Storytelling vs Writing: An analysis of Riley Sager's Novels

Or, The Case of the Sexy Handyman

If you’re a fan of thrillers you’ve heard of Riley Sager, a prolific writer who has released a novel every year since 2017 like clockwork. With seven best-sellers under his belt—his eighth book slated to release this summer—the author’s writing should be developing over time, breaking boundaries and flipping the murder-mystery trope on its head. Instead his novels are formulaic; devoid of solid plot and character development but replaced with a break-neck fast-paced speed to keep the reader engaged and chock-full of plot twists, even if they don’t make a lick of sense. I’ve broken down Sager’s formula into three parts to argue that he isn’t successful because he’s a talented writer but because he is an excellent storyteller.

FORMULA 1: Sad Female Protagonist

She might have a fun, feminine hobby (like baking or painting). Or perhaps a fun, feminine career (actress or caretaker). She probably has a dead parent or two (or at least a strained relationship with them), and little to no friends. And she is definitely sad and troubled and hiding a dark, terrible secret.

Riley Sager is a gender-neutral non de plume for Todd Ritter, a male author who has exclusively written books in the female perspective thus far. With his pseudonymous debut Final Girl, he successfully fooled me into thinking I had picked up a book by a new, female author. But his sophomore release The Last Time I Lied is when I figured his out his ruse. The way the main character spoke about colors (i.e: “I dipped my brush into a lovely chartreuse, followed by puce and then scarlet”) reads how men believe women speak about colors. Sager’s protagonists are nearly identical to each other in terms of writing style. Yes, they have new names and quirky hobbies and he has slightly skewed their tragic backstories but their inner monologue is all the same.

FORMULA 2: Hot Handyman

Despite none of his novels being romances, there is a pseudo love interest in each book. He is always a blue-collar worker in his thirties and noticeably in great shape. The Hot Handyman is there to either be a red herring or the culprit himself. The Sad Female Protagonist either A) Accuses Hot Handyman of murder but later finds out he’s innocent or B) Doesn’t suspect Hot Handyman of murder but later finds out he’s indeed guilty.

In order our Hot Handymen have had the following careers: Police Officer, Camp Counselor, Doctor, Handyman, Bounty Hunter, Handyman (again), and Groundskeeper (which is just a fancy way of saying Handyman).

FORMULA 3: A Lot of Plot Twists

The first five of Sager’s books have had predictable endings. There are never enough characters to not be able to guess who the bad guy is. In Survive the Night, Charlie is in a car with Josh, a man who she believes to be the Campus Killer (the serial killer who murdered her best friend). Josh (The Handsome Handyman) is either the murderer or he’s not. With the plot being contingent on Charlie (and the reader) believing Josh is the Campus Killer the only way Sager can surprise the audience is by revealing that Josh isn’t the killer. Then who is? The only other character in the book is Charlie’s boyfriend, Robbie (who not so coincidentally hated her best friend). This reasoning makes the “plot twist” obvious before the halfway point of the book.

In his penultimate title The House Across the Lake, Sager subverts expectations by adding a supernatural element—making the twist almost impossible to guess. This is his most successful thriller, in my opinion. An unpredictable reveal that doesn’t feel unprecedented—the clues were in plain sight, but if you weren’t expecting magical realism you wouldn’t have picked them up.

His most recent release, The Only One Left, is where Sager is most ambitious in terms of plot twists, but also the least successful. Kit McDeere becomes a caregiver to Lenora Hope, a reclusive, invalid elderly woman living in a mansion on a seaside cliff. In 1929, Lenora was accused of murdering her parents and sister. Unable to speak, but able to type, she asks Kit to help her write her story and tell the truth of what happened that night. The premise sounds like an interesting whodunit but it unfortunately doesn’t make any fucking sense.

Obviously, Lenora either murdered her parents or she didn’t. If she didn’t, then who did? The other characters in the novel include Mrs. Baker (the housekeeper), Archie (the chef), Jessie (the maid), and Carter (the Hot Handyman). Who do you think did it? Take a moment to guess.

Wrong! It turns out that Mrs. Baker is actually the real Lenora Hope, and that the woman we thought was Lenora Hope is actually her sister, Virginia Hope. Virginia’s mom, in a rage, stabbed her husband. He fought back but she eventually won, slitting his throat. Bleeding out, but dying slowly, the mother begs Virginia’s lover, Ricky, to kill her. He refuses until she berates him, calling him worthless. Suddenly irate, Ricky stabs the mother thus killing her. Virginia screams at Ricky and he leaves, never to be seen again. Ginny then attempts to kill herself, but survives. Lenora is blamed for the murders, but never convicted due to lack of evidence. She then fakes her death, impersonates their former governess Miss Baker, and forces her identity upon her sister.

By the way, Ricky is Kit’s dad! He randomly shows up at the end of the novel to silence Virginia forever—despite being mute and paralyzed on her right side. He then randomly reveals to Kit that he killed her mom. Suddenly, the spooky murder mansion starts to collapse on itself and Lenora and Ricky decide to just… let the house kill them. Virginia and Kit escape, and move into Ricky’s house. One day Virginia disappears leaving Kit a note revealing that A) She actually faked being mute and paralyzed this whole time! She made you wash her ass for absolutely no reason! And B) Jessie (remember her?) is actually Ginny’s grand-daughter and they are traveling the world together now. The end.

If you experienced whiplash reading my synopsis imagine 400 pages of this inane drivel.

Sager strikes me as an author who is well-read but not well-educated. The evidence is in his very basic prose, one-dimensional characters, loose plot structures, and absurd resolutions. Why read all seven of his books if I think he’s a poor writer? His books are fun, fast-paced, page-turners. They’re creepy but never scary and the hero always has a somewhat happy ending. His writing continues to be repetitive and formulaic because it sells.

I won’t be picking up Middle of the Night in June expecting James Joyce. I’ll expect an easy-read that I’ll finish in one sitting because I’m so curious what will happen next?!