The House Across The Lake

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.

I’m always excited for a new Riley Sager book, and as soon as this one was available, I started to read!

It took me a little time to get into this, but once I did, it was nearly impossible to put it down. I love trying to solve a mystery or spot a twist coming, but I genuinely did not have this one figured out (even though I was sure I did!).

In a way, this is unlike Riley Sager’s other books, and I think people will be torn on what they make of the big reveal. I personally liked it, but I understand where people who don’t like it are coming from. But I like that the author did something a bit different and unexpected, even if it won’t work for everyone.

But other elements of the story did feel a bit tired to me (did Casey see or hear what she thinks she did, or was she just drinking too much?), and for as quickly as I tore through this one, it felt like a lot of time was spent just reading about Casey looking through her binoculars. There’s a secondary reveal later in the book that I wish had been integrated sooner because it felt like so much interesting stuff was held back until the end, for the sake of the ‘big twist’, which made the book feel sort of slow in the first half and then almost too much happening at the end.

But you can’t really go wrong with Riley Sager for a summer read in my opinion! I’m already excited to read what he comes up with in the future!