Audiobook Sample

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  • Title: House Across the Lake: A Novel
  • Author: Riley Sager
  • Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
  • Length: 11:03:32
  • Version: Abridged
  • Release Date: 21/06/2022
  • Publisher: Penguin Audio
  • Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Horror, Suspense, Horror
  • ISBN13: 9.78E+12
Dear fellow wanderers and story-seekers,

There’s something about lakes that has always unsettled me – their glassy surfaces hiding depths we can’t fathom, much like the characters in Riley Sager’s “The House Across the Lake”. As someone who’s spent countless nights in remote cabins from Patagonia to the Pacific Northwest, I know how isolation can twist perception. This audiobook, narrated with chilling precision by Bernadette Dunne, captures that eerie liminal space between curiosity and obsession, between watching and being watched.

Sager’s tale of Casey Fletcher – a widowed actress drowning her grief in bourbon and voyeurism – unfolds like a fog rolling across Lake Greene. Dunne’s narration is a masterclass in restrained tension, her voice shifting seamlessly from Casey’s whiskey-rough introspection to Katherine Royce’s polished charm. I found myself leaning in during scenes where Casey spies on her neighbors, Dunne’s pacing mirroring the protagonist’s held breath. It reminded me of those sleepless nights in Chile’s Atacama Desert, where the silence felt like a presence itself – the audiobook version of Hitchcockian suspense.

What makes this psychological thriller particularly compelling is how Sager (through Dunne’s nuanced delivery) plays with perspective. Just when you think you’ve grasped the truth, the narrative ripples like disturbed water. The author’s signature twists hit harder in audio format – Dunne’s deliberate cadence ensures you feel every revelation like a punch to the gut. Her portrayal of Casey’s unraveling sanity is so visceral, I had to pause the audio during one particularly tense scene, my own heartbeat echoing the protagonist’s panic.

The lake itself becomes a character through Sager’s descriptions and Dunne’s atmospheric delivery. You can almost hear the lap of waves against the dock, the creak of old floorboards in Casey’s family home. It transported me back to Oaxaca, where my host’s grandmother would lower her voice to a whisper during ghost stories, making the darkness feel alive. Dunne achieves that same intimate dread, especially in chapters where Casey’s isolation breeds paranoia.

While the plot delivers Sager’s trademark surprises, some twists strain credibility – a rare misstep in an otherwise taut narrative. The middle section sags slightly under repetitive surveillance scenes, though Dunne’s performance keeps engagement afloat. Compared to similar works like “The Woman in the Window”, this audiobook excels in psychological depth but lacks some of the forensic detail that hardcore crime fans might crave.

For travelers and armchair adventurers alike, this audiobook is perfect for long journeys – just maybe not while staying alone in a lakeside cabin. Dunne’s narration elevates the material, transforming what could be pulpy suspense into a haunting character study. The final act’s revelations about perception and guilt lingered with me long after the credits rolled, much like those campfire stories in Oaxaca that still visit my dreams.

With binoculars and bourbon in hand, your fellow story explorer,
Marcus Rivera