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

All I Want by Darcey Bell

Hello everyone.  I hope you're safe and warm.

So today, ladies and gents I want to talk to you about a horror story.  A truly scary topic, you may want your children to leave the room.  Ready, wait, are you seated?  Okay.., house prices.  Oh yes, I dared, I "went there".  Now that I have it out in the open, I feel so much better.  House prices in the United States have gone absolutely berserk!  Now, for selling my house, I, of course, welcome a high house price.  But how dare other house sellers want me to pay ridiculous prices for what amounts to a two-car garage.  Not even living over the "gay-raage" Sabrina style.  I'm talking almost $800,000 for less than 2,000 square feet, in some cases just two bedrooms.  And you house lovers please enlighten me about the current trend of NO DINING ROOM?  What numskull thought that was a good idea?  Don't people know I've got my grandparents china that is begging to be used.  No matter how you dress it up, fine, heirloom china and silver just doesn't work when you're eating in the kitchen, where dirty dishes abound, and the ice maker rumbles...there is no decorum.  Our old house days are done (after our current), but a Victorian house always has a stunning dining room.  Yup, they sure could make 'em back then and for less than a gazillion dollars too.

I recently read All I Want by Darcey Bell.  She is the author of A Simple Favor, which I read and enjoyed.  This time the story is about Emma and Ben.  They live in NYC, where Ben produces Broadway shows and Emma is pregnant with their first child.  Ben finds a great house at a cheap price (picture me rolling my eyes with jealousy).  The house is an old elaborate Victorian in the Catskills, it has a sorted past due to its large size.  Ben and the realtor convince Emma that this would be a great place to raise their child.  The purchase is made, a restoration contractor is hired.  Everything seems to be going as planned until Ben starts spending more time on his new show in the city and odd things start happening to Emma, now alone at their mansion.

This quick hit book of just over two hundred and fifty pages, is fun.  While it doesn't feature things jumping out at you, it definitely has the reader waiting for what's around each corner.  I thought I had it figured out, but on the very last page there is another twist and I discover I was wrong. I love when the author fools me.

If you want Shakespeare or a slasher movie....I mean book...this isn't for you.  If you want a quick hit of spooky, gotcha fun, this fits the bill.  Just the thing to keep you occupied during that next snowstorm.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great day.  Let's jump right into it, as I have a chicken to bake (certainly my seven thousandth). I just finished Home Before Dark by Riley Sager.  If this book isn't already on your radar, it is about a woman, Maggie, who inherits an old mansion in Vermont. When her family lived there years ago they found it to be haunted, so haunted that one night her family flees with nothing but the clothes on their back. Maggie was five years old when her family left and doesn't remember much.  The knowledge she has about the house comes from a best selling book her father writes after they flee, which Maggie believes is a complete lie.

Written with alternating chapters following the present day Maggie, and actual chapters from the book written by Maggie's dad, Ewan, the reading is quick.  Many sections end in a cliffhanger or revelation, propelling the reader forward.  It is full of atmosphere, a bit spooky, and in one section, quite gross.  It contains several mysteries and as thriller lovers prefer...many twists. If you are a romantic comedy reader, this isn't for you. However, if you like horror, mysteries, or thrillers, this, my friends, is the book for you. It's a wild ride that will grab you from the very beginning and doesn't lift the overhead harness until the very end.

Now the bad news, Home Before Dark isn't going to be released until June 30th.  I have a finished, hardbound copy. It isn't an advanced reader copy/galley. How did I get it so early (June 1st)? Book of the Month, that's how. Wait, don't close your laptop, I swear this is not a commercial. I get no kickback, they have no idea who I am.  Several years ago I received a gift subscription and have renewed it for several years. Books end up costing $14.99 hardbound.  Have you priced books lately, never mind, I know you have a reading addiction too.  Well for you library dwellers let me tell you they run from $26 to $31. That is more than a quarter of a hundred dollars for one book.  That just shocks me.  Anyway, Book of the Month (BOTM) gets you a discount because you're basically paying ahead. AND you can get up to two additional books each month.  Trust me here, any add on books, pay for instead of using credits. Credits cost $14.99 but add ons at $9.99, so save those credits for each months BOTM.

My mom used to get BOTM ages ago, thankfully, it is much better now. If you don't want a book, just skip a month. Nothing is sent automatically. There are five new books to choose from each month. Usually there is a thriller, but the choices are varied. One of June's choices was Home Before Dark, which they got early for their subscribers. My description is probably clear as mud, but their web site is much better. My husband said I looked like a kid on Christmas morning when I saw Home Before Dark as a choice.  What can I say, I've been waiting for this to come out and to get it early and at a discount, it's housewife heaven.

By the way, if you're thinking, like I was, that this might be a reworking of The Amityville Horror is isn't.  Riley Sager's novel is much more involved and so good.