Thrill Seekers Will Love Riley Sager’s Books: Grab One Today
Are you searching for a spine-tingling story? Do you wish more books would give you a plot twist you really couldn’t see coming? Then it’s high time you get into Riley Sager books. Lucky for you, this guide makes picking the perfect starting novel easy.
What Kinds of Books Does Riley Sager Write?
Riley Sager’s books fall under the psychological thriller genre, and once you get your hands on one of the twisty, fast-paced titles, you’ll understand why! These aren’t even close to cozy mysteries. Between the high-stakes plots, unreliable narrators, and horror elements, Riley Sager's thrillers are not for the faint of heart.
Common Themes in Riley Sager Thrillers:
- Unreliable narrator
- Paranoia
- Isolation
- Dark pasts
- Gothic settings
- Trauma
- Survival
Do You Need to Read Riley Sager Books in A Specific Order?
Each of Riley Sager’s thrillers is written as a standalone novel, and, with no recurring characters or crossover plots, there is no required reading order. If you do need a bit of guidance, we recommend starting with his debut and going in publication order, but truly, you can pick up whatever title interests you most in audiobook form or physical copy.
A Guide to Reading Riley Sager’s Best-Selling Books:
The next time you’re walking around at your favorite indie bookstore in search of a high-quality mystery or thriller, take a chance and grab one of Riley Sager’s books. Just remember: expect the unexpected!
Final Girls (2017)
The three members of what the press deemed “The Final Girls” have never met. Quincy Carpenter, the college student who came back from a vacation-turned-massacre, the only one alive; Lisa, a sorority girl who lost nine sisters to a knife attack; and Sam, a worker at the Nightlight Inn who endured the Sack Man.
Years later, with a loving almost-fiancé, a successful baking blog, and a beautiful apartment, Quincy is doing great. It doesn’t matter that she can’t recall the events of that fateful night ten years ago—the past is in the past. That is, until Lisa is found dead and Sam appears on Quincy’s front step. With police, reporters, and Sam’s secrets closing in in Riley Sager’s most popular thriller, Final Girls, Quincy will have to remember what really happened at Pine Cottage—or else.
The Last Time I Lied (2018)
In Riley Sager’s thriller, the last time Emma saw her friends Vivian, Natalie, and Allison was at Camp Nightingale, after a game of Two Truths and a Lie. They snuck out into the darkness—and never came back.
Now, in The Last Time I Lied, years after this teenage mystery occurred, Emma is a rising star in New York’s art scene, painting massive canvases with imagery reminiscent of her traumatic past. When the artwork catches the attention of Camp Nightingale’s wealthy owner, she offers Emma a job as a painting instructor on the newly reopened campus. Determined to overcome her guilt and anxiety, Emma agrees. But as cryptic clues about the site’s origin begin to emerge, she’ll have to work fast to discover what really happened to her bunkmates—before it’s too late.
Lock Every Door (2019)
Jules Larsen must follow three rules when apartment sitting at the Bartholomew: no visitors, no nights spent away from the apartment, and no disturbing the rich and famous residents. When her fellow apartment sitter, Ingrid, warns her that the high-profile Manhattan building is not what it seems, she thinks nothing of it. Until the next day, when Ingrid disappears from the premises.
Determined to dig up the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules must excavate the Batholomew’s dirty past—even when that means racing to identify a killer. Will she be able to escape? Find out in Riley Sager’s thriller, Lock Every Door.
Home Before Dark (2020)
Riley Sager’s thriller, Home Before Dark, takes “haunted house” to another level! Twenty-five years ago, Maggie Holt and her parents fled Vermont’s Baneberry Hall in the middle of the night. The supernatural events of the evening may be fuzzy for Maggie, but her father’s memoir, House of Horrors, became a worldwide phenomenon.
She doesn’t believe a word he wrote—after all, ghosts don’t exist. When she returns to Baneberry Hall to renovate and sell it after his death, the locals aren’t happy with their forced fame—especially those with starring roles in the book. As Maggie starts to experience strange happenings, the dark truths come out about the house’s history, challenging everything she knew to be true.
Survive the Night (2021)
In Riley Sager’s book, Survive the Night, after meeting at the campus ride board, Charlie Jordan and Josh Baxter decide to share the long drive home to Ohio. Charlie, reeling after the shocking murder of her best friend, the third victim of the Campus Killer, and Josh, heading back to care for his sick father, are eager to get home. But the longer she sits in his passenger seat, the more holes begin appearing in Josh’s stories. Could she be trapped in a car with the Campus Killer? Is she next?
The House Across the Lake (2022)
Attempting to escape her recent bad press, recently widowed actress Casey Fletcher has resigned herself to her family’s Vermont lake house. Bored with nothing but a pair of binoculars and bottles of bourbon, she spends her days watching the glamorous couple living across the lake, Tom, a tech inventor, and Katherine, a former model. After saving Katherine from drowning and getting to know the couple even more, it becomes clear their marriage isn’t as perfect as it was at first glance. Especially when Katherine vanishes out of thin air.
Will Casey be able to piece together the puzzle? See for yourself in Riley Sager’s book, The House Across the Lake!
The Only One Left (2023)
The Hope family murders shocked the people of Maine in 1929. Most people assumed 17-year-old Lenora was responsible—though the detectives never proved it. Other than her initial denial, she has never set foot outside the cliffside mansion where the murders occurred, nor has she spoken publicly about that night.
In Riley Sager’s thriller, The Only One Left, it’s 1983, and the new home-health aide, Kit McDeere, has arrived to assist the now wheelchair-confined and mute Lenora. It could just be like any regular job—if you ignore the fact that her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. But when Lenora types out “I want to tell you everything,” and the two begin compiling notes about what went down leading up to the massacre, it becomes clear there’s much more to the story than people know—and her new patient is far more dangerous than she first thought.
Middle of the Night (2024)
Years ago, on Hemlock Circle, ten-year-old Ethan Marsh and his best friend, Billy, fell asleep in a tent on the lawn. By the morning, the tent was sliced open, and Billy was gone, never to be seen again.
Three decades later, in Riley Sager’s thriller, Middle of the Night, Ethan has returned to the scene of the crime. But late at night, plagued by insomnia, he starts noticing that someone seems to be roaming the cul-de-sac, leaving behind signs of Billy. Is it a cruel prank? Or did his pal somehow return, ready to tell his tale?
Determined to get to the bottom of it, Ethan begins investigating that fateful night. But the closer he gets, the more he realizes that no place, even the suburbs, is ever really safe.
With a Vengeance (2025)
It’s 1954, and Anna Matheson, armed with a list of names and a hardened heart, is boarding a luxury overnight train bound for Chicago. During the height of World War II, six people ruined her family’s life. Now, she has them right where she wants them: trapped aboard.
The plan is simple: confront the people who destroyed her happiness, uncover damaging secrets, and ensure justice is waiting for her enemies at the end of the track. But everything goes awry when one passenger is found dead before dawn. Clearly, in Riley Sager’s thriller, With a Vengeance, Anna isn’t the only one seeking revenge. Who will make it to the final stop alive?
The Unknown (2026)
Releasing on August 4th, 2026, The Unknown, Riley Sager’s latest book, is sure to take your breath away! In 1926, five women who made up a commune of spiritual mediums famously disappeared from the remote island of New Avalon in Vermont. The only trace of them? Five dresses hang from the branches of a tree in the middle of the island. The theories vary: some say they left, some say they were murdered, and others claim that a séance conjured something supernatural that hunted them down…one by one.
Now, struggling actress Marin Keane and her hotshot castmates and crew have arrived to make a major motion picture about the local mystery. But after strange noises, mysterious symbols, and a sudden health emergency, it becomes clear—the disappearances are beginning again. Can Marin figure out how to keep history from repeating?
Is Riley Sager a Pseudonym?
Real thriller fans will know that Riley Sager is a pen name! The man behind the noms de plume, Todd Ritter, adopted a new name when he pivoted to the psychological thriller genre, hoping to avoid his current work being associated with previous titles. We’re all for this fresh start! If you get through all of Riley Sager’s books and want to keep going, check out his other novels at your local bookstore.
Books Written by Todd Ritter:
- Death Notice
- Bad Moon
- Devil’s Night
Give yourself a thrill and pick up a Riley Sager book today! Swing by Novel—we’re always happy to help.