The Only One Left by Riley Sager

 

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a nice day.

Picture this, the air is cold, snowing slowly.  People are a bit nicer.  Everything sparkles and smells good.  It is Thanksgiving, you're in New York City.  Your mom is in charge of getting the Santa for the Macy's parade.  Someone volunteers to replace the drunk father Christmas she's just fired, and this Santa is very special.  He is everything Chris Kringle should be. When you are fortunate enough to meet this new hire, he tries his best to convince you that there is a real Santa and, in fact, it is him.  Yet you've been taught not to believe but this kind man works his magic on little ole' you. Before you know it, you have a new house, a new dad, and a snazzy holiday cane.  Heard this story before?  Of course not, I just made it up.  Okay, stop giving me that look, it is the movie Miracle of 34th Street.  Right now, I am the little girl and Riley Sager is Santa. First, he gave me a huge gift, not as good as a house but still worthy of a holiday gift.  In addition, he has convinced me that "yes, April, there are still great thrillers out there!"

I recently read The Only One Left by Riley Sager.  This is the story of Kit McDeere, a young woman who is a caregiver   She has been given her next assignment, taking care of an elderly, mostly paralyzed, stroke victim, Lenora Hope.  Lenora lives in Maine, in an old falling down mansion, on an oceanfront cliff.  As Kit tries to settle into her creepy new setting, she finds that Lenora can communicate by moving her left hand only, knocking for yes and no.  Eventually Lenora indicates that she wants to use the typewriter in her room.  She is able to give actual worded answers.  What she has to say is quite interesting since Lenora is famous, there is even a song about her.  Well, more like a chant.  Why? Because approximately 50 years ago Lenora killed her parents and younger sister (think Lizzie Borden). There was never enough proof to charge her with their murders.  Now the broken, elderly woman wants to confess everything and tell Kit exactly what happened that horrific night in 1929.

I am both a slow reader and a sporadic one. I can read with the TV on, or people talking around me (or to me!).  I usually read about 10 pages at a time before putting a book down.  Not with this book though.  I sat down and read.  I couldn't stop. I read 200 pages at one time.  Me!  The setting for the story is so isolated and spooky, described in a way that I could feel the mansion's walls crumbling around me.  The interesting characters had me liking them one moment then doubting everything that came from their mouth in the next.   Nothing in this story is on solid ground, right down to the floors of the mansion.  I felt completely off balance and I loved it.  Although the majority of the books I read are thrillers, I have NEVER read a story with so many twists.  Riley Sager hits the reader with a major twist that I thought was the big one, but I was wrong.  They kept coming and coming, twist after twist. It was fantastic.  So fun, such a great roller coaster ride from the beginning to the very end.  Don't let your guard down, don't undo your seatbelt, no matter which twist is just revealed, Sager is far from over.  Great fun and shouldn't be missed!

At seventeen, Lenora Hope

Hung her sister with a rope

Stabbed her father with a knife

Took her mother's happy life

"It wasn't me," Lenora said

But she's the only one not dead