While this wasn’t my favorite Sager book it was still very good. Let’s review.
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
- Category – Suspense Mystery Thriller
- Length – 371 Pages
- Read Time – 6 Days
- GR Rating – 4.5 Stars
Spoiler less review because Riley Sager’s books deserve to be enjoyed as the story unravels!
This story centers around Emma Davis, a young woman who experienced a traumatic & tragic mystery as a teen at summer camp. The events of that night slowly unravel for us as the story progresses, revealing many lies told about the events that transpired.
What seems to be an opportunity for a therapeutic experience quickly turns into another summer nightmare.
Fifteen years after that summer, & the subsequent closure of the camp, Camp Nightingale is ready to reopen for another summer of teenaged fun. Franny, the wealthy owner, invites Emma to be a camp instructor, teaching the youth art for the grand opening season. Feeling like this might be her chance to find closure with the past so that she can really move forward with her life Emma accepts.
From the very moment she arrives, nothing feels right about her being at Camp Nightingale again.
The story unfolds for us on an alternating timeline, we jump back & forth between Emma’s past stay at camp & the present. Learning what really happened fifteen years ago & then having it tied into what’s happening in the present. The story itself is pretty fast paced, no time is being wasted, the plot begins at sun up & waits for no one! Simultaneously the mystery unravels slowly, taking its time to reveal itself, because while there is a lot going on in the present, the mystery is really in the past & so we must wait for it to be revealed to us.
I will say Emma was quite oblivious which I found extremely annoying, some things were just glaringly obvious & yet it would take her days to put two & two together. I guess in her defense I’ll say she definitely wasn’t the only character with questionable reasoning skills. Reopening the door to someone who previously almost ruined your life is most definitely a questionable choice. Emma was there for answers, to try to find closure with the events of the past & she was viewing the situation thru a traumatized lens, I try to give grace. This story is full of unreliable characters, it’s impossible to try to guess what’s what because everyone seems to be withholding something, including Emma.
While this book is set in the 2010’s it’s so reminiscent of 1980’s teen scream horror & of course has the signature shocking twist ending I expect from Sager. Happy reading, as always thank you for joining me for another review.
Hasta la próxima – V
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