeptical about picking this up. Do we really need another rendition of REAR WINDOW?
Apparently, we do!
Let me introduce you to Casey. 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.
Kudos to Riley Sager for putting his personal touch on this trope. I appreciated most of it. I’m a huge Riley Sager fan and this book solidified that even more.
I thought the pacing was perfect. The story was interesting-keeping my attention the whole time and also left me wanting to know what happens next.
Even though I have heard this story before it was still different enough to stand all on its own.
Out June 21, 2022
Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the advanced copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
From the author of Tell Me Lies and Too Good to Be True comes Carola Lovering’s Can’t Look Away, a sexy suspense novel about the kind of addictive, obsessive love that keeps you coming back––no matter how hard you try to look away.
In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.
Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb, and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she’s finally found a friend.
But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly’s own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.
Meanwhile, a new version of Jake’s hit song is on the radio, forcing Molly to confront her past and ask the ultimate questions: What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?
The Review
CAN’T LOOK AWAY by Carola Lovering
If you like your thrillers dipped in romance, I have a book for you.
We’re first introduced to Molly. Molly used to be a writer but currently makes her living as a yoga instructor. One day Sabrina walks into her studio and the two become friends.
As the book progresses we learn there is more to Sabrina than it seems and the two women have much more in common than Molly could ever imagine.
I liked this one. It was extremely easy to read and ingest in big chunks. There were lots of twists and turns. And it kept my attention throughout.
In my opinion, it is heavy on the romance side and light on the thriller.
This would make a fantastic book for newbies to the thriller genre or fans of the romance genre looking to dip their toes in thriller waters.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio St Martins Press for this advanced copy!
A gripping debut domestic suspense novel, The Favor explores with compassion and depth what can happen when women pushed to the limit take matters into their own hands.
Staying is dangerous. Leaving could be worse.
Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives.
They don’t—ever—find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or the coffee shop. They don’t—ever—discuss their problems and find common ground. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped.
Because Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be more dangerous than what’s outside. Driving past McKenna’s house one night, she sees what she knows only too well herself from her own marriage: McKenna’s “perfect” husband is not what he seems. She decides to keep an eye out for McKenna, until one night, she intervenes.
Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.
The Review
THE FAVOR By Nora Murphy
The Favor by Nora Murphy is a recent read of mine and it’s so much like other books it really doesn’t have an identity on its own.
In one pov, we meet Leah. Leah is an alcoholic who frequents liquor stores and has a real affinity for vodka.
One morning, while at her favorite store she sees a woman (McKenna) who captures her attention and fires up a rapid obsession.
Ultimately she decides to follow this woman home from the store. And while on this stalker expedition something happens that only increases the obsession.
The other pov, McKenna is a struggling housewife. Her husband is strict and controlling. Her character is written like a fawn. Obeying him and swaying in his wind. She doesn’t know if she’s coming or going or if she has permission to do either.
What McKenna doesn’t know is that she and Leah have a lot more in common than would seem and that commonality is exactly why Leah is obsessed with McKenna and more specifically McKenna’s marriage.
The characters lack depth and feel one-dimensional and flat. It’s possible that they are written too similarly.
And there’s a turn(not a twist) that doesn’t make sense to how the characters’ stories were constructed. And once that happened I doubted everything the characters did and said.
Overall, it was very unbelievable even for a thriller.
THE FAVOR is a ⭐️⭐️ read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy!
