Thursday Thriller Audio: The Only One Left by Riley Sager

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Penguin Audio (June 20, 2023)

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Narrators: Dawn Harvey, Christine Lakin

Ooh, this one was a doozy! Riley Sager spins a thrilling gothic tale with The Only One Left which was equal parts mystery and heart-stopping action.

It is 1983, and home healthcare aide Kit McDeere is desperate for work following a scandal which resulted in her being suspended by her agency and investigated by the police. Even though she was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, the damage had already been done. With her name tarnished, Kit has no choice but to take on a particularly difficult assignment from her old employer, even if the very idea of it makes her sick to her stomach.

Perched on a rocky cliff overlooking the Atlantic is a dilapidated mansion known as Hope’s End. Its owner, 71-year-old Lenora Hope is paralyzed and does not speak, requiring round-the-clock care. However, back in 1929, she made headlines when her mother, father, and sister were found murdered in the very same house. A teenager at the time, Lenora was the sole survivor—and the prime suspect. Though she claimed she didn’t do it, and the evidence wasn’t strong enough to convict her, everyone who knew of the murders believed Lenora to be the culprit. As with Lizzie Borden, they even made a catchy little rhyme about her.

It is this very same chant that is running through Kit’s mind as she makes her way to Hope’s End to meet the infamous Lenora Hope. But as it turns out, her client is nothing like she expected. Day after day, our protagonist gradually bonds with the elderly woman, and even starts to see parallels between their two lives. After all, like Kit, Lenora avoided prosecution but was presumed guilty by the world.

Still, while there is a possibility that Lenora is innocent, there are still too many things that don’t line up. For one, the timing of the job seemed suspicious. Lenora’s last caregiver, Mary, was supposedly very fond of her, so then why did she give up the job and leave so abruptly? With Lenora paralyzed, who does Kit hear moving around in the old woman’s room at night? And why is the household manager, Mrs. Baker, so strangely strict about the rules where Lenora is concerned?

By the way, all of this is even before the body is discovered. After that, it’s a nonstop nail-biter with far more surprises than I was expecting.

In fact, in most thriller reviews, you might see one of two big twists being discussed, to which Riley Sager comes in with “Those are rookie numbers!” Seriously, there are just SO. MANY. TWISTS. Too many, perhaps? Contrary to popular belief, I do think it’s a possibility, and at some point, the law of diminishing returns applies. While one great twist can be immensely satisfying, a series of them can do more harm than good especially if they completely transform an ending from believable to ridiculous. This definitely happened here, and I think The Only One Left would have been a much better book had Sager quit while he was ahead and didn’t try so hard to cram in twists #4, #5, #6, etc.

Still, what a crazy whirlwind of a thriller! While the ending might have gone off the rails a little, I nonetheless had so much fun with this one. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a book that you just can’t put down, as long as you don’t mind suspending your disbelief a little—or a lot. It’s also wonderfully propulsive in the audio format narrated by Dawn Harvey and Christine Lakin who take on the roles of Kit and Lenora. My favorite book by the author yet!