Book Review: HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE by Riley Sager

HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE by Riley Sager (Duton, June 21, 2022) Hardcover, 349 pages. ISBN #0593183193 / 9780593183199 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

It looks like a familiar story: A woman reeling from a great loss with too much time on her hands and too much booze in her glass watches her neighbors, sees things she shouldn't see, and starts to suspect the worst. But looks can be deceiving...

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to 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 living in the house across the lake.

Everything about the Royces seems perfect. Their marriage. Their house. The bucolic lake it sits beside. But when Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she discovers the darker truths lurking just beneath the surface of the Royces' picture-perfect marriage. Truths no suspicious voyeur could begin to imagine--even with a few drinks under her belt.

Like Casey, you'll think you know where this story is headed.

Think again.

Because once you open the door to obsession, you never know what you might find on the other side.  

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     Despite the fact that Riley Sager has many detractors, I'm always engrossed in his novels. I've read four others and I thoroughly enjoyed each of them. I found it hard to put THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE down, and finished reading within two days. I agree that he's not perfect but he sure knows how to get my attention and hold it. 

     This begins as an undisguised homage to Alfred Hitchcock, and the Rear Window film specifically, although regular readers of Sager know that he will put his unique twist on the story more than once. The opening chapters seem to mirror that novel with a female protagonist crippled by alcoholic tendencies spying on the neighbors with high-powered binoculars instead of a bored wheelchair-confined man also spying on the neighbors and suspecting foul play and/or murder.

      The opening chapter sets the scenery and atmosphere of the Vermont lake similar to the way that Hitchcock frames his opening scenes. The descriptions of the darkness of the lake and the reflective surface read like script notes for the film's photographer. There's also another Hitchcock film name-dropped several chapters in, and one of the supporting characters is named Marnie. 

     I began to have my suspicions beyond the usual suspects somewhere around page 180 and found evidence to confirm my conjecture within the next twenty pages. My feelings of contentment were crushed soon after as the story took a decidedly unexpected turn. 

     I believe it's this point in the story that has disappointed many reviewers, who may feel that Sager pulled a fast one or cheated. I looked back over the opening chapters, and found evidence that Sager planted a few clues and even foreshadowed these events, although so much was going on that readers could easily miss it. Nevertheless, I accepted this new twist and kept going. It did not disturb my enjoyment of the novel. 

     For those unfamiliar with Riley Sager but curious enough to want to explore, I would recommend Lock Every Door as a starting point before picking up this one.