CBTB’s Guide to Riley Sager Thrillers
You know those authors whose work just instantly clicks for you? That’s me with Riley Sager’s thrillers. Over the past few years, Riley Sager has quickly cemented himself as one of my absolute favorite writers working in the psychological thriller space. His books are an irresistible blend of compelling characters, can’t-stop-reading plots, and ode to horror film and fiction, and he’s one of those rare authors whose novels truly seem to just get better and better. I’m basically always waiting for the next book that Riley will release, and if you haven’t tried his books yet, consider this blog post your sign that it’s time to give them a try! I promise, time spent in any of Sager’s books is time well spent. In today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing my personal story and experience with Sager’s books, plus giving you a rundown of what kind of reader I think will best appreciate each of his fantastic previous releases. Sager is one of those authors I just can’t stop cheering for—he is so deserving of the success that has come his way over the past few years, and I can’t wait to hopefully get a few more readers hooked on his work today! Read on for my personal anecdotes on Sager’s books, and a guide to his thrillers so far.
NOTE: The first version of this blog post was published in February 2020, in the lead-up to the publication of Riley’s novel HOME BEFORE DARK. I’ve decided to continue updating this blog post with each new thriller Riley publishes, so it can be an all-in-one resource for you for his books!
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Why I Love Riley Sager’s Thrillers
I first encountered Riley Sager’s work when I was a brand-new publicity assistant working at my first job in publishing. I was lucky enough to begin my publishing career at Dutton, the fabulous division of Penguin Random House that published Sager’s breakout novel Final Girls. As a young publicity assistant reading Sager’s manuscript, I was instantly captivated. I couldn’t believe my luck that, in my very first job in the industry, I was getting my hands on a book that so perfectly captured what I love in a crime novel. I’m a huge horror movie fan, and Sager’s novel Final Girls is very much an ode to the leading ladies of slasher films (my favorite kind of horror movie!)—but more on that book later. I was instantly captivated by Sager’s page-turning writing, engaging characters, and his passion for the film genre that I love, too. You know when you read a book that feels somehow tailor-made for you? That’s how I felt with Final Girls. I was an instant Sager fan, and nothing has changed as the years have gone on. I ultimately changed jobs, and am now reading Sager’s work simply as a fan, but I will never forget the experience of getting to help launch Final Girls. Oh, and my obsession with Sager’s thrillers has only grown as time has gone on.
Book after book, Riley Sager just seems to get better. With each new release, he both maintains the trademark features of his writing (addictive plotting, relatable characters, and touches of horror inspiration) and pushes himself in new directions. The moral of the story here is this: Riley Sager’s career is just getting started, and now is the perfect time to begin your own obsession with his thrillers. To that end, I’ve created this Guide to Riley Sager Thrillers to help you decide which Sager book you want to dive into while we wait for his new release this summer! All of Sager’s books are standalones, and they’re all excellent—you really can’t go wrong here, but this guide will help you get your Sager pick exactly right.
Read on for a rundown of Sager’s currently-available psychological thrillers, including my recommendations for what kind of reader will like each book best! And if you’re already obsessed with Sager, scroll to the bottom of this post for everything we know about his 2021 release SURVIVE THE NIGHT so far.
CBTB’s Guide to Riley Sager Thrillers
FINAL GIRLS
For readers who love:
Horror movie franchises like Halloween and Scream
Strong female leads—especially strong female leads in a slasher movie!
Stories featuring secrets from the past coming back to light in the present
Why I loved Final Girls:
I’m a huge horror movie fan, and I’m particularly obsessed with slasher franchises like Halloween and Scream. In Final Girls, Riley Sager delivers the perfect homage to this movie genre—and to the leading ladies of these franchises in particular. Final Girls is not itself a horror novel—that’s very important to keep in mind! But it is a fantastic ode to the genre. For those not familiar with the term “final girl,” it refers to the last woman standing in a slasher film. (Think Laurie Strode in Halloween!) In Final Girls, Sager imagines what happens to a “final girl” after she survives a horrific ordeal. Once the media attention surrounding her story has died down, once her life is supposed to have gone back to “normal,” how does she feel? What is her experience of returning to “normalcy” after surviving something unthinkable? Sager’s irresistible breakout novel follows a young woman named Quincy who, years prior, survived a massacre. She has worked hard to rebuild her life, but her past is about to come back to call—and she’s going to have to prove herself a final girl once more. Guys, this book is so good. Whether or not you love horror movies personally, this psychological thriller will sweep you up in a twisty, addictive story with a protagonist you’ll root for every step of the way.
Plot Details:
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls: Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit; and Sam, the second Final Girl, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.
THE LAST TIME I LIED
For readers who love:
Cinematic settings (summer camp!)
Stories of female friendship
Pretty Little Liars
Why I Loved The Last Time I Lied:
Remember what I said about Sager being so good at pushing his writing in new directions while also remaining true to his roots? The Last Time I Lied is a prime example of that. Where Final Girls was directly linked to a very bloody genre of horror film, The Last Time I Lied leans into a lighter brand of horror—but delivers the same irresistible entertainment value. The Last Time I Lied follows a young woman who returns to the summer camp she attended in her teenage years, this time as a camp counselor. But she has hidden motivations for her return. When she was a teenager at the camp, one of her cabin-mates disappeared, and she has forever been haunted by this mystery. Now, she’s determined to find out the truth. The Last Time I Lied delves into the complexity of female friendships in a way that felt so authentic to me; I loved following our protagonist as she revisits and reassesses the events and emotions of her teenage years. A huge selling point to this novel is its fantastic summer camp setting. This book truly feels made for the big screen: this summer camp is a perfect balance of picturesque and very creepy, and readers will absolutely love their time spent in this spine-tingling environment. There are certain snapshot moments at this camp that I literally can’t get out of my head, even though it’s been years since I read this book.
Plot Details:
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.
Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees.
Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager, but soon discovers a security camera--the only one on the property--pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins begin surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to those girls, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.
LOCK EVERY DOOR
Read CBTB’s Review
For readers who love:
New York City
Gothic vibes
Stories set in iconic (and creepy!) buildings
Why I Loved Lock Every Door:
Lock Every Door reads like Sager’s love song to New York—but a very creepy one at that. This book will forever be one of my favorite Sager books. Lock Every Door is a stellar blend of Gothic inspiration and modern sensibility. Following a millennial woman whose motivations and anxieties will feel deeply relatable to anyone trying to make it in the adult world for the first time, Lock Every Door keeps itself firmly rooted in the 21st century - and in reality - even while its plot takes a turn for the very scary. Lock Every Door follows a young woman who accepts a job as an apartment-sitter at a luxury New York apartment building. The building is old and gorgeous, and she can hardly believe her luck. But as she settles into her new role, she begins to suspect that not everything is as it seems. And when another apartment sitter in the building goes missing, she takes it upon herself to investigate. Lock Every Door is a truly fantastic blend of Gothic influences and gripping, modern plotting. I absolutely love thrillers that take place in a building with a rich and creepy history, and that’s exactly what Sager gives readers in his fictional apartment building, the Bartholomew. The Bartholomew becomes a character unto itself here, and I never wanted to tear myself away from this cinematic building and its very creepy past. A very down-to-earth protagonist keeps Lock Every Door grounded in reality, and keeps readers deeply invested in the ultimate fate she will meet. I loved this book.
Plot Details:
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.
Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's sordid past and into the secrets kept within its walls. What she discovers pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.
HOME BEFORE DARK
Read CBTB’s Review
For readers who love:
Haunted house stories
“Book within a book”-style suspense novels
Stories with an extra-creepy edge!
Why I Loved Home Before Dark:
Riley Sager truly just gets better and better. In 2020, Riley returned with his most ambitious book yet: HOME BEFORE DARK, a modern-day ghost story-meets-family mystery. In HOME BEFORE DARK, readers follow protagonist Maggie Holt as she returns to the home her family owned—and fled—years prior, an experience that became the inspiration for her father’s bestselling nonfiction book, House of Horrors. Maggie never believed the stories her father told about her childhood home, and in returning to that storied building, she hopes to disprove his tales once and for all. But Maggie can’t deny the inexplicable events that begin to take place as she settles in to the house. Ghosts aren’t real… are they? HOME BEFORE DARK will make you think twice. There was truly so much I loved about this book, it’s hard to know where to start! First things first: Riley is a horror movie aficionado, and his love of horror films gives his writing a deliciously creepy edge. HOME BEFORE DARK is Riley’s take on a haunted house story, and what an effective and chilling take it is. There are so many creepy moments and elements from this book that have stuck out in my memory in the year since I read it. Bonus: like Maggie’s childhood home, this book is much more than it initially seems. It’s also a “book within a book”-style suspense novel that provides readers with chapters from House of Horrors, the (fictional!) bestselling book written by protagonist Maggie’s father, along with its present-day narrative following Maggie as she returns to that same house. The interplay between these two stories is riveting; Riley does a superb job ratcheting up the tension bit by bit, using these parallel timelines to top-notch dramatic effect. HOME BEFORE DARK is a perfect blend of creepy suspense and the just-one-more-page plotting that keeps so many of us hooked on Riley’s thrillers.
Plot Details:
What was it like? Living in that house.
Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father's book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father's death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Alternating between Maggie’s uneasy homecoming and chapters from her father’s book, Home Before Dark is the story of a house with long-buried secrets and a woman’s quest to uncover them—even if the truth is far more terrifying than any haunting.
SURVIVE THE NIGHT
Available June 2021
Plot Details:
It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana's in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.
Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?
What follows is a game of cat and mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there's nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing—survive the night.
And that’s a wrap on my Guide to Riley Sager Thrillers! I absolutely cannot wait for Sager’s newest release this summer, and I’ll be sure to share my thoughts on it here as we get closer to publication day. In the meantime, dig into Sager’s backlist and enjoy all the incredible stories he has to offer us crime readers! Happy reading! xx A
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.