The day is finally here: SURVIVE THE NIGHT, the highly-anticipated new thriller by bestselling author Riley Sager, is available now—and it is entirely worth the wait. In his newest thriller, Sager invites readers into the passenger seat for a car ride you’ll never forget. The year is 1991, and college student Charlie has just accepted a ride from a stranger she met on her campus ride board. Charlie is desperate to leave school and get back home to Ohio, and Josh is heading that way, too. What could possibly go wrong? Not long after the two have departed, Charlie becomes suspicious of her traveling companion… and before the night is over, Charlie will have reason to believe that she is in the car with a serial killer. In SURVIVE THE NIGHT, Riley Sager delivers a gripping, just-one-more-page thriller that begins with a simple premise, and unfurls into one of the most memorable suspense stories of the year. SURVIVE THE NIGHT has all the key ingredients readers expect from a Sager suspense novel: an endearing, independent protagonist, a horror-movie-worthy premise, and a masterful command of plot and pacing that will keep readers glued to the pages. Add in a jaw-dropping, earth-shattering final reveal in the book’s last few pages and you’ve got yourself a surefire winner in SURVIVE THE NIGHT. Sly, immersive, and wildly original, SURVIVE THE NIGHT is Riley Sager’s best book yet.
Read More
CBTB's Frequently Recommended Supernatural-ish Mysteries & Chillers
If you had told me when I started this blog that I would someday be writing a blog post recommending a few of my personal favorite crime books with some supernatural elements to them, I would have never believed you. I used to be staunchly opposed to crime books with any supernatural touches, but as time has gone on, and thanks to the work of very talented authors including Yrsa Sigurdardottir, C.J. Tudor, and many more, I’ve not only become open to books in this category… I’ve actually begun actively seeking them out. While I think it will always be important to me as a reader that the crime novels I read, even the supernatural-ish ones, have an earthly, logical solution to the mysteries at their core, I’ve come to discover just how much fun a thriller with a dash of the supernatural can be. Today, I’m so excited to share a roundup of my frequently recommended supernatural-ish mysteries and thrillers! Some of these books have true supernatural elements to them, while in others, the supernatural is more of a suggestion or a question to be answered over the course of the story. No matter what, all of these books have an extra-creepy edge to them that will have you reading with all the lights on. To help you guide you through this list and narrow down which books might be of interest to you, I’ve divvied this list up into three categories: Ghosts & Haunted Houses, Folklore & The Occult, and Possessions & Inexplicable Events. The books in this list exemplify that delicious blend of earthly mystery and supernatural touches that I’ve come to love so much, and I’m so excited to share this rundown of books in this category that I recommend most frequently with you today! Grab your coziest blanket, turn on all the lights, and dive in to my frequently-recommended supernatural-ish mysteries & thrillers.
Read More
CBTB's Halloween 2020 Reading List
Friends, it’s the most wonderful time of year: spooky season!! Halloween is my favorite time of year (yes, I consider it a time of year—not just a single day!), and it’s the perfect time to cozy up with an extra-chilling crime, suspense, or thriller read. I’m so excited to share with you a blog post that has been quite a while in the making: my Halloween 2020 Reading List! While many (if not most!) of the books I read and cover here on Crime by the Book could fit on a Halloween reading list, the books I’ve chosen for this blog post have that little something extra that will make each of them perfect for Halloween reading (think: ghosts, supernatural sightings, extra-creepy villains, and more!). Dive on in and find your perfect Halloween read!
Read More
Book Review: HOME BEFORE DARK by Riley Sager
Riley Sager has done it again. The New York Times bestselling author of LOCK EVERY DOOR, THE LAST TIME I LIED, and FINAL GIRLS is back this summer with another irresistible work of chilling psychological suspense—and it’s his best, and most ambitious, book yet. HOME BEFORE DARK is a modern-day ghost story-meets-family mystery sure to deliver all the page-turning entertainment value readers of Sager’s work have come to expect, but this time, with an extra-chilling twist. In HOME BEFORE DARK, readers follow protagonist Maggie Holt as she returns to the home her family owned—and fled—years prior, an experience that became the inspiration for her father’s bestselling nonfiction book, House of Horrors. There’s just one problem: Maggie doesn’t believe a word of what her father has written about her childhood, and she’s determined to prove that this storied home is nothing more than a dilapidated house in need of some TLC. But as Maggie settles into the house, events unfold that defy logic—and begin to call into question all that Maggie believed (or didn’t believe) about her family’s ordeal years prior. Ghosts aren’t real… are they? HOME BEFORE DARK will make you think twice. Blending a chilling present-day mystery of family secrets with a glimpse into the book that defined Maggie’s childhood, House of Horrors, HOME BEFORE DARK is as masterfully-plotted and relentlessly readable a thriller as you’ll read this summer. So turn on all the lights in your room, double-check that your closet is as empty as you think it is, and dive into the spine-tingling world of Riley Sager’s HOME BEFORE DARK.
Read More