I'm Obsessed with Thriller Novels

Back in June, I was on my way home from New York City with my boyfriend after visiting my best friends. To keep me sustained during a grueling bus ride to Boston, we stopped in my favorite bookstore in the Chelsea Market before our departure. There, in piles of books yearning to be read, I picked up a paperback that would change the trajectory of my reading journey - Survive the Night by Riley Sager. 

The whole ride home, I couldn’t pick my head up out of the pages. This book had everything; suspense, danger, romance, mystery, and most of all, twists. I could picture the novel like it was a movie in my head - which is ironic, because this book is literally about a girl who has visions that are described as movies in her head. The main character was complex and worth rooting for, while the true antagonists were not truly revealed until the end of the story. STN gets a 7.5/10 from me. After this read, I sped to Barnes & Noble to pick up another Sager novel. 

My next endeavor was that of The House Across The Lake. During this B&N trip, I also picked up The Midnight Library, a book I still have yet to finish because I think it will destroy me from the inside out. Anyways, THATL solidified that Survive The Night was not a fluke, and Sager really is just that good. I would rush home from work over the summer to sit outside on my deck with a nice, chilled Cutwater margarita and read until the sun went down. While the book has gotten mixed reviews due to its unprecedented and shocking twist involving supernatural elements, I actually really appreciated this element in the story. I ended up liking this one more than my first read, and I rate it a very solid 8.5/10. 

Next on my list was Sager's second novel, The Last Time I Lied. From the very minute I opened this book, I was hooked. The characters, the setting, the writing style and trajectory of this book... I could go on and on. The premise of this novel is that a group of girls from a summer camp go missing, then the story moves on to the re-opening of that summer camp years after their disappearance. When I say I couldn’t put this book down, I am not exaggerating. Even though it was not the shortest of Sager's work, this was my quickest read yet. TLTIL gets an outstanding 10/10, 11 even. The ending twist of this book I genuinely did not see coming and left my jaw needing to be scooped up off the ground. 

My two most recent reads have been The Only One Left, the most recent novel, and my current read that I am about 80 pages into - Lock Every Door. TOOL (lol) almost took my top spot, but ultimately, I felt the ending of TLTIL was just a pinch more satisfying. Still, this novel effortlessly combines elements of horror suspense, and a thrilling mystery that is not uncovered until the very end. I was not at all expecting this book to have a happy ending, but the way the characters ended up feels very right and comforting to me. The consistent twists and turns in this book kept me guessing, and I could not guess where the book was going to end up. While TOOL gets a 9/10 from me, the jury is still out on Lock Every Door - we’ll see how the ending matches up to the masterful twists of the previous two novels I’ve finished.

That leaves just 3 Sager novels left to read - Final Girls (which I’ve been looking for at bookstores EVERYWHERE???), Home Before Dark (which got spoiled for me on Tik Tok BOOOOO), and the newest addition, Middle of the Night, coming out this June! I can’t wait to finish up Lock Every Door and move onto the next on my list - let me know what your favorite Sager novel is, or any thrillers for that matter :)