Short Summary
Riley Sager (pen name used by Todd Ritter) has been pumping out one sensational mystery thriller after the next, and his latest one, titled The Only One Left, captured my attention with its curious premise. The story follows Kit McDeere, a home-health aide who takes a job working for a stroke-scarred seventy-year-old woman with an infamous past. One night, the woman makes Kit an offer: she promises to tell her everything about the strange and sensational murder case which happened over fifty years ago, the one she was at the very centre of as the prime suspect.
Riley Sager Digs Up Old Bones
Despite all the technological advancements the field of criminology has been able to benefit from over the course of the past century, unsolved murders still litter news headlines and morbidly capture our imagination like few other events can. They offer us a glimpse into the dark side which resides in us all, while being presented as a puzzle where you get to decide on the solution. As a matter of fact, they hold such power that they can stand the test of time for as long as we remember them, and as is the case in The Only One Left by Riley Sager, sometimes, they come floating back up to the surface.
The story begins by introducing us to a gruesome tale of murder which took place in Maine back in 1929: the Hope family murders. At the time of the tragic events, everyone believed the seventeen-year-old Lenora to have been responsible for the vile deeds, but the investigation never turned up any conclusive evidence, and eventually none were charged for the crime.
Since those days she has never publicly said a word about the killings, nor has she ever shown the desire to venture back home under any pretext. The year is now 1983, and Lenora is a wheelchair-bound seventy-year-old woman at the mercy of her own failing body. A series of strokes have rendered her mute, and she can only communicate by typing out messages on an old typewriter. She had a nurse to care for her, but for some reason, she fled in the middle of the night.
This is where home-health aide Kit McDeere enters the stage, her new replacement nurse. Not too fussy about the circumstances surrounding her employment, she tries to approach it like any other job and wants to stay away from any extracurricular detours. One night, however, Lenora pulls her into just such a detour with a simple sentence put together on her old typewriter: “I want to tell you everything.”
Though the murders might have happened decades ago, Kit can't pass up this sort of chance, and accepts to bear the burden of hearing her tale. However, the more Kit hears from Lenora, and the more she learns about the context of her predecessor's departure, the more she suspects the old woman might not be telling her the whole truth, and could very well be more dangerous than anyone realizes. After all, she was the sole survivor, wasn't she?
The Horror of Decay in The Only One Left
Like myself, I'm sure those of you who enjoy horror movies and novels have noticed the constant recurrence of various cliches, motifs and patterns used to achieve specific effects time and time again. One of the more prominent ones tools used to inspire dread into an audience happens to be decay, and I believe it's for one simple reason: it serves as a reminder of the unstoppable tides of time bound to consume us all.
How exactly is decay relayed in most movies and novels? Quite simply, and perhaps insultingly, through old people and objects. Whenever an author wants to depict an eerie setting which might suggest something foul beneath the surface, there is a good chance they will gravitate towards adding aged elements to the scene, whether they be seniors or dilapidated houses. Besides, there's just something particularly unnerving and surreal about imagining a grandmother frail as a dandelion being a bloodthirsty maniac.
In The Only One Left, I thought Riley Sager did a fantastic job with the character of Lenora. Considering the mystery surrounding her past and the potential for her to actually be a murderous maniac, the fact she is stroke-ridden and in a wheelchair doesn't make her any less terrifying. If anything, I was constantly on edge, trying to determine whether or not she was faking it, whether she was actually capable of far more than she let on.
Through her life we also get to constantly glimpse at the decay of the human body (and perhaps, the human mind, but I won't say more on this matter), and the house she lives in mirrors her condition; old, in disrepair, about to be swallowed by the sea as the cliff beneath it will inevitably crumble. Though it will be different for every reader, but I think this is the sort of topic we can all relate to in some fashion.
While it is quite obvious that she isn't going to just murder Kit at the very start, it was just about the only thing I was certain of. The author did a fantastic job at keeping the fog of mystery alive and always just a few feet in front of the reader. There are always doubts hanging in the air about Lenora's story, and they play a huge part in making the plot unpredictable.
A Whodunit Saga
Though this book did feel to me heavily overlaid in tones reminiscent of real-life horror, it would be unfair to say that's all there is to it. There are also some prominent elements of drama, and of course, mystery, mixed into the stew, to the point where I actually don't think it would be erroneous to say The Only One Left is also a whodunit mystery.
While our methods of investigation and plot development aren't exactly traditional for the genre, Riley Sager pretty much ends up framing it as such, whether on purpose or by accident, I cannot say. Most notably, as we learn more about the past an the present, we are introduced to a growing stable of memorable characters who, eventually, start turning into suspects right before our very eyes.
Deceit is layered upon deceit, lies criss-cross left and right without any obvious rhyme nor reason, and I must confess, I had a lot of fun watching this complicated web of relations and ambitions untangling before my eyes, slowly revealing the truth one layer at a time. Naturally, I won't spoil the ending, but I will say it definitely lived up to the expectations built up by the story.
The idea of the murder itself having taken place over fifty years ago and only being unravelled now is also one I personally enjoy quite a bit, for there is something incomparably fascinating about peering into a forbidden past, one whose actors thought they escaped and were forgotten. As a matter of fact, the segments where we get to see what really happened on that night in 1929 were some of my favourite moments in the entire book.
Finally, Kit McDeere, our main character, is the final thread which seals the whole package, our perfect Sherpa for this excursion into the brutal past. Quick-thinking, determined, compassionate, and most importantly, reasonable, she always acts like you would expect a regular human being to. The book is told from her point of view, and not once did I wish to have any other narrator for this. After all, when faced with such a grim tale, it's always a good policy to leave some room for the light of human kindness to shine through.
The Final Verdict
The Only One Left by Riley Sager is an impressive mixture of gothic horror, drama, and a whodunit mystery which sends the reader on an impressively-twisted investigation into a crime long-ago committed, but not soon forgotten.
If you're in search of a murder mystery with some tangible depth to it and a premise which strays from the more commonly-trodden paths, then I urge you to give this novel a shot.
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