August 2024 Group Read (spoiler thread): The House Across the Lake, by Riley Sager

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Spoiler thread for The House Across the Lake.

[DreamReader702]

(3/5- Decent)

I have mixed feelings about this one. I loved the twists to the story but hated the supernatural aspect. I found the “Now” Segments to be what kept me reading and the “Before” segments to be slow, repetitive and borderline boring.

[R.T.]

1/5 for me. No urgency, a female narrator who seems more like a man, and a poorly conceived and totally unbelievable ending. Frankly, one go the worst “thrillers” I’ve ever read.

[Randy]

I enjoy paranormal/horror stories and Sager usually plays around with those tropes. And since I've enjoyed previous Sager novels and Rear Window is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies (really expands nicely on the Cornell Woolrich novella), I went into this with high expectations. I was not disappointed.

Sager did a good job with how he snuck in hints of where it was going, and tied off the loose ends by the finish. I found the "Before" segments intriguing -- though I agree with Tyler, finding them somewhat repetitive -- and the reveals in the "Now" segments were riveting.

Anyway, 5/5 for me. But as usual I'm reminded that not every book is for every reader.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I couldn’t put it down! I thought it very enjoyable as long as I believed it was a thriller - and then the evil paranormal ghost showed up. I’m not gonna lie - I didn’t like it. Oh well, Sager writes very well.