Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!

I love Riley’s books, this was a super fast paced read and such a summerween style book! I’m not a fan of slow paced then picks up at the end kinda style but this is the opposite so many twists and super entertaining. Loved!

Anna is looking for answers to the reason her family were destroyed back in the year 1942 by six people.
Fast forward twelve years later and she has a plan on how to get the answers she’s looking for.
She invites the six people under false pretences on a train journey from Philadelphia to Chicago and plans to confront them, but disaster strikes as when one of the passengers is murdered.
In a race against time she must uncover a killer and get closure for her family, the only problem is she maybe next on the murders list.
A fantastic whodunnit locked in thriller. I was hooked from the very beginning.
This really is a fantastic book and it keeps you guessing until the end
Riley Sager has fast become one of my favourite authors, he never lets the reader down. A dark and twisted story that I highly recommend.

I have read all of Riley Sager's novels and With A Vengeance is easily one of my favourites after The Final Girls and The Only Ones Left.

This one was an absolute doozy. A locked room mystery set on a luxurious non-stop overnight train travelling from Philadelphia to Chicago. A deadly game of survival and revenge. In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later, she is ready for retribution.

Set in 1954, this had a nostalgic feel and complete with Agatha Christie-esque vibes. This is something entirely different from @riley.sager's past novels - more mystery than thriller. While the plot was already a given, it was the multiple red herrings - a whole crew of morally grey characters, the unexpected twists and a race against time to find the killer before the train's final stop that had me totally strapped to my seat.

A satisfying addition to the Riley universe and perfect for fans of locked room mysteries and anyone who loves an adrenaline fueled plot with unexpected twists.

Thank you @hodderstoughton and @netgalley for the digital ARC to read and review.

A gripping thriller set in the 1950's six people are invitedto an over night train journey to Chicago. . Anna revenge on the people whom she blames for her father's downfall begins. A well crafted thriller that grabs you and won't let you go. The tension and emotions are high, Riley knows how to deliver a story with twists that you don't see coming. Love to see this turned into a movie. Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for this excellent eARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of With a Vengeance by Riley Sager in return for my honest review.
I Normally really enjoy Riley Sager’s books but I must say this wasn’t one of those, I found it a little predictable and ended up skim reading just to get to the end some good twists but unfortunately it wasn’t for me that being said I will still read other books by this author.

If Agatha Christie had ever teamed up with Hitchcock on a high-speed thriller set in 1950s America, the result would’ve been With A Vengeance. Riley Sager’s latest book is a tense, twist-filled locked-room mystery — except this time, the “room” is a luxurious, non-stop overnight train barrelling from Philadelphia to Chicago.

It’s 1954, and Anna Matheson is on a mission. Twelve years after an unspeakable tragedy shattered her family, she’s tracked down the six people she believes are responsible and lured them onto The Philadelphia Phoenix — a state-of-the-art locomotive once owned by her father. With her accomplice Seamus posing as a railroad employee and a plan to deliver the guilty to the FBI in Chicago, justice finally feels within reach.

But nothing goes to plan. A passenger is found dead. The train can't stop for any reason. And as the night unravels, so does Anna’s carefully constructed plan. Soon, the line between vengeance and survival blurs, and Anna must protect the very people she blames — at least until the end of the line.

This is vintage Sager: razor-sharp, atmospheric, and twistier than a railway turntable.

And in classic Riley Sager style, just when you think you know where it’s going… he derails your expectations entirely.

If you love a locked-room mystery with Agatha Chrstie vibes and killer twists, don’t miss this one.

This is a murder mystery about rich people on an empty fancy train during a blizzard in the 50’s. Love it!

Unfortunately, I don’t love the whole backstory and why the people got on the train. The HOW-part with the invitations and the empty train was interesting but revealed too quick. It could have been a longer mystery of who invited them and why. The murder mystery is enough for me to be intrigued though. 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy to read.

With A Vengeance will take you on an Agatha Christy style train ride to Chicago. This is action packed, fast paced and filled with mystery. The story follows Anna as she tries to seek revenge on the 6 people who ruined her family. After inviting them all aboard a train, unbeknownst to them, which is heading directly to the FBI waiting for them all.

I really liked the setting for this story on a train, the mystery that is carried on the entire way and the characters. Even though this is a story of revenge, there are also lots of pockets of relationships and found family. Anna, our main character, is brave, honest and loyal. This makes her a great lead character in my opinion, although I do question her ways of trying to seek redemption.

This book will have you thinking you have it all figured out, to realising you knew nothing about what was going.

Overall, this is a great and very enjoyable read.

Riley Sager – With a Vengeance

The whole story takes place on a train from Pennsylvania to Chicago. It wasn’t crowded—only a few people who were carefully invited because Anna’s family was destroyed. She and her friend, who also lost someone close, put together a plan. The plan itself was simple, but what happened next became much more complicated and intense.

The tension on that train was thick. You could feel the anger and pain in every moment, like the air itself was heavy. This wasn’t just a story about revenge, even if revenge was the fuel behind it. It was about the way loss breaks people and how far they’ll go to find some kind of justice—even if it means hurting others.

The story kept revealing layers, some hidden beneath silence and small actions, and some reasons behind what happened are still hard to understand. The book didn’t offer easy answers or comfort. Instead, it was raw, emotional, and real.

I was completely absorbed. The twists and turns pulled me in deeper than I expected, and even though it was hard to face some parts, I didn’t want the story to end. It stayed with me, and I’m still thinking about it.

I'm unable to read this book as the formatting is terrible. There are special symbols instead of letters and missing letters altogether. I was really looking forward to reading this and am now completely unable to

This locked room mystery, set on a train, has plenty of red herrings and twists, and a whole heap of revenge.

It was set in the 1950s with a perfect plan that goes awry and falls apart, piece by piece. I found all of the characters fairly one dimensional and therefore found it difficult to connect with, and be rooting for, any of them. Some of the twists were predictable but the ones I didn’t see coming really took me by surprise. The pace was fairly slow and the writing didn’t really grab me, it was just like reading a report or an account of what happened.

Those twists that I didn’t call saved it though, an enjoyable read overall.

⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Riley Sager and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC of this book.

3.5 stars rounded down.
So... when I finished this book. When I had navigated all the twists and turns, obfuscation, blind alleys, red herrings, and all the other tropes designed to dupe a reader, I actually sat back and thought about the format in which this book was delivered. I realised how "ready for the screen" it could be... I do wonder... I also wondered how many of the Agatha Christie books were paid homage to during the making of this production... But I will leave you to ponder both of these for yourself...
We start in the past, in 1942 when six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Again leaving you to discover the warts and all about that. But back in the present, 12 years later and the same six people have been invited to ride from Philadelphia to Chicago, non stop, on a luxury train. The journey lasting 14 hours (2 hours per episode for a TV series maybe) each hour sectioned off in the book which flits between past and present as it introduces the characters along the way. These six are joined by Anna and her assistant, the only other person on the train being the driver. Or is it...?
And this is where you need to go in as blind as you can to discover all the twists and turns for yourself. Suffice to say you will either have a blast, roll your eyes, or shout at the author for cheating you. Or all of the above. Oh and you may ponder things that really don't quite make as much sense as you'd like.
All that said, it was a relatively quick read, albeit a wee bit repetitive and took me a while to really get into. Maybe it's cos I couldn't fully invest in any of the characters, not even poor hard done by Anna who did start to really annoy me.
That said, apart from the parallels between this and Christie, the author did a fair job of tying it all together to form a new story. Some of the cracks did show though and it got a bit messy in places, especially with all the obfuscation and wool-pulling he did along the way. I have numerous examples but spoilers prevent me from spelling them all out. I'd love to see the plotting chart he created for this one to try and keep it all on track (see what I did there... train... track... #notsorry).
Finally... that ending... a twist to far and too all neatly tied up? Maybe... It definitely didn't leave me as satisfied as I would have liked to have been.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Riley Sager has created another whodunit with multiple twists and suspects. Aboard the Phoenix train, traveling from Philadelphia to Chicago, are six suspects and Anna. She has lured them aboard with invitations, but little do they know she will deliver them to authorities at the end of the journey for the downfall of her family. In 1942, Anna's family was destroyed and twelve years later she sought justice. Nothing goes as planned. One of the passengers is murdered because someone else must be seeking revenge. As Anna hunts for the killer, she must protect the ones she despises for her justice. It becomes complicated and there isn't anywhere to go or without knowing who is the killer, she suspects them all.
"One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge."
Quite entertaining and mysterious. I love Riley Sager. I'm not a fan of train books, but he set it up well. It is fast paced, which is a plus.

A fast-paced thriller set on a non-stop night train in the late 1950s where everyone has a possible motive to kill their fellow passengers? Sign me up! This locked room murder mystery has twists aplenty and multiple POVs to keep things interesting. This was - in typical Sager style - an extremely easy read and I'd recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed their previous books.

Riley Sager is a master of misdirection whose novels have so many twists and turns that they make you giddy! This one is no exception. The setting: a luxury train, the cast: a group of individuals invited onboard by an unknown person, the plot: will everybody still be alive by the time they reach their destination, and if not, who's the murderer and why?
I have always enjoyed Riley Sager's novels and I am glad that I stuck with this one to the end. However I felt that this book got off to a very slow start, and I was struggling at around 30% of the way through. By the time we got to the halfway point it was getting interesting, and the final 30% was excellent with all the unexpected twists that the author is known for. I always judge this style of novel on whether I saw the reveals coming, and I totally didn't!! If you love surprises, and enjoy a good old fashioned whodunnit, then this is for you.

The tension in this book was so good, it had me gripped right away. The high stakes and atmosphere kept me on edge, with every twist making the story even more intense.

🚂 Twelve years after her family was torn apart, Anna is ready to settle the score. She’s tracked down the six people responsible and lured them onto a nonstop train to Chicago, where law enforcement agents are waiting for them. But her carefully crafted plan shatters when a man is murdered on board. Trapped on a moving train with dangerous enemies and a killer on the loose, Anna must race against time to uncover the truth.

🚂 Pick this up if you like/ don’t mind:
📌 historical thriller/ locked room mystery
📌 whodunnit
📌 slow burn/ action packed
📌 quick read/ binge worthy
📌 Agatha Christie vibes
📌 multiple POVs
📌 plot that keeps you guessing
📌 spooky/ paranormal element/ atmospheric
📌 “unlikeable” characters
📌 how far will you go in the name of vengeance?

🚂 Riley Sager has always been a hit or miss author for me. His last book “the only one left” was an easy five star read. But then this book came along and personally shipped me to disappointment island, one way ticket. It started off pretty good. But then it just slowly spiralled into a loop of repetition and meh. Honestly, at times it didn’t even feel like Sager wrote it. There were twists and turns, but sadly, they didn’t land with the impact I was hoping for.

🚂 Did I hate it? No. Did I like it? Also no. It just didn’t work for me. Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange of an honest opinion.

With a Vengeance is Riley Sager channeling Agatha Christie! It's set on a train, that has no stops, limited riders, and a character with revenge on the mind! I loved the trapped feeling that Sager created in this book. Once the riders boarded and the train departed from the station, there was no way off the train!!! Plus, this book had a very nostalgic feel as it is set around 1954, a time where riders got dressed up to ride!

Anna Matheson’s family was destroyed in every way imaginable in 1942 with the help of six people. Fourteen years later, she has invited the six people she holds responsible to take a train from Philadelphia to Chicago. They have no idea who has invited them to ride the train, but all have been lured by her handwritten messages on the back of the invitations! As the train makes its way toward Chicago, a passenger is dead! Anna is not responsible. All she wanted was confessions from all of them, but someone on board is a killer!!!!!

The search is soon on to catch a killer before anyone else turns up dead! But whodunit? Who is the killer and who will be next?????? The book soon becomes a cat-and-mouse game where anyone could be the killer. All the passengers have something to hide, all are suspects, and nowhere on board is safe!

I enjoyed the vibe of this book. It does have a very old movie feel to it. I could see this playing out in my mind. As I mentioned, all the characters have secrets and have done something which brought about the downfall of Anna's family. I also enjoyed how Riley Sager showed how Anna's guest for revenge and retribution affected her life. How it was so consuming it was all she had to hold onto. I found this to be very well done.

I enjoyed the atmosphere, the train setting, the cast of characters, the nostalgic feel, the tension, shocking twists, and the mystery in this book.

Twelve years after six people destroyed Anna’s family, she is ready for retribution. Anna has lured those responsible on a luxury non stop, overnight train to Chicago with the goal to get them to confess to their crimes. But her plans are derailed when someone on the train is murdered and it becomes clear she isn’t the only one who is out for revenge.

Having read a few books by this author and enjoying them I was looking forward to picking up this one. This one took me by surprise and I cannot say overly in a good way. The writing style and genre ended up being quite different to this author’s previous books and more of a golden age, Agatha Christie style mystery, with undercurrents of Murder On The Orient Express. Even though I enjoyed the locked room mystery and the setting, I did find it quite predictable as this trope has been done quite a few times.

I enjoyed the mystery element, however felt a bit let down with the lack of suspense and big twists I come to expect now from this author. I enjoyed discovering the characters, but found there was a large number to try and distinguish between. I felt that although it started interesting enough, the plot then started to drag and it was a slow ride to get to the end. I appreciate this author trying something different and I can see some readers really enjoying this, especially those who like a classic, cosy mystery, however for me this was not a favourite by this author, likely due to the style of the story. Even though this wasn’t for me, I would not be put off reading more by this author as I know I have really enjoyed some of his others. 2.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC. With A Vengeance is a revenge thriller which centres around the machinations of Anna Matheson. Twelve years after her family was destroyed by an extremely convoluted conspiracy, Anna has lured the six people responsible onto a non-stop luxury train to Chicago. Over the course of fourteen hours she plans to confront these people and, after allowing them to stew in their own guilt for a bit, hand them over to the FBI. Unfortunately the plan goes awry pretty quickly when Anna’s targets start dying, depriving her of the chance to savour her revenge. My main problem with this book was less the increasingly outlandish twists and turns (not gonna even touch the plot holes) and more the way the author talks down to the reader. My pet hate is when authors spell everything out as if I’m incapable of doing any sort of critical thinking and this book was full of that. Definitely not for me.

This book was not for me; I ended up skim reading just to find out what happened. It didn’t like the way the story opened, it is very reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel in that way, but I don’t like that style of writing, I found that I didn’t care about any of the characters and didn’t really care what happened to them. I was looking for a thriller and I found this to be old fashioned and far fetched.