The Last Time I Lied

Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Suspense
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Dutton (Penguin Group)
First Published: July 3, 2018
First Line: "This is how it begins."

Book Description from GoodReads: Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it's immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: With The Last Time I Lied, Riley Sager has written an enticing, dark and riveting thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Set at Camp Nightingale, an all-girls summer sleep-away camp, readers will quickly become enmeshed in the secrets and lies of this complex psychological thriller.

The story is told in present day and uses flashbacks to the summer 15 years earlier when Emma was one of the campers during Camp Nightingale's final summer. The same summer when Emma's three cabinmates went missing and were never found. Now Emma, a professional artist, has returned to the newly reopened camp as an art instructor, with the goal of figuring out what happened to her teenage friends.

This was a great read. It has a good pace, numerous red herrings and some fantastic twists that left me muttering 'Oh, you got me, Riley Sager. Well played!' Finding an author who can still surprise this avid suspense reader is definitely one to keep an eye on.

This was my first book by Sager but will not be my last. I plan to pick up his book, Final Girls, as soon as possible. If you're looking for a great psychological, atmospheric thriller that teasingly reveals its secrets, includes dark twists and some edge-of-your-seat scenes, you'll want to pick up this book.