Riley Sager, the master of crafting suspenseful and twisty plots is at it once again with The House Across the Lake. This book follows the story of Casey Fletcher, who is trying to escape her bad press by spending some time at her family’s lake house in Vermont. However, things take a dark turn when she befriends the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake.
The House Across the Lake is a psychological suspense novel that’s easy to sink your teeth into. The story is narrated from Casey’s point of view, and it’s hard not to become invested in her story from the get-go. Sager has a knack for telling the story for the women’s point-of-view. The book also has a bit of an Agatha Christie feel to it, with the setting and suspicious nature of the characters. The idea of a glamorous couple with a seemingly perfect marriage is hardly new, but Sager still manages to add enough of a unique twist to keep things interesting.
However, while the beginning of the book is promising (although slightly boring), the ending is where the book falls short. The big reveal feels weak and not as shocking as you would expect it to be. It’s almost as if the author backed themselves into a corner and couldn’t figure out how to wrap things up neatly. The ending isn’t terrible, but it does feel a little lackluster after such a suspenseful build-up and something we didn’t expect from Sager.
That being said, The House Across the Lake is still an entertaining read. Riley Sager has a way with crafting suspenseful scenes that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The book has enough twists and turns to keep you engaged until the end. Whether it’s worth the read is a question of expectations.
The House Across the Lake is an entertaining yet flawed read. The book has its positives but also its negatives, and it ultimately falls short when compared to Riley Sager’s other works (The Only One Left was a top book for us in 2023). However, if you’re a fan of suspenseful reads and are looking for something to binge on a lazy afternoon, then The House Across the Lake could be the book for you. It may not be perfect, but it’s still an enjoyable way to escape reality for a few hours.
The House Across the Lake is available wherever books are sold. Check out the audiobook narrated by Bernadette Dunne.
