Often, writers must rely on their readers’ suspension of disbelief to successfully execute their imaginative plot. However, in this case, Riley Sager takes hold of a very real element of human nature to make his most recent locked-room mystery quite the treat: revenge.
“I always knew that one day I was going to write a big, juicy revenge tale similar to the late, great, very soap-y TV show Revenge,” Sager says. “But I didn’t give it much thought until the summer of 2023, when suddenly there were all these movies with big sequences set on trains. Bullet Train. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning. After watching them, I decided to write a train book. Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express naturally came to mind. Since that book is a stealth revenge story, I wanted to do something in that vein. Train. Shady characters. Woman seeking vengeance for a past wrong.”
And Sager’s latest thriller accomplishes all of that, plus more, piercing into the fabric of family, love, and loyalty with a knife. Surprisingly, numbers played a huge role in making it all possible.
Let’s take a look: With a Vengeance by the Numbers
THE 14 (FOURTEEN) CARS ON THE TRAIN
It’s 1954 and Anna Matheson boldly invites people from her past for an uncomfortable reunion. All aboard the Philadelphia Phoenix. A nonstop ride to Chicago, where an ugly fate awaits them. The scariest part? They’re the only passengers on a fourteen-car train. Purchasing all tickets on the train gives Anna and her sidekick the satisfaction of watching everyone’s face crumble with fear for what’s next.
THE 13 (THIRTEEN) HOURS
“I latched onto the idea of dividing the book into hour-long chunks of this 13-hour trip after researching train schedules from the 1950s,” Sager says. “A countdown felt like a great way to propel the plot forward but was a bit of a challenge. I ended up using index cards and rearranging them on the floor of my office until all the required action fit the timeline.”
THE 12 (TWELVE) YEARS SINCE THE EXPLOSION
Why is Anna hellbent on torturing these people?
In 1942, a train manufactured by Art Matheson took American soldiers off to fight the war. Nothing should have gone awry on this brand-new machine. Yet, a suspicious engine failure cost the soldiers their lives, and all fingers pointed to Anna’s father, Art.
THE 6 (SIX) PASSENGERS
The real culprits? Edith Gerhardt, Jack Lapford, Sally Lawrence, Judd Dodge, Herb Pulaski, and Kenneth Wentworth.
Several people, and even more lies! How does Sager keep up? He carefully chooses the best moment to switch to another POV, to amplify suspense or provide readers with breadcrumbs of information.
CHANEL No. 5
Since we’re talking numbers, it would be a crime to not give a shout-out to Sal and her signature scent. A woman with secrets more devilish than her attitude. Keep an eye on her.
THE 1 (ONE) SUBSTITUTE PASSENGER
And the adventure begins when an uninvited passenger appears. Whether or not he also deserves the same punishment as his companions is unknown. With Anna’s plan derailing, and the clock ticking, this Clue-like puzzle will keep fans vigorously turning pages.
Next stop: an unexpected death.
Bad luck, or another numbers game at play? We’ll never tell.
As Sager notes, “It’s cathartic to watch good people do bad things to even worse people in the name of vengeance.”
Author Bio:
Susana Elizabeth Kuehne earned her degrees in mechanical engineering but has always embraced her creative talents. She maintains her devotion to writing by crafting fiction novels and contributing to a diverse set of platforms. The Latina mother is a member and book reviewer at the International Thriller Writers (ITW) group, where she was a winner of the First Sentence Contest for 2024. She’s also written pieces for the Women’s Fiction Writing Association (WFWA), the Rocky Mountains Fiction Writers (RMFW), and the Dominican Writers Association (DWA).
Her work has been featured in Scary Mommy, Her View from Home, and other lifestyle websites, local newspapers and technical publications.
