The House Across the Lake

The setup of Rear Window serves as the framework for this outstanding novel of suspense from bestseller Sager (Survive the Night). Actor Casey Fletcher has become an alcoholic in the wake of the recent death of her screenwriter husband, who slipped out one morning to go fishing at their vacation home on Vermont’s Lake Greene, fell into the water, and drowned. After Casey is fired from her latest Broadway role for showing up drunk for a performance, she returns to the Vermont house. One day, while on her third or maybe fourth bourbon, Casey spots someone who may be drowning in the middle of the lake. She jumps into her motorboat and rescues a neighbor, former supermodel Katherine Royce. The grateful celebrity befriends her savior, who soon becomes convinced that Katherine’s life remains at risk. While spying on Katherine’s home, Casey comes to suspect that Katherine’s husband is plotting to murder her. Sager brilliantly misdirects readers while playing fair with them. Newcomers and fans both will be eager to see what he pulls off in his next book. Agent: Michelle Brower, Trellis Literary. (June)