The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager is a thriller set up to look like a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window until a big twist makes this novel a “can’t miss” mystery. 50 % of the mystery is an homage to Rear Window the film which had me scared it was just going to be a remake, but thankfully it twists in another direction and makes for a great read. We have the unreliable narrator who is drunk most of the time which is pretty cliche and turned me off a bit since it felt like it was ripping off the novel The Woman in Window by A. J. Finn which itself is an homage to Rear Window. I do always like when the writer acknowledges the homage which Sager mentions Rear Window many times in the story especially since a big hunk of the first part of the novel is told through binoculars. The second 50% is a thrill ride that does not let up. The twists are somewhat mind-blowing and Sager has fun toying with the audience until the final truth is revealed. The ending is so crazy, we kind of get two climaxes. I have been an early fan of Riley Sager and so far have read 6 novels. The way he mixes thriller with just a dash of horror is what keeps me reading a Riley Sager book every year. The House Across the Lake was published on June 21, 2022, by Dutton.

Plot Summary: Casey is an actress, a recent widower, and a full-blown alcoholic. She retreats from the world of acting to a lake house in Vermont. The stay was supposed to be relaxing but it is the same lake her late husband drowned in, which is messing her up. The lake is surrounded by 4 other houses, One is an old friend of her mother’s, one is under repairs by a handsome handyman staying there as he works, and one is a super rich married couple the wife a model, and her husband a tech industry leader. Casey becomes slightly obsessed with the couple when she saves the model Kathrine from drowning in the lake. She becomes a watcher of their lives through her binoculars in her house across the lake. Casey very drunk thinks Kathrine’s husband is trying to kill her, she wakes to a scream and finds out the next morning that Kathrine is not at the house. Casey is not the only one that suspects as the handyman heard the scream in the middle of the night as well. Casey plays a drunken detective trying to find out what happened.

What I Liked: The crazy twists towards the end made the book hard to put down. The book has such a great twist it made me read parts of the book over with a new perspective. The ending worked well and tied everything together. I liked the drunken detective angle. Eli the mother’s friend I enjoyed his scenes and the history of the lake exposition. The mix of thriller and a dash of horror blended in well with each other.

What I Disliked: The first 50% was too cliche I felt it could turn off some readers, and since it is beat with a beat set up of Rear Window. My least favorite novel by Riley Sager is Lock Every Door because it is too close to Rosemary’s Baby, and I feared this was heading the same way. Thank goodness for the change in direction twist that saves this novel.

Recommendation and Rating: The House across the Lake is not the best Riley Sager put it is a fun ride that will keep you reading into the night. I will recommend checking this book out, but with the warning that the story gets great at the 50% mark and does not stop once, it gets going. I rated The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager 4 out of 5 stars. My ranking of every Riley Sager novel from highest to lowest is: 1) The Last Time I Lied, 2) Home Before Dark, 3)Final Girls, 4) The House Across the Lake, 5) Survive the Night, and 6) Lock Every Door.