A review by seawarrior
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Home Before Dark is an engaging read that glued me to its pages, but began to lose my suspension of disbelief near the end. The title is narrated by the text of the notorious House of Horrors and the inner thoughts of its now grown feature character Maggie Holt, who lived her life in the shadow of her father's writing. Early on it becomes obvious that we're not reading a story of a haunting, but rather one of a series of lies that spirals into a decades old "whodunnit". Sager presents just the right amount of description for us to richly imagine Baneberry Hall without losing momentum in the plot, or creating something that felt like a drudgery to read. Yet to me, the ending twists were more annoying than satisfying, as the sheer amount of them seemed unnecessary and almost silly. I would still recommend this book to others who enjoy a mystery novel that it almost effortless to read. There was never a period where reading this book felt tedious, and I repeatedly looked forward to spending more time with it. 
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