The Only One Left

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The Only One Left

by Riley Sager

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Marked as "to-read" on: 2024-11-24

Finished on: 2025-01-12

This is one of my favorite books!

Spoilers might be present from this point on

My thoughts

Ok, so this book was pretty awesome.

It’s a horror / mystery / murder thriller that has plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge.

In this story you’re following Kit McDeere who got assigned to take care of the elderly Lenora Hope - Lenora, who was accused of MURDERING her parents and sister back in her teenage years, is now paralyzed and unable to use her voice.

Most of the action takes place inside or around the house where Lenora lives. The house sits on a hill near the ocean, with direct view of it. Step out of the house and you’re right on the edge of the cliff that overlooks the ocean. People could fall in…

I keep saying “house”, but it’s actually a mansion beaten up by time and past its glory days.

The atmosphere of the book reminds me of the song “An English Garden” (In the rain version) of Sol Invictus. Or I think this song goes well with the vibe of the book.

Here are some lyrics to make my case.

Something moved and someone called
Why is it hollow beneath the stones?
Why is Mother crying on her own?

Kit starts to hear strange noises from the first night as a caregiver, and oddly enough it’s from Lenora’s room.

There is a secret room, and there is a Mother crying.

The servants stare then look away
Why has the hall clock suddenly stopped?
Why are the French windows always locked?

There are no locked French windows, but there are rooms that remain locked. Rooms that tell horrific stories.

Why was the governess sent away?
Why won’t any of the servants stay?

Oh boy, you’re going to find out. It ain’t gonna be pretty.

Also Kit, do you know about your father?

Yeah, I don’t want to spoil too much. As you get into the second part of the book, bombshells start dropping on you regarding how the storylines of the characters intertwine.

Description

This description is grabbed from Google Books or Goodreads

At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.