With a Vengeance

Riley Sager's latest thriller, With a Vengeance, is a high-speed, claustrophobic rollercoaster set aboard a luxury train in 1954—and it’s one ride you won’t want to miss. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie-style locked-room mysteries with a modern, psychological edge, this novel blends historical fiction, suspense, and revenge into a taut, tightly wound page-turner.

The story follows Anna Matheson, a woman who’s been nursing a grudge for over a decade. In 1942, her family was shattered by the actions of six individuals. Now, twelve years later, Anna has carefully orchestrated a plan to bring them all together under one roof—or rather, one train car—on an overnight journey from Philadelphia to Chicago. Her mission? Get confessions and hand them over to the authorities waiting at the end of the line.

But revenge is rarely so simple.

When one of the passengers turns up dead before Anna can reveal her plan, her tightly controlled scheme quickly unravels. Now, she must become both detective and bodyguard, hunting a killer who seems to have a list of their own—and it’s getting shorter by the hour.

Sager masterfully builds tension with each passing mile, using the train’s confined setting to amplify the suspense. The pacing is brisk, the dialogue sharp, and the stakes constantly rising. Flashbacks to 1942 reveal the backstory piece by piece, letting readers slowly peel back the layers of Anna’s pain and purpose. She’s a complicated, determined heroine you can’t help but root for—even as her thirst for vengeance blurs the lines between justice and obsession.

What makes With a Vengeance especially compelling is its moral ambiguity. No one on this train is completely innocent, not even Anna, and Sager doesn’t shy away from asking uncomfortable questions about what we’re willing to sacrifice in the name of justice.

This is a smart, cinematic thriller that keeps readers guessing until the final stop. If you love twisty mysteries, mid-century noir vibes, or revenge stories with bite, hop aboard.