Really good book which I will recommend to others.

Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

Disclaimer: e-Arc provided by Hodder & Stoughton via Net Galley for Review. All thoughts are my own. My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton, for providing me with the arc for review.

Plot
Set in 1942 Anna Matheson gathers the six people responsible for the death of her father and brother on a train ready to set their wrongs right. However, when one of six is found dead locked on the train with no way out, things become tense as Anna tries to figure out what happened.

Thoughts
A bit meh…

Such a good premise, but not that well thought out in my opinion. I enjoyed whilst read, but ultimately forgettable.

Mister Sager can’t never go wrong in his books! This reminds me of a mix of the movie with Chris Evans that I forgot the name with a lot of thriller on it! Perfect!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you!

Ok... I'm a bit late, I know, but after I finished the book, I felt some mixed stuff... I already read a few books from the author. They are interesting and suspenseful. And these are the things I missed in this story. The writing was good, it just missed that little extra which I love in Sager's books.

3,5 *

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
⭐⭐ 2 stars
Publication date: 12th June 2025

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Six people ruined Anna Matheson's life.
Four men and two women, associated with her father's train engine company, who orchestrated an act of sabotage in 1942 that resulted in the deaths of 37 others, including her only brother, and framed her father for the crime.
It's now 1954 and Anna is ready for retribution.

I was looking forward to reading this because the premise sounded right up my alley: a locked room mystery but on a train? Yes, please! Plus bonus points for the pretty cover.
Unfortunately, this did not live up to my expectations. A book that leans heavily into Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None will always open itself to comparison, and this one suffered greatly in comparison.
I liked the historical setting in the 50s and that the story took place on a luxury train, but I don't think I enjoyed anything else. The writing and dialogue felt clunky. The reveal was obvious, the red herrings were repetitive, the very ending was ridiculous and I got thoroughly tired of Anna screaming all the time, especially at the beginning or end of chapters. End of chapter 31: “And Anna… can’t keep from screaming along with it.” End of chapter 37: “She screams.” Beginning of chapter 45: “Anna screams.” Actually, she spends most of chapter 45 screaming: “Still, she screams”; “because she needs to scream”; “The sheer act of screaming unleashes something in her” until finally, “the memory of those words finally makes Anna stop screaming.” Good grief…
I rest my case, Your Honour.

First off, I want to say that I loved Sager’s last two books, so I know he’s capable of writing smart, atmospheric stories that I genuinely enjoy. And needless to say, I’m a big fan of Agatha Christie, so With a Vengeance, which clearly draws inspiration from Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None, should have been a winner for me. However, there are a lot of Christie-inspired thrillers these days, and most of them miss the mark. I wouldn’t call With a Vengeance a bad book, but I wouldn’t call it memorable either.

The novel follows Anna, a woman still grieving the death of her parents and brother, along with the downfall of her family’s legacy. She believes those responsible must be held accountable, and she has designed a plan to trap them on an overnight train to Chicago, where the FBI will be waiting to arrest them. The problem is that someone else has their own idea of justice and begins killing the passengers one by one. The story takes a while to get going, but once the first murder occurs, I was curious to see where it would lead. One of my main issues was with the protagonist. I never felt connected to Anna, and I didn’t feel like I truly understood her. Her plan seemed shaky at best and could have gone wrong in countless ways, but of course, without it, we wouldn't have the train setting. As the story progressed, there were several twists, most of which felt either silly or irrelevant. One was slightly surprising, but even that one didn’t leave much of an impression. The ending felt unrealistic and overly neat, and overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed.

WITH A VENGEANCE is the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager.

Novels
Final Girls (2017)
The Last Time I Lied (2018)
Lock Every Door (2019)
Home Before Dark (2020)
Survive the Night (2021)
The House Across the Lake (2022)
The Only One Left (2023)
Middle of the Night (2024)
With a Vengeance (2025)

This is my review of With a Vengeance.

This novel is set in 1942, and follows Anna Matheson who lost her family, her mother, father and brother, Tommy in a suspicious train crash. Twelve years later with a plan in place, she boards a luxury overnight train from Philadelphia to Chicago, its mission is to take revenge on the six people responsible. She is also joined by Seamus, her assistant, who also lost someone in the crash, and is helping her out with her plan.

All six people were sent an invitation and are lured by a message to attend an overnight rail journey from Philadelphia to Chicago. These are the people that destroyed her life.

But as the journey unfolds, unexpected twists arise: the mastermind behind the sabotage is replaced by his son, Dante, Anna’s former love. And someone else is onboard with a deadly agenda.

One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

Anna’s plan was to confront these evil people, and get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line where Justice will be served.

But things soon change when one of the passengers is murdered…with more to come. Anna must hunt the killer while protecting the people she must turn in to the authorities.

This was a well-written, thought-provoking more mystery than thriller, it brought to life Agatha Christie novels, particularly Murder on the Orient Express and Then There Were None. With realistic well-defined characters that had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to the surprise ending that I didn’t see coming. I loved it!

Many thanks to the author and Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for my digital copy.

On a snowy evening in 1954 Anna Matheson uses her savings to buy every seat on the luxury train that her father once owned, and lures the six people who destroyed her family 12 years earlier onto a non-stop journey from Philadelphia to Chicago. Her aim is to confront her enemies and deliver them to the FBI so they can face justice. But as so often happens with the best laid plans, and with alarming frequency, her enemies are bumped off. Anna is therefore now faced with finding the killer and protecting the people she hates in order to salvage her quest for justice, and before they reach their destination.

This book was full of twists and surprises, most of which worked, although there were one or two which were a little too far-fetched even for me. However the pacing to mimic an actual train ride, starting slow and building up speed the further the train travelled, along with the worsening snowy conditions and increasing body count, really worked for me and helped to build the tension. I also really enjoyed knowing from very early on who the villains were, and their contribution to the events of 12 years earlier, but only learning their motivation as we travel along with them. Further, I felt that our main character Anna, although a victim of the crime committed, was also shown to be smart, resourceful, compelling, and a convincing advocate for vengeance over revenge.

This is only the second Riley Sager book I've read. I didn't love it like I did with The Only One Left, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this and would absolutely recommend it.

Riley Sanger’s new release With a Vengeance is the quintessential locked-room mystery (as it takes place on a moving train) and pays homage to that golden age of detective fiction. 
Unfortunately for Anna Matheson the gathering of those (she believed) responsible for the ruination and (ultimately) death of her family ends not in retribution but murder. Well, that should be plural... murders. 



This is set in 1954 just as the heyday of train travel is dissipating with other options increasingly available. 



Anna is a likeable lead though her offsider Seamus is harder to read. Her small band of traitors predominantly comprise those who once worked for her father and family, though there’s a ring-in in the form of a stowaway.



Anna unveils her plan immediately the train starts knowing those on-board have no way of leaving the train before it reaches its Chicago the following morning. 

Of course it doesn’t take long before secrets are revealed and lives lost. 



This is an enjoyable read with a satisfying but unexpected conclusion.

I was really enjoying this Sager for the first 70%! The whiplash of the twists at the end was expected of course, but everything felt really obvious (to me anyway). Slightly feel Sager missed a trick by not having some drama happen right at the end on the plane.. anyway.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eArc!

3.5 stars

With a Vengeance is a locked room mystery that takes place on an overnight train journey to Chicago. Twelve years earlier, six people destroyed Anna's family and after inviting them on board she plans to get the justice that is long overdue.

A gripping story that will keep you engrossed throughout.

I loved the setting, I can't resist a locked room mystery anyway but to place it on a train with no means of escape added a whole extra level of intensity. I especially enjoyed that there were so many twists I didn't see coming.

It had the perfect golden age atmosphere that reminded me of Agatha Christie novels. The cast of characters worked perfectly together and I didn't know who to trust because everyone had their own agenda.

I am constantly impressed by the versatility of Riley Sager's writing. Every book that I have read by this author has been completely different and this is no exception - a really unique novel!

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book is all over the place. I didn't like it much at all, the mystery is disjointed, the characters not just unlikable (which is fine) but they seem so unreal it's hard to engage with the book when I keep thinking everyone behaves and talks so weird. And the writing! It annoyed me so much.

Riley Sager is one of my favourite authors so I was so excited to receive this arc. Set on a train in the 50’s this gave me all the Agatha Christie vibes. Anna our FMC gathers 6 people onto this train to bring them to justice for framing her father and killing her brother.
While the plot felt slow in some parts and wasn’t as gripping as some of Riley’s other work, I thoroughly enjoyed this story! Trying to figure out who was the killer and what was going on was so fun throughout. I liked Anna as a character but felt like we could have had a bit more personality from her. She often felt very one dimensional and her only character trait was revenge

A 14-hour train ride with no stops, six strangers, and one woman seeking justice. What could possibly go wrong? Set in the winter of 1954, this fast-paced thriller kicks off when Anna invites the six people she holds responsible for destroying her family aboard a luxurious cross-country train. Her plan? To deliver them straight to the FBI in Chicago. But when a passenger turns up dead mid-journey, her carefully orchestrated mission spirals into chaos, and a new, far more dangerous game begins.

This gripping story unfolds entirely within the confined, snow-trapped train, creating a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere that heightens with every chapter. The vintage setting oozes golden age glamour, with elegant passengers, sleek interiors, and the eerie charm of a moving murder scene. With secrets unraveling at every stop (or lack thereof), the story channels classic locked-room vibes while spinning a modern tale of revenge.

Anna is a standout lead, clever, determined, and deeply haunted by her past. Alongside her is a cast of morally grey characters, each hiding their own version of the truth. Multiple perspectives add layers to the mystery, though not all characters are equally fleshed out. Still, the story is rich with suspense, and the twisty, unpredictable plot will keep you guessing until the final page.

If you’re a fan of vintage-style thrillers with a cinematic blend of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie, this one is for you.

Anna Matheson's family was destroyed with false accusations twelve years ago by people who were in her father's circle of work, and a couple of them, even those who were closed, knitted to her family.
Ready to clean her family's name and deliver those people to the hand of authorities, Anna lured those six people to aboard the train Philadelphia Phoenix, a non-stop journey from Philadelphia to Chicago.
Anna wants to confront those people testified against her father during the train ride before handing them to FBI at Chicago. However, her plan is ruined when one by one is murdered and seems the murderer won't stop until every single one of them is dead.  Who's the murderer wanting to deny Anna the satisfaction of bringing the six people to justice?

I've been reading lots from Riley, but I can feel this one has a slightly different style. It misses the jaw dropping effect that he usually gives us, and the plot is kind of predictable The locked room murder mystery is kind of put me off a bit too as it's way too many locked room theme that it's becoming to cliche.
A fan of slow burn mystery, locked room murder mystery, might enjoy this more than me.

I was very much looking forward to this one because I like the author and the tropes sounded very good but in the end it didn't work out for me.

The main reason why it was hard for me to get through this one was the main character. I just found her annoying. Yes something very bad had happened to her but she made it sound like only her pain was important and her great plan for vengeance was honestly ridiculous. Even if everything would have worked out like she wanted. And the twists? Too many, too unbelievable and also sadly too predictable. So this one sadly leaves me disappointed and with a bitter taste in my mouth. Let's hope the next book from him will be more for me.

⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5) With a Vengeance by Riley Sager

Last year I read The Only One Left by the same author and enjoyed it. When I saw this on Netgalley I thought I would give it a try.

Anna Matheson wants revenge for the deaths of her father, mother and her brother and this is why she anonymously invites the six people responsible on a thirteen-hour train journey to Chicago twelve years after their deaths. Here the police will be waiting with all the evidence Anna has already provided framing these six people.

I can't say much more without giving too much away but suffice to say nothing goes in accordance with Anna’s plans and a lot fewer people get off the train than originally got on.

This was a revenge thriller but unfortunately, it wasn't fast paced. There was too much time amongst the passengers speculating about the motives of their travelling companions and this quickly became boring and quite dull.

There were many twists that to me were beyond coincidental and received too many of my eye rolls. It was the premise that piqued my interest on Netgalley and although I enjoyed the mystery and suspense it just wasn’t not enough to keep me engaged for 382 pages.

I have heard that Riley Sager can be a bit hit and miss and regrettably this was a disappointing read for me but I think I would still give Sager's books another go.

Thank you to @Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton @hodderbooks for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. With A Vengeance is in bookshops now

This was the book that brought me out of a very long reading slump. I'm not really a fan of books set anywhere other than the now, but the time period of this one wasn't really relevant, to be honest, but I suppose it did fit with the train aspect of the story. Every Sager book I've read has impressed me, and I've never once been disappointed. Very much looking forward to reading more from Sager, of course.

Oof. This was not it.
I think it's finally time for me to say goodbye to Riley Sager, because it's been a while since I really enjoyed any of his work. I do commend him for trying new things, but this <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> type thriller didn't work on any level.
The characters were awful and I couldn't care less about any of them. They died and I just shrugged. They barely had any personality at all, and sadly, that's not just limited to the side characters. Our protagonist, Anna, is genuinely one of the blandest, most uninteresting thriller protagonists I've read in a while. The premise of the story is good but there are so many holes in its execution that I often thought I might be reading a first draft. The solution to every single mystery is so obvious and predictable that it makes Anna look like a complete moron for not noticing the very obvious signs. Sager puts in so many misleads at basically every single chapter ending that it's almost comical to read when it's so obvious what was going on.
Also, as a German: One of the characters is an old German lady, and she apparently forgot how to speak her language because there are very easily rectified mistakes in her German, which always annoys me because it's really not that hard to get these little things right. There are translator apps that can help you out when you can't or don't want to check with a native speaker of whatever language you are using in your book. It definitely adds to the feeling of this being a first draft or a quick cash grab.
Sadly not for me and genuinely just not a well-written nor well-crafted mystery. I need to look to other authors for the thrills I think.

Riley Sager's 'With a Vengeance' is a suspenseful homage to classic locked-room mysteries, set aboard a 1950s luxury train - Think 'Murder on the Orient Express' meets 'And Then There Were None'. Sager creates a truly atmospheric historical setting and I appreciated the morally grey nature Anna Matheson's quest for justice. I found that he also effectively builds tension within the confined train environment which drew me into this intriguing tale of revenge and survival.

However, the pacing can be uneven with some sections feeling repetitive and some character backstories underdeveloped. There's also the issue of the plot twists. I love a twist but this had twist upon twist which got a little ridiculous and I admin I laughed at the final couple. Despite these issues, the book really was a fun and engaging read that I after about 25% in fully clicked for me and I read it in one sitting.

This read is ideal for fans of vintage-style mysteries and is a nostalgic take on the murder mystery genre. For me it didn't reach the heights of 'The Only One Left' but it's an enjoyable read that definitely feels different for Sager.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a digital review copy of "With a Vengeance" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.