Riley Sager Books

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Riley Sager is an American author that writes thrillers. The former journalist worked as a graphic designer and editor before writing became his full-time job.

‘Final Girls’ was his debut novel. Even though Sager had written books under a different name, ‘Final Girls’ was the author’s first significant success. He was at a low point when he penned it.

His day job was gone. This wouldn’t have been so bad if his publisher hadn’t dropped him. Sager was convinced that he would run out of money before a new job came along.

It took him nine weeks to write the first draft for ‘Final Girls.’ His inspiration was the ‘Halloween’ movie series. Sager had watched those movies more times than he could count. He believed that ‘Halloween II’ had missed out on the opportunity to explore Laurie Strode’s long-term response to the traumatic events that had befallen her in the previous film.

As he contemplated the notion, an idea came to him. He wondered what would happen to a survivor like Laure Strode after a decade. How would they change? Would the events of their past haunt them every day? Would they forget and move on?

Before long, the author had constructed a story in which three girls, who had survived violent killers, came together to tackle a new challenge. Sager was initially tempted to write a YA novel, but he changed his mind.

Sager appreciates the work his editor did to shape the novel. They had a similar vision for the book. And even though they disagreed on occasion, they made compromises quickly and easily because Maya Ziv (Dutton) brought an amicable attitude to the table.

The author did not expect the publishing arena to respond so positively to the novel. Stephen King, of all people, added a blurb to the book. If that wasn’t shocking enough, the book appeared in publications like ‘Entertainment Weekly.’

Sager’s life changed overnight. He had international publishers knocking on his door and asking for the opportunity to make his book available in foreign countries.

The author made a concerted effort to avoid the buzz because he knew it wasn’t healthy. He was happy knowing that he had written the best book possible.

Rather than dwelling on that first triumph, Sager turned his attention to the next book.

As far as his name is concerned, the author’s agent encouraged him to adopt the pseudonym. His previous name had a spotty record because it was associated with books that hadn’t performed quite as well as Sager’s old publishers wanted.

When he submitted ‘Final Girls,’ his agent told him to use a pseudonym. He wanted the publishing arena to perceive Sager as an unknown author with no baggage.

He chose ‘Riley’ because the name was gender-neutral. ‘Sager’ came from his maternal grandmother.

Riley Sager Awards

Riley Sager won the ITW Thriller award.

Riley Sager Books into Movies

Universal Pictures optioned ‘Final Girls’ for a potential adaptation.

Best Riley Sager Books

The author has published novels as ‘Todd Ritter’ and ‘Alan Finn.’ Like ‘Alan Finn,’ ‘Riley Sager’ is a pseudonym. Riley’s best books include:

Final Girls: Quincy was happy. For some people, her baking blog, apartment, and potential fiancé were hardly extraordinary. But Quincy had made significant progress. Years ago, she was the only girl to escape a murderous psychopath.

But Quincy had no interest in reliving the past. She was determined to forge a new path to the future. But Sam wouldn’t let her.

Sam was just like Quincy. She had survived a massacre, and she wasn’t the only one.

Lisa, who lost her sorority sisters to a knife-wielding college dropout, had also escaped certain death. But destiny had caught up to her. They found Lisa in her bathtub, dead.

And now Sam has forced her way into Quincy’s life. She’s looking for answers that only Quincy can provide.

Lock Every Door: Jules was the Bartholomew’s newest addition. The apartment sitter needed a break from her life, which was filled with heartbreak and poverty, and the Manhattan building was the perfect escape.

The Bartholomew had strict rules, but Jules was happy to follow them if it meant sharing the building with the city’s biggest celebrities.

Initially, she thought that Ingrid, another apartment sitter, was trying to scare her when she revealed the building’s sordid past. But then Ingrid disappeared, and Jules was forced to face the truth.

When Does The Next Riley Sager book come out?

The next book by Riley Sager is With a Vengeance and will be released on June, 10th 2025.

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