Review: With a Vengeance

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Picture boarding a glamorous 1954 train with a handpicked group of passengers, each carrying a fatal secret. In Riley Sager's With a Vengeance, Anna Matheson carefully arranges a 13-hour trip from Philadelphia to Chicago, inviting six people to share this ride with her. But when a body is discovered in one of the first-class lounges, the train suddenly becomes a pressure-cooker of suspicions, secrets, and a troubling quest for vengeance.

The context of this book is beyond a doubt its most compelling aspect. Soaked in velvet curtains and the smell of decayed grandeur, the Philadelphia Phoenix reeks of cursed glamour, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Sager vividly constructs the opulent train, and I'm sure anyone who reads this book feels their claustrophobia grow as the train rocks and groans on, just like the body count on the train. The action comes thick and fast in brief chapters and shifting perspectives, the suspense so profligate that it is positively demented.

Stacy Willingham's A Flicker in the Dark was superb because of the claustrophobic nature of the domestic setting and the psychological depth it brought to bear. Why am I bringing this up? Because With a Vengeance, instead of taking me in, does precisely the opposite, and looks outwards to an epic, almost filmic level of plot, effectively marrying personal concerns to a conspiracy that reverberates through the whole of its 50s mise-en-scène, and I love it.

The emotional weight of the book lays with its protagonist, Anna, who is caught between her grief and an infuriating moral quandary that pits revenge against righteousness. The exploration of revenge as a two-edged blade is what makes the novel unforgettable. Anna’s adventure explores the darkness that resides within her. This question—can vengeance ever be just?—lifts the story beyond a standard whodunit. Sager layers revelations about the passengers’ pasts, each peeling back another piece of the puzzle, keeping the reader hooked through sharp, varied chapters. Delivering a suspense novel that pays homage to traditional whodunits while forging its own place in today's thriller scene, Sager has given us his most atmospheric work.

However, the book isn't perfect. Some of the plot twists, and the truth about who's really behind the scheme, are a little too pat and stretch believability, in a manner that The Drowning Woman successfully sidestepped with its more cohesive plotting. A few secondary characters reprise their roles and would be more interesting if they were given more depth, as it would add to Anna’s complexity. There is, however, a neat ending to the resolution, and not a lot of room for dispute, which I always appreciate.

I recommend With a Vengeance to anyone who loves suspense with heart. If Lisa Jewell's None of This Is True captivated you with its complex relationships or John Marrs's The Passengers thrilled you with its high-stakes tension, this book will hold you captive. It’s a journey where secrets unravel as swiftly as the tracks, perfect for readers craving a mix of vintage mystery charm and modern emotional weight. Grab it for your next read, you’ll want to board this train.

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