Oldies But Goodies
{Put This One on Your TBR List}
Book Review: The House
Across the Lake by Riley Sager
by Karen S. Wiesner
Be aware
that there may be spoilers in these reviews.
The House Across the Lake was Riley Sager's 2022 release, a thriller that went on to be compared
to Hitchcock's Rear Window. I really
thought I had this author figured out after having read three or four of his
previous books (though not in order of publication). Almost without fail, he
puts a too-curious-for-her-own-good female who's on the edge in a precarious
situation where nothing is as it seems. He also plays the "unreliable
narrator" card so often, I can see it coming in five words or less now.
I've learned to never, absolutely ever
trust his narrator because her (so far as I've gotten in reading his backlist,
all his lead characters have actually been female) perspective is forever going
to throw false impressions and skewed perspectives all along my path.
Additionally, I can always be certain this viewpoint isn't innocent because
there are secrets yet to be unearthed--sometimes not until the very last pages.
Finally, I can be assured this author will insinuate supernatural involvement
somehow in his novel, which is something that probably draws me to his books
more than anything else.
From the first page until well
past the middle of this very long book, I couldn't have been more haughtily
convinced I knew exactly where the plot was going. Everything felt predictable
and even stereotypical. My interest waned often. I felt as though I'd read this
basic scenario many times before and at least a few times better executed. Then
literally out of nowhere…!!! A typhoon on a sunny day, and hell on earth
instead of the tranquil paradise I was beginning to fall asleep in. I just
didn't see the hurricane coming until I was hit full-force by it. I guess the
author lulled me into a state of lake-time oblivion, given how I was almost
literally snoring when the nightmare hit me blindside. Talk about a twist! But
there was much more in store for me--a diabolical twist on another draw-dropping
twist topped with a final, stunning sucker punch twist. Wowza! I couldn't catch
my breath until I devoured the second half of the book within little more than
an hour (after drowsing through the first half of the book over the course of a
leaning-toward bored several days).
The surface story here is that a
recently widowed actress named Casey has retreated to her family's lake house
in Vermont. Been there, literally, done that, right? But it's not that ho-hum.
There are a few interesting points. Lake Greene has gained some notoriety of late
with the disappearances of three young girls who are presumed dead, the victims
of a supposed serial killer. Lake Greene is also associated with a neat urban
legend. Based on the Victorian-era belief that reflective surfaces can trap
souls of the dead (and therefore the living covered all the mirrors after
someone died), the tribes that lived in this particular area long before
European settlers arrived went still bigger with their beliefs--lakes could
also be considered reflective surfaces, so if a person saw their own reflection
in the lake after someone died in that body of water, they could become
possessed by the soul trapped beneath the water's surface. I do have to comment
that one of the characters told this old wives' tale in a shocking bit of
cabbageheadism, which basically means that the reader needed to know this so
the author spoon-fed it from one character to the others in the scene. In any
case…
Grief has made Casey a drunk and
apparently a voyeur when she realizes her new neighbors are a controlling tech
innovator named Tom and his former supermodel wife. After Casey saves said wife
Katherine from drowning, she begins to realize something is very wrong with their
marriage. Then Katherine abruptly vanishes, and Casey suspects Tom had
something to do with it.
One more aside: Sager made
reference to his fictional setting of Camp Nightingale from his novel The Last Time I Lied, which I reviewed back
in January of this year, when Katherine claims she was a "Camp Nightingale
girl". Cool! I love it when the author wants to see if his fans are paying
attention.
The twists in The House Across the Lake are what made
this story compelling. It was well-written with good characterization, however,
as I said, I've read a few of Sager's books now and all the main characters
strike me as similar. They have different names, settings, and situations, but
they could easily be swapped out for each other from one of his books to the
next.
Additionally, (another thing
I've said nearly every time I review one of Sager's books), this novel is just
too darn long. He could have cut half of the 349 pages that were in the
hardcover edition and came out with essentially the same story. As is almost
always the case, everyone is a suspect--including the one who vanished as well
as the one investigating the crime--and all have a secret that makes them a
likely killer. Motive and opportunity aplenty for each and every player in the
book. Culling his list of suspects so there weren't so many red herrings could
have helped a lot.
If you'll remember, I did state
from the beginning of this review that my interest was seriously flagging at
the halfway point. If not for that first twist, I'm not sure the whodunit (or
more aptly, who didn't do it? since
it was anyone's game for most of the story) could have been salvaged. I was a
single word away from "skim"-reading (which is what I do when I'm at
least semi-committed and then a story disappoints me too much to continue
reading word for word) just to get through it to the end.
I think a lot of readers might
have maintained interest all the way through--namely, those who are fans of
this type of "unreliable narrator" thriller genre. I've read a couple
truly good ones (Ruth Ware is a solid favorite of mine in this category), but
the majority are usually not my cup of tea. This one was saved at the eleventh
hour by the twist so it is worth reading. If you're patient, there is good
stuff in store for you.
Incidentally, in March 2023,
there was talk about Netflix making a film adaptation, and I think that medium
would be ideal for this particular tale.
Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.
Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/
and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog
Find out more about her books and see her art
here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor
Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/