Book Review: The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
August 15, 2025
So this is not my first Riley Sager book, I read The Only One Left last February and really enjoyed that book, and I would not say I didn’t enjoy this book, I am just not sure that I would really even recommend it.
We follow the story of a woman named Casey who is a Hollywood starlet who is really known for being in the tabloids and being her famous mothers daughter, than she really is for the projects she has been on. Casey has been sent to the lakehouse she grew up going to in Vermont because she has been on a bit of a drinking spree lately. Her mom is wildly concerned about her, and wants her to take a break from her normal life and just relax. The real kicker is that, just a year before, her husband died in that very lake, and we’re not so sure Casey is coping well with that loss. While at the lake house, she is not following her mother’s rules very well, and continues to drink to cope with the past year and the loss that looms over her head constantly. She sits on her doc and drinks her days away.After finding her late husband's birding binoculars, she even takes up watching her new neighbors. The fabulous Katherine and Tom Royce move into the large glass house across the lake, she can do very little to stop herself from watching them. One morning, she happens to see someone struggling in the water, and paddles out and finds Katherine all but lifeless in the cold, dark, water and pulls her from the darkness into her boat. Miraculously, Katherine comes back to like in the belly of her boat and Casey wraps her up in the blanket she had in the boat and delivers her back home. From this instance, a friendship starts to bloom and Caseys curiosity about the couple deepens. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey is fairly certain that it has something to do with her own husband, because rather than looking for her, he seems to be trying to get Casey to stop looking for her. Dark mysteries unfold and Casey learns things about the lake, folklore, and Katherine and Toms relationship that she couldn’t have even imagined.
This book got a little strange for a period of time. I like when books have twists and turns, but I am not a huge fan when I get a little blindsided by something being paranormal or haunted. I was not anticipating that element of the book, and I’ll be honest, didn’t care for it. On Goodreads, I gave this a three star review, and I stand by that. It wasn’t a horrible book, but I won’t be talking about it when someone asks me about my favorite reads of 2025, that is for sure. Overall, I am not sure I would suggest it, but I also don’t want that to stop you from reading it. It just was okay. I wanted a little more shock and I wanted a little less weird. ( Sorry Riley. )
