#Spooktober ‘Final Girls’ by Riley Sager

About the book…

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

A homage to 1980’s slasher horror films, ‘Final Girls’ by Riley Sager was published by Ebury in 2017-3 years late he has established himself as a writer of excellent chillers which border on the horror genre.

Stephen King,no less, tipped ‘Final Girls’ as a thriller to watch for in 2017 and I would agree . Not only does he have a reputation for picking books I tend to adore but also it is a damn fine book.
In popular culture,the lone survivor of horror movie type killings are collectively known as ‘Final Girls’.
Whether by accident or design, these girls were left behind by brutal killings that were obsessively covered by the media and had them spot lit for celebrity whether they liked it or not.

This trope is used to excellent effect here where principle lead,Quinn, sole survivor of the Pine Cottage killing, about which she remembers nothing, is unwillingly bought face to face with the events that gained her the wealth that allows her to live a life from the other side of a computer screen.

She maintains annoymity behind the baking which has become her passion, it is something she can control within a safe environment and her face is no longer public property.
She extends her need  ‘safe’ relationships  by being engaged to a lawyer who is often away and keeping  her fan base at arms length on the flipside of her baking blog. In this manner,she can avoid dealing with any of the issues she is so obviously struggling with.

The suicide of another ‘Final Girl’, one who was integral to the resurgence of interest in her case and the appearance of another ‘Girl’ who has literally dropped off the face of the earth, all bring reality crashing in on Quinn in this excellent thriller.

Will she survive a second trip to the Pine Cottage , is she prepared to sacrifice her peace of mind to bury the past, once and for all?
I absdolutely devoured this one and have bought all of Riley’s since ‘Final Girls’ came out, he writes compelling female leads and puts them in jeopardy without sacrificing their sharpness or making them annoyingly vulnerable.

About the author…

Riley Sager is the award-winning pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name.

Now a full-time author, Riley’s first thriller, ‘Final Girls’, became a national and international bestseller and was called “the first great thriller of 2017” by Stephen King. Translation rights have been sold in more than two dozen countries.

Riley’s second book, ‘Last Time I Lied’, was published in 2018 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was inspired by the classic novel and film “Picnic at Hanging Rock” and one horrible week Riley spent at summer camp when he was ten. A television adaptation is being developed by Amazon Studios.

His last book, ‘Lock Every Door’, was an instant New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today bestseller. A television adaptation is being developed by Paramount TV and Anonymous Content.

A native of Pennsylvania, Riley now lives in Princeton, New Jersey. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, cooking and going to the movies as much as possible. His favorite film is “Rear Window.” Or maybe “Jaws.” But probably, if he’s being honest, “Mary Poppins.”

Links- www.rileysagerbooks.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rileysagerbooks
Twitter: @Riley_Sager