My Readers Guide to With a Vengeance discusses that this is a different kind of book for Riley Sager. Why are readers so divided about it? It’s different from his other books, but is it for you? I’m here to break it all down. Let’s go!
Readers Guide for With a Vengeance
Table of Contents:
- Jen’s Quick Take on With a Vengeance -100% spoiler free!
- Character (and suspect) list for With a Vengeance
- Spoilers for With a Vengeance and the Ending Explained
With a Vengeance: Jen’s Quick Take
- With a Vengeance is historical fiction, set in the 1950s, and on a train
- It’s a locked room mystery, with a small group trapped together
- With a Vengeance has definite Agatha Christie vibes, like Murder on the Orient Express crossed with And Then There Were None
- It’s a revenge story (as many And Then There Were None stories are)
- Readers are VERY divided. Right now the Goodreads ratings are low (3.5.)
- Some people embraced the vibe and enjoyed the book.
- Others found it slow-paced, repetitive, and implausible.
- I can actually see both sides. Is it plausible to invite all your enemies to an island and murder them? No, but it’s DRAMATIC.
- The 1950s train vibe was fun, and reminded me of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The plot also had All My Sons by Arthur Miller vibes for me.
- To me, this was not his strongest book. Just to help you compare your taste and mine, I think The Only One Left is by far his best book, and Middle of the Night is probably second. (I do like the quirkier ones.)
- Fun fact: this is only Sager’s second book written in third person. Do you know what the other one was?? Tell me in comments!
- I didn’t dislike With a Vengeance but probably could have waited for a library copy instead of buying it.
- Publication date: June 10, 2025 by Dutton Books.
Character List for With a Vengeance
Passengers on the train at the start of the book:
- Anna Matheson: a young woman
- Lieutenant Colonell Jack Lapsford
- Sally “Sal” Lawrence : Anna’s father’s former personal secretary
- Dante Wentworth: Anna’s ex. The son of Kenneth Wentworth, the rival of Anna’s father.
- Herb Pulaski : ran the train manufacturing plant
- Edith Gerhardt : housekeeper for the Matheson family
- Judd Dodge: designer/builder of the Philadelphia Phoenix
Other characters:
- Seamus Callahan: train conductor helping Anna’s revenge plot after the death of his brother
- Burt Chapman: engineer who is driving the chain
- Reginald “Reggie” Davis: FBI agent
- Kenneth Wentworth: rival railroad owner to Anna’s father
- Aunt Henrietta “Retta”: raised Anna after she was orphaned
- Thomas Matheson: Anna’s late brother
- Arthur Matheson: Anna’s late father
- Margaret Matheson: Anna’s late mother
If you want to skip the spoilers, please leave a comment or question below!
Spoilers for With A Vengeance
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What is Anna’s grudge with all these people on the train?
Anna has bought ALL the tickets for a train trip from Philadelphia to Chicago and invited Kenneth, Jack, Herb, Judd, Sally and Edith.
Flashback twelve years:
Anna’s father owned the Union Atlantic Railroad, a smaller railroad company.
Lt. Col. Jack Lapsford was bribed to award a military contract to Union Atlantic as part of a scheme.
Herb Pulaski received a design from Judd Dodge for a new train that would transport troops for the impending WWII.
Herb realized that the engine design was cheap yet flawed and might not even last one trip. He complained to Judd, who told him that the boss (Anna’s father) told him to design and build it that way.
The train was built over Herb’s objections (aka Herb was paid off).
In June 1942, the train set off from Philadelphia, headed to Fort Benning, Georgia. In North Carolina, the engine exploded, killing 39 people, including Anna’s brother.
Anna’s father was arrested.
In the investigation:
- Judd lied and said that Arthur Matheson insisted on the cheap and shoddy design
- Herb lied and said that Arthur told him to build the locomotive as cheaply as possible.
- Sally Lawrence provided fake notes and memos detailing those orders and conversations
- Edith Gerhardt testified that Arthur was a Third Reich sympathizer
Arthur Matheson was convicted and then killed in prison. His wife Margaret took her own life.
Anna believes that Kenneth Wentworth, her father’s bitter business rival, was behind it all. He bought Union Atlantic Railroad.
BUT when Anna’s Aunt Retta died, she revealed that she had ALL the documents to prove that Kenneth, Judd, Herb, Sally, Edith, and Jack were responsible for either causing the crash or covering it up.
Murders and Major Revelations With a Vengeance
Jack tries to fake a heart attack to get the train stopped. But he’s called out as a faker.
Then Judd does keel over, apparently poisoned.
A random man appears on the train and says he’s Reginald “Reggie” Davis, an FBI agent. When his superiors in Chicago received a bunch of incriminating documents that Anna sent, Davis hid on the train.
Edith’s body is found. She’s been strangled
Dante admits to being the one who sent Aunt Retta the incriminating documents.
Herb’s body is found HIs throat was cut
Judd is NOT dead. He faked his death (this is a typical Agatha Christie twist.) Judd is missing.
The group decides to split up and search for Judd. Anna is paired with Reggie, who gets stabbed.
Then Judd’s body is found
Yes, he’s actually dead this time. This time he’s strangled.
Anna is convinced the killer is either Jack or Sal.
Jack again says he’s having a heart attack, but this time (maybe) for real.
Seamus tells Anna that he has some sort of serious neurological problem and only a few years to live.
Anna finds Sal, shot through the head.
Since Anna realizes Jack must be the next target, she rushes to him and finds Seamus trying to kill him.
Seamus says that he knew Judd faked his death and that he was the one who strangled him. He has no regrets. He gives Anna his gun and jumps off the train.
Anna wonders who killed Sal, Herb, and Edith, and stabbed Reggie.
Who is still alive and on the train at this point?
Dante, Anna, Reggie, and Jack
With a Vengeance: the Ending Explained
The killer shows up in Jack’s room: it’s Reggie.
Reggie’s father was the engineer on the doomed train.
Reggie blackmailed Judd into killing Edith. He also stabbed himself to throw Anna off his trail.
After Reggie confesses, Sal hits him over the head from behind.
Yes, Sal faked her death too. (If you are ever in an And Then There Were None situation, this seems to be the move…)
Apparently Anna asked Sal to fake her death as she was trying to catch Seamus. But a few chapters ago Anna literally told us that the killer was either Jack or Sal. Then she accused Dante.
Reggie escaped and Anna chased after him. They were outside the train. They were on top of it. Anna shot out a skylight and they fell back into the train and started brawling.
Kenneth Wentworth popped out. What? He’d been pretending to be Burt Chapman, the engineer, all along. Kenneth was the one driving this train (and himself) to the FBI? Why?
Kenneth dropped a truth bomb: Anna’s beloved brother Tommy, killed in the crash, was actually his biological son with Anna’s mother. Anna’s father stole his son!
So Kenneth had Arthur killed in prison. Because Arthur “let” his son be in the war and on the train that Kenneth himself sabotaged. Kenneth, that was YOUR fault. Make it make sense!!!
We also learn that Reggie killed Herb but told the FBI he also killed Judd. Seamus actually killed Judd. Seamus killed Edith. I think. What even?
Reggie tries to get Anna to shoot Wentworth so she can join the murderer club, but she doesn’t.
The FBI shows up to arrest Wentworth, Sal, and Reggie. Reggie confessed to killing both Herb and Judd, as a way to help Seamus. Who may be dead or alive himself….
The FBI invited Anna to apply to be an agent, due to her brawling skills, I guess. Dante was the one who actually assembled the case on his own father.
I have so many questions! If you have theories leave them in comments!
- how did Reggie just happen to receive this information about Anna’s revenge trip, be able to sneak on the train AND also have a grudge against everyone on it?
- why would Kenneth drive himself (and the train) right to the FBI?
- if Kenneth knew that Tommy was his son (and a soldier) why cook up this wacky train sabotage plot and then blame Arthur for the fact that Tommy died?