The House Across the Lake: the utterly gripping new psychological suspense thriller from the internationally bestselling author

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The ending of this is completely over-the-top and caught me by surprise. It's definitely one of his more memorable conclusions. Trust me when I say, it's a wild ride. One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage isn’t as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving. I loved the modern- Rear Window vibes and the setting was fantastic. Having Casey being on her own, in the house that literally haunted her just by being there, it felt so claustrophobic and unsettling. The basic plot is not original and has been done many times before. An alcohol fueled woman at her window giving her binoculars a workout, swinging them around from room to room, watching inside the half glass house across the lake.

Brandon gave a good overview of the plot in his review, so I won’t rehash that too much here. He’s read a few more of Riley Sager’s books than I have, so he has a better idea of what the author’s writing style is like, and I trust that he gave a good synopsis of the book with that knowledge in mind.She passes the time by viewing her neighbors through a set of binoculars left by her husband at the lake house. Pleasant noir with all the tropes: femme fatale, voice over, and the deadly intent. The acting is fine by folks that I am too young to know. And it is short. Not long after, Katherine suddenly vanishes. Casey, having witnessed some very suspicious behaviors from the couple before, thinks violence may have been involved. She doesn't believe Katherine just up and left of her own volition. Boone Conrad is staying at the Mitchell’s place while he does work on their house. A stranger to this area and very good looking, he peaks Casey’s interest.

Casey Fletcher is an actress and alcoholic who has been banished to Greene Lake by her mother after her drunken behavior on set alerted the paparazzi. She must lay low for awhile if she wants to save her acting career. However, she is grieving from the recent sudden death of her husband and instead drowns her sorrows in alcohol.

One evening, despite having had several drinks, Casey is convinced she sees someone struggling in the water, so she clumsily navigates her boat out to the middle of the lake where she discovers Katherine's motionless body bobbing on the surface. There is no one to help her since Eli, the lake's only full-time resident, is out for the night. Casey manages to dive into the icy cold water and guide the woman's body toward the boat, convinced she is dead. But she surprises Casey by regaining consciousness and a budding friendship is born from gratitude, on Katherine's part, as well as an immediate camaraderie punctuated by crisp, humorous dialogue. Casey is witty, with a sharply self-deprecating sense of humor that Katherine does not understand at first. Casey explains, "I make jokes because it's easier to pretend I'm not feeling what I'm feeling than to actually feel it." Casey recognizes that she and Katherine have much in common. "Ridiculously privileged, but self-aware enough to realize it. Yearning to be seen as more than what people project onto us." But their relationship is short-lived.