Review: The Last Time I Lied

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After three of her fellow campers go missing, Emma leaves Camp Nightingale without having closure. Fifteen years later, she's invited back as an instructor and chooses to try to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Riley Sager may just become one of my favorite thriller authors. After enjoying Final Girls, I dove into The Last Time I Lied. I thought the two may parallel each other since they both had something to do with a mystery in the woods, but that is essentially where the similarities end.

I loved the writing style, the built up intrigue, and the way the plot unfolded. Having Emma as a semi unstable narrator made it easy to question the reality of the book, but in a good way. There were numerous set ups to make it seem like the plot was going in one direction, only for it to be swept out from under you and a brand new path opened up.

I loved the way the plot alternated between the present day action and reveals from what happened fifteen years ago. Major kudos to the author for not making Emma a lovesick puppy the entire book and making it clear she solved most of the mysteries herself!

There are really no dull moments in the book and everything serves to push the novel forward. That ending/epilogue edged it up from a 4.5 from a 5 in just a matter of pages.

Sager shows growth in his writing between Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied. My few criticisms in Final Girls are not evident here. I am eager to see what his third book, Lock Every Door, is all about. You can bet I'm starting on it just as soon as I finish this review.

I definitely recommend this book to fans of thrillers, as it's very reminiscent of a Harlan Coben novel.

View all my reviews

Comments

Review: The Wedding Crasher

The Wedding Crasher by Nikki Stern on Tour June 1-30, 2019 Synopsis: A brunette in a bridal gown turns up in Pickett County, Tennessee, throat slit and ring finger missing. She’s the latest victim of the Wedding Crasher, a serial killer who murders women just weeks before their weddings. Samantha Tate is Picket County’s yoga-loving, poker-playing new sheriff, a former Nashville homicide detective who struggles with her inner demons. To catch the meticulous murderer, Sam will have to follow her instincts and ignore her worst impulses. Can she stop the Wedding Crasher before another bride-to-be dies? My Review: Sam Tate ranks highly in the realm of female detectives, which seems to be a new favorite sub-genre of mine this year. This book is a gripping read that explores how a small town sheriff can blow the case wide open on an unsolved series of brutal murders across the country. There are a ton of red herrings and misdirects, but they are handled in an ex

Review: Shadow Ridge

Shadow Ridge by M.E. Browning December 1-31, 2020 Tour Synopsis: Death is one click away when a string of murders rocks a small Colorado town in the first mesmerizing novel in M. E. Browning’s A Jo Wyatt Mystery series. Echo Valley, Colorado, is a place where the natural beauty of a stunning river valley meets a budding hipster urbanity. But when an internet stalker is revealed to be a cold-blooded killer in real life the peaceful community is rocked to its core. It should have been an open-and-shut case: the suicide of Tye Horton, the designer of a cutting-edge video game. But Detective Jo Wyatt is immediately suspicious of Quinn Kirkwood, who reported the death. When Quinn reveals an internet stalker is terrorizing her, Jo is skeptical. Doubts aside, she delves into the claim and uncovers a link that ties Quinn to a small group of beta-testers who had worked with Horton. When a second member of the group dies in a car accident, Jo’s investigation leads her to the

Review: The Begonia Killer

The Begonia Killer by Jeff Bond June 1-30, 2021 Tour Synopsis: You know Molly McGill from her death-defying escapes in Anarchy of the Mice , book one of the Third Chance Enterprises series. Now ride along for her first standalone caper, The Begonia Killer . When Martha Dodson hires McGill Investigators to look into an odd neighbor, Molly feels optimistic about the case — right up until Martha reveals her theory that Kent Kirkland, the neighbor, is holding two boys hostage in his papered-over upstairs bedroom. Martha’s husband thinks she needs a hobby. Detective Art Judd, who Molly visits on her client’s behalf, sees no evidence worthy of devoting police resources. But Molly feels a kinship with the Yancy Park housewife and bone-deep concern for the missing boys. She forges ahead with the investigation, navigating her own headstrong kids, an unlikely romance with Detective Judd, and a suspect in Kent Kirkland every bit as terrifying as the supervillains she’s battled befor

Books with Bircky

Search This Blog