Book Review: "The House Across the Lake" by Riley Sager

Last year I reviewed Riley Sager's The Only One Left and had some irks about the ending but apart from that, it seems like I enjoyed myself:

I wanted to read something a bit different by this author therefore. The House Across the Lake feels less gothic horror and more urban thriller. In the beginning we have this ominous chapter which describes a lakeside that looks like a coffin which is only a crack open and then, we are thrust into the present where Casey Fletcher is talking to a detective who is asking her questions about where the man who lives at the house might have gone. Little does the detective know, Casey has him tied up in her attic - and it has something to do with his wife. And as much as she speaks to the wife after rescuing her from drowning, and as much as the wife speaks about her husband - something is a bit off: the wife isn't wearing a wedding ring...

The only issue I had with this book in the first 50% of it is that much of it feels like an information-dump. There's an entire chapter just dedicated to telling us about the background of Casey Fletcher and yet, it isn't really woven into the story, it feels like something separate and for a time you can forget you're reading a fast-pasced thriller with many twists and turns. I have to say, that kind of ruined some of the atmosphere for me. I did however enjoy reading about Casey's dead husband, Len. He drowned in the lake and well, she's still staying in the house across the water from where he died and has also saved someone else from drowning. However, the things we learn about Len later on are far more intriguing.

Katherine, the woman Casey saved from drowning, is married to Tom. They are an odd but rich couple and Tom is quite an intense man. Katherine was once a supermodel but has since moved on to philanthropy. From her own home, Casey observes them through binoculars in a kind of Rear Window way. She frequently sees Tom acting strange with his wife, sneaking up on her and trying to listen to her phone calls. Other times, she sees them not particularly acting like a happy married couple though she isn't exactly sure what to do about it. Riley Sager here creates a story we have seen time and time again just in his own way. Honestly, I like these kind of stories because there's a third party involved and the people being observed have absolutely no idea that anyone is watching them.

There's a connection between Len and Tom that gets explored a bit in this book and when I say I had kind of guessed what it was before it was given to me, I wouldn't be lying. As Casey reveals parts of her marriage and the way in which she learns about strange cases of murders - it becomes clear that there is something seriously wrong with the lifestyles of these people. When we read stories about the rich being vile I think we connect with it because in reality, most super-rich people are vile. Riley Sager confines them to this space across a lake and we begin to empty our minds, refilling them with the idea that everyone is absolutely terrible in their own way. Even Casey has her own faults.

Sager doesn't shy away from presenting us with information. Now there's a key difference between the two ways he does it. When it is information that's relevant to the story, it seems to be revealed slowly and in pieces, but when it is background information - it is simply explained to us. This happens not only as we learn about Casey's background but it also happens at the end of the book when the key 'villain' reveals what exactly their plan was. I didn't really enjoy that because I felt like by that time, it was a little obvious about what had happened. There was really no need for the author to have that explained to us again.

All in all, it was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the twists and turns and much of the book was quite atmospheric with the haunted-style lake becoming something from a horror-movie nightmare.