The Only One Left

The Only One Left

2023 • 397 pages

Ratings288

Average rating3.9

15

I basically freaked out over the release of this cover. It's clear riff on/nod to And Then There Were None both in cover and name—And the complementary colors? A favorite cover this year for sure. 
The novel features the recently accused/first person perspective of Kit, a care giver out of options. So when her boss sends her to the Hope's cliff mansion, she has no choice but to agree. The place has a dark past, the kind of past that gets altered over generations. Now their story's little more than a schoolyard chant, Kit didn't even know that Lenora was actually alive. Lenora is entirely reliant on her caregivers, but she does have one working hand that she can use to communicate... and type. 
I really enjoyed this story. It is a slow burn, but the revelations and chapter endings keep you going. There is a slight level of creepiness, but it doesn't go supernatural. A mansion on a slowly crumbling ocean cliff is a great setting. 
It does suffer a bit from what I've said about several other recent thrillers, where there is just so much thrown in. But Sager does handle it very well. Additionally, I was a bit held up because I feel like it really is like 60-80 pages longer than it needed to be. 
Personally a 4.5/5*, not bad at all for my second Sager read. 

August 16, 2023