Hey, it’s Diego.

This week, I read The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

One of the downsides of actually reading the books before I write a review each week is that sometimes I miss a week. As such, I missed the Halloween deadline.

Fear not (or do), my Top Scary Thrillers are coming in this week.

And when I say scary, I mean those thrillers that, if pushed a little further, could become horror stories. Just dipping our toes into the unknown, mentions of evil presences, of watching eyes, the oppression that comes with them. But still firmly remaining on the side of thrillers.

First time reading? Sign up here.

_{* This email contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you.}

Top Scary Thrillers

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

At the top of every list of horror-esque domestic thrillers, I assume, is this supernatural thriller.

In Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, we follow Mallory, a recovering addict who gets a fresh start as a nanny for Teddy, a sweet 5-year-old boy living with his parents in a quiet suburban neighborhood. What starts as a seemingly perfect arrangement quickly takes a sinister turn when Teddy's drawings shift from innocent scribbles to eerie, detailed depictions of violence. Mallory is left questioning whether these drawings are tied to the house’s dark past or something even more chilling.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

When a couple, aiming to save their marriage, retreats to a remote Scottish chapel for a weekend getaway, what starts as an attempt at reconciliation spirals into a chilling game of secrets, lies, and survival.

I found the writing of Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney atmospheric and suspenseful. The story has some small elements of horror, as most of it takes place in a remote setting, which I think works really well, especially at the beginning of the story. The tone is unsettling, but the themes of the book are light, so enough to disrupt your sleep routine if you read at night, but not enough to induce nightmares.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

A group of characters finds themselves on a remote island to celebrate a wedding when a storm hits the island. With the power cut off, in the middle of a dark night, they find a body and try to survive the night.

This one is mostly a drama with characters having shared pasts between them, secrets they don’t want others to know about. The whole book takes place in two days, and the in-between chapters build towards the ending of the book during the last night. Those in-between chapters really touch on the horror aspect.

And the newest addition to the list:

The Only One Left by Riley Sager (A Review)

The Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. Although most people assumed the only surviving member, seventeen-year-old Lenora, was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit arrives at a decaying Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred, to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager is a domestic thriller set in a cliffside mansion.

Sager’s writing is incredible. The closest I’ve read to literature in the thriller genre. Dialogue flows naturally, and descriptions are vivid. It starts slow but ramps up soon enough. I read the whole thing in two days.

We follow Kit, a disgraced caregiver who lost her last patient due to negligence, through a single timeline with in-between chapters from Lenora’s past. Although police were not able to prove any wrongdoing, nobody trusts her to care for anyone. Except for the Hope estate, which also finds it difficult to find help for Lenora, now in her seventies. Kit becomes obsessed with Lenora’s past, and they form a conflicting relationship while Kit tries to find out what happened to Lenora’s previous nurse.

Kit is a proactive character who moves the plot along. There is plenty to like about the atmosphere and the conflicting characters. The house is creepy and claustrophobic, and we get a sense that there may be an evil presence within it.

The only issue I had with this book, and the reason it didn’t make my best reads of the year, was that towards the 60-70% mark of this book, there is a series of rapid-fire twists that left me confused and thinking that most of the actions from other characters made no sense.

There is no romance, no swearing, and no scenes of graphic violence.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

The confusion from the previous twists (mostly) dissipates during the ending when things are explained better, but I’m still trying to untangle it all in my head almost a week later. There is a good denouement where we find out the fate of all the characters.

The Only One Left is a superbly written, scary thriller story with a convoluted plot that would make a perfect read on a dark night. I recommend it to anyone who wants complex plotting, beautiful writing, and a haunting location.

This Week’s Update

• In All Her Fault, Sarah Snook stars as Marissa, a woman living every parent’s worst nightmare. When she goes to collect her five-year-old son, Milo, from a playdate, she is stunned to find there was no playdate, and her son has vanished. It’s a miniseries that premiered on November 6th on Peacock.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— Diego Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!