Item: The Only One Left
Rating: 4.00
Author: quirkycat

by Riley Sager

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Named a summer book to watch by The Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, Oprah, Paste, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, and Nerd Daily

"Propulsive ... a dizzying Gothic whodunit."
—New York Times Book Review

Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

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.

Book Summary:

Years ago, one woman became famous for killing her entire family. She's so famous (on a local scale) that the rhyme about her is still taught to schoolchildren. In truth, it didn't matter what Lenora Hope said – she was always going to be guilty in the eyes of the public.

Decades later, Kit McDeere finds herself in a similar situation. She's desperately looking for any chance life will give her. So when she's offered the job caring for the local aged serial killer, she has no choice but to accept.

My Review:

Huh. I'll be honest here: The Only One Left was not what I expected. Then again, I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting? There were just SO many twists in this book; it made it hard to predict (and boy, I love that!).

On that note, I should caution readers: given the drastic twists at the end, The Only One Left is one of those books that is far too easy to spoil. So use caution when reading reviews online (irony, I know) or chatting with friends about it. You don't want to ruin these twists because it will change the entire experience, not for the better.

The storytelling style in The Only One Left is interesting. Much of it is through Kit's eyes, except for the past. That's told through the novel (Letter?) she's helping Ms. McDeere write. At times, I got a bit lost in the mess, but the end helped clear up every question I had.

Highlights:
Twisted Mystery
Horror Elements
Local Legends

Trigger Warnings:
Suicide/Murder
Mental Illness
Ableism
Violence/Abuse

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The Only One Left

by Riley Sager

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Sep 11, 2023

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