Tag / Riley Sager

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Prolific Authors – Eight Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today with the four authors I’ve read eight times, one fewer than two years ago.

Peter David

The prolific comic book writer, who passed away earlier this year, shows up mostly with Star Trek: The Next Generation novels that I read in high school, with only two of his total coming from this century.

Sunburn – Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman

After a five year wait for Lippman’s second back to cross my eyes, she has jumped up considerably these past two years.

Jennifer McMahon

After feeling unimpressed after finishing my first of her works, Dismantled, in 2010, I eventually gave her another try, and she has been a consistent presence ever since.

Riley Sager

One of my newer favorites, I’ve read all of his novels as they’ve been released annually since 2017’s Final Girls through this year’s With a Vengeance, which will count towards the next list.

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Book 40 (of 52) – With A Vengeance

With A Vengeance – Riley Sager

In 1954, a young woman rents a train, once owned by her father, to gain retribution against those she blames for the downfall of her family.  Once onboard, however, she finds that there is someone else on board, someone who has their own agenda and is planning to pick off the passengers one by one.  As the train ride continues through the night on its way to Chicago, can she unmask the killer before everyone else is dead?

Riley Sager switches things up with his latest outing, With a Vengeance.  He ditches the possible supernatural elements he has toyed with for his last couple of novels and instead heads back in time, to the early days of World War II and its aftermath on his characters into the mid 1950s.  With nine books in as many years, Sager has certainly become a reliable and annual presence on my bookshelf.

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Book 46 (of 52) – Middle Of The Night

Middle of the Night – Riley Sager

When his best friend Billy mysteriously disappeared in the middle of the night during a backyard campout, it changes Ethan’s life in ways he cannot begin to describe.  Thirty years later, he’s back living in his childhood home and, while having trouble sleeping, he feels a presence that he thinks may be Billy, followed by a clue in his backyard pointing towards Billy.  When Billy’s remains are found soon after, showing he died that night 30 years earlier, Ethan goes through many steps trying to figure out what happened that night, no matter the cost to him or his friends.

Middle of the Night, the latest offering from Riley Sager, continues to tease with the supernatural before explaining away most everything by the end.  I had pegged who was “haunting” Ethan early on, but didn’t key in on who the actual killer was.  With eight books in as many years for Sager, he shows no signs of slowing down.

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Prolific Authors – 7 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since I’ve far surpassed my “normal” reading output the last three years, I thought it would be nice to once again take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through the start of October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  We continue today with the five authors I’ve read seven times, up five since 2021.

Michael Crichton

The prolific author, who died in 2008, first entered my bookshelf in 1989, when I was assigned to read The Andromeda Strain as part of my high school Biology class.  He continued to be a big part of my 90s reading, but has only added a single title, Airframe, in this century.

John Grisham

The former attorney, who I first read in 1993 with his smash hit The Firm, returned to my attention after a nine-year absence in 2022 thanks to The Judge’s List.

Jennifer McMahon

After feeling unimpressed after finishing my first of her works, Dismantled, in 2010, I eventually gave her another try and she has been a consistent presence ever since.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling

All seven entries in the Harry Potter series, which I read in 2016, make up Rowling’s total.  She continues to write under a pen name, so she may, one day, end up on this list twice.

Riley Sager

One of my newer favorites, I’ve read all of his novels as they’ve been released annually since 2017’s Final Girls through this year’s The Only One Left.

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Book 34 (of 52) – The Only One Left

The Only One Left – Riley Sager

Kit, a caregiver accused of killing her own mother, gets a new job caring for the town’s most famous resident: Leonora Hope, also accused of murdering her whole family 50 years earlier.  The mystery of the Hope murders only deepens when the previous caregiver, thought to have left in the middle of the night, is found dead on the beach below the cliff where the manor resides.  Can Kit get to the bottom the mystery before she, or the house itself, befalls the same fate?

The Only One Left is the latest offering from Riley Sager.  In this outing, he pulls back on the supernatural aspects somewhat, and those that remain all get explained away by the end.  The setting this time is the mid-80s, with some forays back into the late 1920s, when the original murders took place.  The last reveal felt a little forced, especially since some ages needed to be explained in order to make the timeline work, but it was an overall good mystery.  This now makes seven books in as many years for Sager, who shows no signs of slowing down.

 

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Book 35 (of 52) – The House Across The Lake

The House Across The Lake – Riley Sager

A semi-famous actress, banished to the family lake house due to her drinking following the death of her husband the year before, gets enmeshed in the lives of the former supermodel and her tech mogul husband across the lake. When she spies upon them having a fight and, the next morning, the wife goes missing, she assumes the worst. But, she’s about to find out that the worst has yet to come. In order to save the day, she will need to face her demons, both physical and metaphorical.

For the third year in a row, I’ve finished Riley Sager’s latest offering, The House Across The Lake being this year’s entry, while out of state on vacation.  This time, he leans firmly into the supernatural while telling a compelling story about an otherwise tired story of the busybody spying on the couple across the street/lake/whatever and seeing the wife seemingly disappear.  Sager has become a reliable and annual presence on my bookshelf and I look forward to what he has to offer next year.

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Prolific Authors Wrap Up

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 77 authors I’ve read more than once.

Largest Increase (since 2019)

The Knife Slipped – Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner – 5
Jeffrey Deaver – 3
Karin Slaughter – 3
Tom Perrotta – 3
Riley Sager – 2
Greer Hendricks – 2
Sarah Pekkanen – 2

Largest Increase (since 2011)

Deadly Heat – Richard Castle

Richard Castle – 13
Jeffrey Deaver – 10
Erle Stanley Gardner – 9
J.K. Rowling – 7
Mary Kubica – 6
David Mack – 6
Karin Slaughter – 6

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Prolific Authors – 5 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the 8 authors I’ve read 5 times.

Death’s Daughter – Amber Benson

Amber Benson

The actress checks in with the five entries in her Calliope Reaper-Jones series.

Diane Carey

A stalwart of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel line, she added a new one, Red Sector, last year after a 23 year absence.

Jeff Mariotte

His two most recent entries come from the long-ignored (by me) Angel series of novels.

Promise Not To Tell – Jennifer McMahon

Jennifer McMahon

After feeling unimpressed after finishing my first of her works, Dismantled, in 2010, I eventually gave her another try and have found them much more engaging.

Yvonne Navarro

All five of her works that I’ve read revisit the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe.

Final Girls – Riley Sager

Riley Sager

One of my new favorites, I’ve read all of his novels, including the recently released Survive The Night.

William Shatner

The actor best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek checks in with his efforts, whatever they may have been, both with his TekWar series and on two Star Trek novels.

Scott Turow

The Chicago-based lawyer should be moving up shortly, as his latest is sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

by jim

Book 32 (of 52) – Survive The Night

Survive The Night – Riley Sager

Survive The Night, the latest from Riley Sager, tells the story of Charlie, a college student who blames herself for the death of her roommate and best friend at the hands of the campus serial killer.  Looking to escape, she accepts a ride from a stranger to go back home to Ohio, leaving college behind, but comes to believe that he is the killer, coming to finish her off before she can identify him.  Nothing is what it seems, especially in Charlie’s mind, and before long, her world, what little of it she has left, is turned upside down.

This the second straight year I’ve finished Sager’s latest book while out of state on vacation.  Unfortunately, that may mean that I’m becoming too familiar with his work, as I was able to see a few of the twists here coming.  The story also takes place in 1991, primarily, I assume, because cell phones would have made this tale about a chapter or two long.  I still look forward to what Sager comes up with next, but I hope it works for me just a little better than this one did.

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Book 16 (of 52) – Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark – Riley Sager

Home Before Dark, the latest from Riley Sager, Maggie Holt returns to the site of her family’s biggest secrets in order to learn the truth, about her childhood, her parents, and the book that sat between them.  After her father’s death, she inherits the home they lived in for 3 weeks when she was a child, the one her parents claimed was haunted and drove them away.  Hoping to find out the truth about what happened and prove the book that defined her life was a fraud, she finds that her father just may have been telling the truth.  As she tries to battle the ghosts of her past, she finds some new ghosts which threaten to take her sanity, if not her freedom.

In his fourth novel in as many years, Sager continues to explore the theme of an isolated young woman trying to make sense of the past.  I’ve yet to be disappointed by his work and look forward to whatever comes next from him.