Book Review: HOME BEFORE DARK by Riley Sager

HOME BEFORE DARK by Riley Sager (Dutton Books, June 2020) Hardcover, 416 pages. ISBN # 1524745170 / 9781524745172  

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

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.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?  

My Five-Star review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     This is the best work from Riley Sager so far, and that says a lot. From it's engaging opening sentence ("Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share.") to a twisty surprise ending, HOME BEFORE DARK kept me turning the pages.

     One of the best things about the novel is the dual narrative structure that Sager employs, alternating between the original haunted house story written by the father and the investigative journey his daughter undertakes years later. Both are full of chills, thrills and surprises. 

     I won't give anything away. You'll want to approach this with no expectations and become immersed in it. Just get yourself a copy and start reading.