The House Across the Lake

The House Across the Lake Synopsis

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

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 is not 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.

Thoughts I had while reading..

(Thirty-One) Thoughts I had while reading The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager. Spoilers sweety, if you don’t want them, skip on down to my Final Thoughts.

1. Digging the creepy setting. Much better than the car from his last book. It’s feeling very I Spit on Your Grave’esgue to me. 
2. I’m glad this autobiography is fairly short. I got it, you were a drug fiend after your dad died. Then you went off the deep end again when your husband died and choose alcohol this time around. Your mom is a cunt. Moving on.
3. Spying on The House Across the Lake. These are some exceptional binoculars. I have to work too hard to believe Casey is seeing the things she is saying. But what do I know, the binoculars I had clearly were not as good as the ones Casey has.
4. Boone Conrad reminds me of Conrad Black from Archer and that’s the visual I’m going with. 
5. A year sober eh Conrad? Dead wife eh Conrad?
6. Mysterious drowning where Katherine and Tom were the summer before. Interesting. Interesting.
7. Your number? I want to know about that wine glass from last night.  
8. IDK about Katherine. I mean, obviously, the husband, Tom, is sketch af but there’s just something about Katherine that’s too odd to ignore.
9. Oh there we go, Casey has kicked things up a notch, time to stalk not just watch.
10. Examining Instagram photos now. Casey, Casey, Casey get a grip. Maybe, she’s just not that into you. This bitch has gone full Single White Female on Katherine, and I’m supposed to believe the husband did it?
11. Casey keeps going to the garbage, and she has yet to take that piece of wine glass out of the bottom of the bin. I mean, I doubt she’s going to know what the residue on the glass was, but I need to know. So come on. 
12. While I do agree Tom bought some suspish items at the hardware store, there is a hurricane coming to Lake Greene.
13. At least this cop is sensible, but Casey is definitely going to break into The House Across the Lake.
14. And there she goes. There is something suspicious about Conrad’s actions and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something off there. I’m not entirely convinced he didn’t kill his own wife.  
15. The mysterious drownings are back in play. I’m not convinced it’s Tom though, despite what Wilma has said, it just as easily could be Katherine. I’m just saying. I feel like they are two different cases. (50%)
16. Pretty sure someone has been messing with Casey’s liquor. Is Eli pulling strings to come up with a new book? Or is Casey not the only one doing B&Es on Lake Greene? 
17. Why would Conrad be calling Katherine when he knew she was missing? Suspish !
18. Wait now, I’m dumb af, it’s not confirmed to be Tom in the “Now” sections, he is just MIA. I’ll admit, Sager got me there. 
19. There it is, Conrad is not the nice guy he claims to be. Kissing married women, the shame! I don’t think he killed Katherine though. Nor am I convinced Katherine is dead. She seems to have gone out of her way to tell the neighbors she was unhappy in her marriage, but something about her is just not adding up. 
20. And now Casey is breaking into another house on Lake Greene. 
21. I’m actually semi-surprised to find out Katherine has been at Lake Greene this whole time. Not surprised Tom thinks one of the lake demons got her though. If I remember correctly, Casey did think Katherine was indeed dead when she first found her in the lake and saved her.
22. Interesting, so was it Len behind the missing girls this whole time? Me thinks it’s possible. In fact, ill go so far as to say that’s what’s going on, and it’s why I feel like there are two killers/crimes happening here. (70%)
23. I was thinking about who exactly is tied up in the “Now” sections, I thought it was Tom, but that was my bad. For a hot second, I thought it was Conrad. Which is most likely on purpose. I think Casey even went so far as to have asked about Katherine, as a misdirect. I think she is actually asking Len. Is this going to end in an exorcism? 
24. Katherine/Len thinks Casey killed him?
25. So Len was indeed behind the missing women. The big twist will be that Casey did in fact kill Len.  Why is the question, she didn’t seem aware of his extracurricular activities at the time of his death?
26. The bitch did find out. That’s what she’s been drinking to forget. She murdered her serial killing husband.
27. So, now the question is, will Casey drown Len/Katherine in hopes of another soul swap happening and everyone living happily ever after?
28. Len/Katherine is on the loose in a power outage. I’m thinking Len/Katherine is going to die on land. Casey is going to crawl her ass off to the water and Katherine is going to come back in Casey’s body. But, there are still too many pages and I haven’t got an answer on that fucking wine glass. (85%)
29. Damn, I thought if someone managed to stop Len/Katherine from killing Casey it would be Conrad, not Eli. 
30. Aw man, so I was partially right on the whole soul swapping thing. 
31. Finally an answer to the wine problem.

Final Thoughts on The House Across the Lake

I liked this one more than Sager’s last release, Survive the Night. Maybe I expect too much from Sager, but I’m just not feeling his books lately. The House Across the Lake brings a paranormal vibe, that isn’t necessarily new for Sager, but I enjoyed it more in Home Before Dark. I had higher hopes for this book, and although it wasn’t a complete disaster, it’s a far cry from his earlier works. My favorite Sager book continues to be Lock Every Door. Followed closely by Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied.

Rating

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