Ranking All of Riley Sager's Novels Yet Again!

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Reading Has Ruined My Life has been around for six-and-a-half years. In this time I have written many reviews, some insane hot takes, and I have ranked the books in my favorite series. But there is one post, one ranking, that trumps them all: my ranking of all of Riley Sager’s novels.

Riley Sager is my favorite contemporary author, hands down. The moment a new novel is announced, I have that book preordered. And it seems every two years I must do something very important. I must rank all his novels. The public demands it! My Riley Sager rankings are the most popular posts on my site by far. Thank you to everyone who has ever read those rankings and spent some time here on Reading Has Ruined My Life. I hope those rankings have helped you figure out which Sager novels to read.

But as two years have passed since my last ranking went live, two new titles have entered Riley Sager’s literary canon. Both With a Vengeance and The Unknown have been published thus changing my ranking. It’s time once again to revive a long dormant series: Ranking Every Book by an Author According to this Rando on the Internet!

Please note I will only be ranking works published under the name Riley Sager. Riley Sager is a pseudonym for Todd Ritter, and while I have read some of his works under his other pseudonyms, I will not be including those on this list. Riley Sager books only! Now let’s meet our contestants! Vying for the crown and title of Best Riley Sager Book According to this Rando on the Internet we have: Final Girls (2017), The Last Time I Lied (2018), Lock Every Door (2019), Home Before Dark (2020), Survive the Night (2021), The House Across the Lake (2022), The Only One Left (2023), Middle of the Night (2024), With a Vengeance (2025), and The Unknown (2026).

Now that we have meet all the contestants, what am I ranking these books on? Well this tier list is solely based on how much I liked the book or not. I will take the quality of the novel into account as well, and the likability of the characters, but this is mainly my personal preference. Don’t be upset when your favorite book isn’t mine.

Now let's get down to business and rank some books!

10. Kicking off my ranking, like always, is Lock Every Door. It’s a flop. It’s the only Sager novel I actively dislike, and the only one I refuse to reread. By the halfway point of the book there are two possibilities for how the story may end, one supernatural and one grounded in reality. The possibility I don’t like is how the story ends. It’s a no from me.

9. Next up is Survive the Night. I have beef with the main character. She left her drunk friend alone at a bar when there was a serial killer actively murdering women, and her friend became the killer’s next victim. You do not leave your drunk friend alone at a bar period! I don’t care how pissed off you are at them, you make sure she gets home even if you have to drag her home! Can’t get behind the main character after that.

8. In the number eight spot is With a Vengeance. With a Vengeance is just blah. It takes inspiration from two of Agatha Christie’s most famous novels: And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. Both are better reads than With a Vengeance. It’s a big ole nothing burger. Before rereading this one for today’s post, I couldn’t tell you anything about it other than it’s the Riley Sager train novel. After rereading it, I can say that Riley Sager was throwing too many twists in at the end of the novel.

7. Final Girls takes the number 7 spot. Final Girls is a very respectable debut novel. I simply feel nothing towards it. It’s neutral. It’s Switzerland.

6. The House Across the Lake is up next. This novel is one best read twice in a row. The main twist of this novel threw me through a loop during my initial read and it wasn’t an enjoyable time. My brain simply did not compute what was going on. That said, as I knew what the twist was on my second read, I was prepared thus allowing for a more enjoyable read. There are tons more Sager books I would rather read though.

5. Middle of the Night is next. I, at the risk of sounding like a terrible person, can’t get enough of the psychological torment the main character goes through. What the main character goes through is very real and very raw. His trauma is the best part of the novel. That said, the mystery is mid. How fitting that it’s in the middle spot.

4. Final four! The newest Riley Sager read, The Unknown, finds itself taking this spot. The Unknown really has me saying, “I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs.” I was especially enthralled by the historical mystery, I found it so incredibly tragic with the final reveal. This is definitely not the best Sager novel, but it is one I am primed to enjoy. Spooks, a 100-year-old unsolved mystery, Spiritualism, a hungry artist as the main character: essentially it’s me, but in book form. I had very high hopes for this read, and while The Unknown didn’t fully meet them, I did enjoy this read. I find it to be the spiritual successor to Things Half in Shadow. That said, the reveal of what's going on in the present day story line is way too heavy handed.

3. And next up is The Last Time I Lied. This is a staple read for me when it comes to Sager’s novels. When I do my Riley Sager rereads, I’m not skipping this one. It is one I will highly recommend to those just getting into Riley Sager. And honestly, you can’t go wrong with a camp setting when it comes to thrillers.

2. In the penultimate spot: Home Before Dark. Shocking, I know. For years this has been my favorite Sager novel. I love gothic haunted house tales more than life itself. Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House is my comfort show. I adore Home Before Dark. Truly it’s one of my comfort reads. But, this book released in 2020 and I know every beat of the book by heart. The shock and awe this read gives me is not the same as it once was. I still love and adore this book, will always love and adore this book, but I know the twists too well at this point.

1. And finally, in the top spot, is The Only One Left! The twists still shock me. That is what pushed The Only One Left above Home Before Dark for me. I know this book well, yet I’m at the edge of my seat every single time I read it. The gripping, gothic atmosphere is a big plus as well. Also, I love the scandalous gossip in this novel. That’s pretty much all this book is about. Historical gossip is so much fun. (Side note, I highly recommend reading Madame Bovary if you want to read messy, historical drama!) On top of all that, The Only One Left boasts my favorite Riley Sager character. Lenora Hope is a multifaceted character, and I don’t know if I want to hug and protect her or keep her at arm’s length at all times. So many secrets, so many half-truths, Lenora is keeping both readers and book characters guessing about everything going on.

Also, I recreated the Books&Lewks I did when The Only One Left first released. The full video of me creating this look is up on Reading Has Ruined My Life’s Instagram!

Thus endeth our list! Congrats to The Only One Left for taking the title of Best Riley Sager Novel According to this Rando of the Internet! A new winner has finally taken the crown!

Enjoy your crown, The Only One Left.

And thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you all had a lovely time here, but I now must bid you adieu. I will see you all again next week with another great post. If you can’t wait that long then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can see all my recent Books&Lewks creations! You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. I highly recommend listening to our weird history episodes. They are always such a treat to record. Nothing to See Hear can currently be found on Spotify and YouTube with new episodes releasing every Wednesday evening.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!