Riley Sager does it again! This one is a classic MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS style murder mystery.

I was completely sucked into the mystery and wizzed through it in a couple of days.

I thoroughly enjoyed it like the rest of his books!

My god this was a slog. I love Riley Sager and I will pick up every book he ever writes but this joins the pile of the ones I’m not fond of. I didn’t enjoy the plot, the characters, the twists or the ending!

Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors that always give me books i get hooked into.
Sager has a unique voice buy took a spin on this one, going for a more christie style of writing, while different still utterly delightful.
the snow and train journey created a eerie and atmospheric scene, although i’m not a huge train or locked room mystery kind of reader i loved the race against the clock Sager took us on.

With a Vengeance had an intriguing premise and some strong moments of suspense, but overall it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I appreciated the fast pace and Riley Sager’s signature twists, but I found it hard to fully connect with the characters. That said, there were definitely parts that kept me turning the pages, and fans of Sager’s style will likely still find it entertaining. It just didn’t wow me the way some of his other books have.

Unfortunately the formatting of the book messed up on my kindle and was missing a lot of letters randomly throughout which also definitely affected my enjoyment.

Riley Sager has been a hot name for a while. Everybody seems to love his books. So I jumped up and down when I managed to get my hands on his brand new novel.
This is a very Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. It's all about who did it. And it takes place in a train, which is awesome, because trains are awesome. True cliche.
The problem is... You can't hide in a train; there is nowhere to hide. When you walk from one end to another, you will walk past everyone who is onboard. The roof access is not as simple as some think. So, hiding extra characters to create a surprising twist is not working.
Dialogues. There's a lot of talking. Talking and talking. Oh, and isn't Anna smart? Figuring out everything instantly, creating new explanations within splits of a second, how clever. Especially for someone who hasn't slept in more than 24 hours, hasn't eaten in roughly the same time, and has been living in enormous stress for god knows how long. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes now.

I enjoyed this book- probably a 3.5/5. It had a really interesting storyline and the back story of the characters were all really interesting . My reason for marking it as 3.5 stars is that it was just a bit confusing, a lot to remember and a lot of main characters. The twist was great but again, a lot of different parts to the twist and a lot of characters. All in all I just found it too busy for my liking but it was an all round good story!

I loved this book. It felt like a great nod to classic crime novels. It reminded me of Murder on the Orient Express but with more plot twists.

The plot was action-packed. Once I started I really struggled to put this down. I devoured it in just over two days because I didn't want to stop reading. It was full of plot twists, most of which I didn't see coming. It was just so enjoyable.

I really loved the setting. I'm a sucker for a mystery set on a train. I also liked the setting of the 1950s. It felt more glamorous and more like the classic age of trains and murder mysteries.

Despite the fact that Anna was on a revenge mission, she is a very likeable and relatable character. You wanted her to get her revenge and closure all the way through. I loved her as the main character.

I would highly recommend this book for murder mystery fans. It is so gripping and I think it has become one of my favourite books of the year. This book will be released on 12th June so make sure you check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley, Riley Sager, and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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.

What a thriller! This book follows a train journey where 6 of the passengers previously were involved with a previous horror. Someone is killing them. What's going on? Very well written and kept me gripped from start to finish. I've never read Riley Sager before but will certainly read more. Highly recommended. I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader copy and leave this review willingly.

With A Vengeance by Riley Sagar
I give this book 4 stars.

One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.
In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later,under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of fourteen hours. But Anna's plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. With time running out Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most.

I firstly want to say I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager.
A locked room thriller is something a bit different from this author and while it didn’t hit the mark for me personally, I’m sure most will love it. It definitely gives an Agatha Christie crossed with Clue (film) vibe.

There’s a great revenge and justice theme running through this storyline and a train full of unlikeable (for me) characters. There are lots of twists and turns throughout the journey (maybe a few too many) and in some parts I had to suspend disbelief at what was happening. I did however really enjoy discovering each passengers personal motive for the betrayal they caused Anna’s family and the intense time running out build up towards the ending.
Looking forward to what the author writes next!
With thanks to Netgalley,Riley Sager and Hodder and Stoughton for my chance to read and review this book.

I just finished With a Vengeance and I have thoughts. First of all, major Murder on the Orient Express vibes — the whole “murder on a train” setup was classic and atmospheric. I’m a sucker for that kind of setting because there’s just something about being trapped in a confined space with a killer that cranks the tension way up. You feel the anxiety creeping in with every turn of the page.

Now, I’ll be honest: the first part of the book is kinda slow. I was actually worried I wouldn’t get into it, which was disappointing because I usually find Riley Sager’s stuff super gripping from the start. His last few books had more of that slow-burn intensity, building suspense in a way that really pulls you in — this one didn’t quite hit that same mark at the beginning.

But it definitely picks up around the halfway point. There are some solid twists that start rolling in, and the final twist I didn't see coming at all. Totally made the second half worth it. It ended up being such a fast-paced read that I flew through it in one sitting.

Overall, it was enjoyable — not mind-blowing, not Sager’s best, but still a fun ride. If you're into train-set mysteries and need a quick thriller fix, it’s worth the ticket.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*2.5 stars*

Having read and really enjoyed a few of Sager's other works I was really excited to give this a read. However this is very different to his previous books and I'm not quite sure it worked for me.

This felt like a more traditional thriller along the lines of Agatha Christie and for me it lacked some punch. There were far too many twists that became repetitive and felt boring.

I did like the character development and the main character really blossomed the more the book went on.

I also enjoyed the concept of the location purely just being the train as it really added to the locked room element.

I do enjoy Sager's writing style so did find myself wanting to finish this but overall it just felt a bit basic and lacked his usual flair.

Riley Sager has a nice easy style of writing. This novel is set on a Philadelphia express train at the time when rail travel was about to be overtaken by other modes of transport. Someone is killed on board and Mr Sager leads you through the suspects from the handful of passengers. There are twists aplenty and it all adds up to a decent whodunit.

Anna, the protagonist of our story, lures together a key group of people from whom she is determined to get answers, since they were instrumental in destroying her family. Set on a luxury train nearly a century ago, the action in this story takes place in a locked room scenario, offering echoes of golden age mysteries.

Anna's plans are unexpectedly derailed (pun intended) by a murder that takes place, indicating that somebody else has plans for the passengers of this particular trip.

While we get a nuanced and interesting portrayal of Anna from Sager, not all the characters are as sharply drawn, and the narrative has some issues in terms of facing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story, recommend it, and give it 3.5 stars.

I'm a huge Riley Sager fan so I was incredibly happy to be given an ARC for his latest book. However, this one was not for me. I usually enjoy a locked door mystery but this one was a bit of a let down.

It was an exciting storyline that I couldn't wait to get in to, with many twists and turns along the way, but it was a little anticlimactic. I found a few parts predictable and a little underwhelming.

This will not put me off reaching for more of Riley Sager's books in future, I look forward to reading what he writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Riley Sager’s With a Vengeance hurls readers into a tense revenge thriller set almost entirely on a lavish overnight train. The protagonist, Anna Matheson, arranges a ride with the powerful figures who destroyed her family, aiming for confessions and eventual justice.

Anna Matheson is at the story’s core. She is strikingly human, determined, conflicted, and unpredictable in moments of crisis. Her mission of revenge is complicated by the sudden outbreak of violence: after a murder derails her original plan, Anna is forced to protect the very people she once saw as targets. This inversion, where the avenger must shield her would-be enemies, underscores the novel’s interest in moral ambiguity. Anna’s capacity for both grudge and compassion is handled with nuance, holding attention as stakes, ethical and physical, rise.

The supporting cast, assembled from Anna’s past, brings color but is at times less sharply drawn. Some characters blur together, reflecting the transience and anonymity of travel itself. What stands out is not individual characterization but the shifting trust and suspicion across the group. Their shared predicament, trapped with an unknown murderer in claustrophobic luxury, amplifies tension and forces uneasy alliances. The closed setting not only strengthens the mystery but also serves as a metaphor for psychological confinement, echoing how old grievances and unresolved trauma can lock people in cycles of suspicion and regret.

Sager’s style borrows from classic whodunits, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, but filters this lineage through a contemporary, noir-influenced sensibility. The prose is sleek, atmospheric, and occasionally chilly. The use of shifting timelines keeps the reader off-balance, inviting a constant re-evaluation of motives and facts. The novel’s brisk pace allows little respite, and while some plot elements recall other thrillers, the emotional layers and relentless tension hold the narrative together.

The central themes, justice, revenge, and the limits of closure, resonate both in the novel and in current research on human responses to stress and wrongs endured. Anna’s journey mirrors these tensions, questioning whether acts of retribution heal or deepen wounds. Confinement, vulnerability, and disrupted plans are also key in psychological research on stress and coping, especially when individuals are isolated or forced to navigate fraught social dynamics.

With a Vengeance stands as a memorable modern thriller that honors classic mystery frameworks while pushing its protagonist into sharper, darker territory. Anna’s evolution, the train’s inescapable setting, and the constant churn of suspicion and uneasy loyalty combine to produce a work that is both satisfying and unsettling.

Having read all of his books, I wasn’t extremely crazy about this one. This is a slow burn mystery set on a train across states. Anna gathers these particular passengers to avenge her family. Along the way one of the passengers is dead. Thank you to the publisher for a copy.

A cleverly crafted tale of seeking justice and battling with inner demons.

A murder mystery plot with twists and turns. Some you may see coming and some you most likely won’t.

It’s a book which you whizz through, because you need to know what happens next.

Yet it doesn’t feel urgent, or too much dramatic action. It’s a nice pace so you can take in the twists and turns whilst still finding out new aspects to the back story and the one unfolding in the present.

Overall a great book to read and one I would recommend to everyone who loves a good murder mystery.

I was ready to be decently entertained or immensely disappointed because you never know with Riley Sager, and well ... this turned out to be another disappointment. Didn't he say he wanted to take a break from writing? That was like 2 years and 2 mediocre books ago, so maybe he really should have done so. At least this book had a good premise: Anna Matheson gathers six people on a train to take revenge after they wronged her family in the past. She wants them to suffer for the rest of their lives and plans to put them in jail, but someone starts murdering them on the nonstop 13-hour train ride. But what sounds like a fast-paced, thrilling story turned out to be a dragging mess full of uninteresting characters, nonsensical plot twists and misleading cliffhangers at the end of almost every chapter. It's hardly an uneventful book, but nothing caught my attention. The way all the characters were introduced at the beginning, one chapter after another, almost put me to sleep. Character work is not a strength of Riley Sager, so a multiple POV book is a weird choice for him in my opinion. Everyone played a role in a train accident and in the death of Anna's family, and all of that is revealed fairly early on. A big part of the book then is about revealing the reasons for the characters' former actions, and I don't know, but can we not focus on the literal murders that are occurring present day? But no one here tried to find the murderer. A death would occur, the other characters would find the body and the murder weapon, then discuss the method of murder and then throw around wild accusations. And repeat. There were no clever hints to the murderer, because everyone was accused by everyone at some point. Honestly, I didn't even care anymore when the truth was revealed eventually. All in all, a repetitive and unthrilling thriller that makes nothing of its cool premise.

One last thing that I don't want to leave unmentioned: one of the invited characters is Edith Gerhardt. Her whole personality is about her being an old German lady. But that apparently doesn't mean that she can actually speak German. Like, "der Spinne" (the spider)? Come on! If you look up the German translation for a word anyway why wouldn't you look up the correct article for said word? And don't get me started on the way Edith called Anna "Schatzi". I don't know anyone who would use this term in a serious way, let alone when referring to a child outside of one's family. Why isn't stuff like this checked in the publishing process? A native speaker would catch such mistakes immediately. I will never understand. I got an arc, so this might actually be corrected in the finished version of the book, but I honestly doubt it. I know that an English speaker wouldn't notice, but it always bugs me when this occurs in books.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book only knowing the title and the authors name and that’s all I needed to know it would be a good book. I wasn’t disappointed.

The book gave Agatha Christie vibes and it was refreshing to read a story set during a simpler time without all the latest technology leaving the characters without a single phone on board that train.

It begins with introducing the characters one by one. I was worried it would become too confusing trying to remember who is who but the author did an amazing job with the character development that I found it easy to follow each characters story, past and present.

It doesn’t take long for the story to start pick up and the twists and secrets keep coming non-stop until the very end. I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more by this amazing author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC