I liked this book. I don't think it's Riley Sager's best work to date, but I did enjoy the read. I found his take on an unreliable narrator interesting. Charlie sees "movies in her mind" and can't always distinguish them from reality. Some parts really had me guessing and there were some really good twists and turns, but overall not my favorite book by this author.

I always enjoy books by Riley Sager for the fast plot pace and the puzzling style of the story. Each one of Riley's stories is quite unique. I truly enjoyed SURVIVE THE NIGHT because it was one of those that strings you along, giving you opportunities to formulate theories about what happened. As a reader, I felt like I was a part of the journey during the car ride. You get to know the characters quite well through the driving as a setting. The ending was almost too fast for me, but overall it was a very entertaining thriller and murder mystery.

While I have grown to be a fan of Riley Sager, his latest, Survive the Night, misses the mark for me in a couple of areas. First of all, the premise: A campus killer has yet to be caught. A guilt-ridden roommate who must get away from the college. Despite all the warnings and information provided on campus, she gets into a car with a strange man for a ride home to Ohio? Secondly, the unreliable narrator constantly flipping the plot with “movies in her head” got tiresome very quickly, and the “flips” seemed a cop out instead of good writing. This plot device was plain tiresome.

The story takes place just short of Thanksgiving 1991. Film student Charlie Jordan cannot take the guilt anymore regarding the death of her roommate Maddy. She just must get away from campus NOW, so she posts a request on a ride board. Remember those? Her boyfriend Robbie does not put much effort into convincing her to stay on campus with him.

Josh Baxter is the stranger who shows up after 9 p.m. to give Charlie an all-night ride home to Youngstown, Ohio, from fictional Olyphant University in New Jersey. Charlie knows she is doing a risky thing getting a ride from someone she does not know but her anxiety and survivor guilt are in control of her. As the projected six-hour journey progresses, she talks herself into and out of believing that Josh is the Campus Killer. At a stop for food at a diner in the middle of nowhere, Charlie calls Robbie and lets him know she is in trouble. She thinks the waitress might be of help in this situation and that Robbie will have called the police.

But all is not what it seems of course as this is a Riley Sager thriller in which Charlie must find a way to survive the night.

Sager pays homage to the many movies he loves as well as to some music from the 1990s. He is a former journalist, editor, and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name, Todd Ritter. A Pennsylvania native, Riley lives in Princeton, New Jersey, where he writes, reads, cooks, and attends movies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 8, 2021.

I would like to thank the PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

3.5 Stars- I wish half stars were a real part of the rating system!
I think the toughest thing about this book is that I can’t help but compare it to Sager’s other books, and in doing so, this one feels a little less compelling than the others.

There’s plenty of the trademark Sager tension but it’s initially hard to get enough sense of Charlie, and half of the book is spent wondering why she’s making the choices she’s making. 50% of a story is a long time to be uncertain if you like a character or even the novel, and if it hadn’t been for my love of Sager’s previous books, I might have DNF’d this one.

But then closer to the 75% mark more and more twists are delivered, and for the most part, you can only see them coming a few pages before the actual revelation. And as is usually the case, the resolutions are very satisfying.

Well, I did find this book a bit confusing. There were times when I couldn't follow whether Charlie was in one of her dream states or if it was real, which I guess was the point. I also found it strange that she decided to go with Josh/Jake even after she realized that he had been lying to her and she believed he was a serial killer. I didn't guess everything about this book, and it did hold my interest, but wasn't my favorite book by this author.

This book seems like it's going to be more horror or thriller focused with its serial killer on campus, but Survive the Night is much more film noir. We have Charlie, our movie-obsessed heroine who blames herself for the murder of her best friend/roommate after leaving her alone that night. Racked with guilt, she's preparing to drop out of school and return home mid-semester. Heading to Ohio with Josh, who she meets at the rideshare board, Charlie can't help but feel nervous as some of the information he shares doesn't add up, until she's sure she's sharing a car with the Campus Killer.

This book keeps you on the edge of your seat with Charlie as she tries to figure out what's real.

I love Riley Sager books.... That being said this is his best book yet! I don't even trust myself after the ride I just went on with Charlie! My head is spinning! Charlie is flawed, crazy, emotional, yet brave and spunky she is the perfect character! If you only read one book this year let it be this!!!!

This book is fantastic! Definitely kept me guessing until the end and it was wonderfully creepy like all of Riley Sanger’s books. It might be my favorite one to date!

I LOVE Riley Sager books, but was left slightly unfulfilled and disappointed with his last novel, Home Before Dark. Thankfully, Survive the Night left me feeling the opposite - I was riveted by Charlie's story, her character development, and the road trip setting. Riley Sager is once again the King of Thriller's in by book, pun intended.

I'm a Sager fan, make no mistake about that. I did feel the story was a bit predictable, but I still liked the ride Sager takes the reader on. I'm definitely buying a few copies for the library because our Mystery book club will devour it. They're all pretty hardcore Sager fans.

I love movies, I love books and I love Riley Sager. The format of the book is perfect for the storyline, the characters are all so believable and well rounded and I didn’t see the twist coming until just before it did (and I’m usually catch on early). Another one out of the park, now please start making these books movies or shows SOMETHING.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

Set in 1991, Charlie is still struggling with guilt after the murder of her roommate a few months ago. Charlie decided to leave school and get in a ride share with a strange man she just met.

Funny to think of how different our lives are with cell phones.

I like Riley Sager’s books a lot but couldn’t get into this story or care for the characters.

It’s November 1991. George H. W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

Now that's a lede.

I gave Survive the Night 4 stars purely for the mindfuck twists. It's a ride, to be sure, but it's not quite the electrifying novel it could have, and should have been.

Sager is a must-read author for me - anything he puts out, I'll snap up (or nab on NetGalley before my finger even knows I'm smashing the Request button) - I loved Final Girls and Lock Every Door so very much. The way that Sager turns tropes on their head is like a drug to a thriller addict like me - his writing is fresh and surprising, often funny and smart. There is a lot to like about Survive the Night, but there are a few key things that I think would have made this even better.

Like the blurb says, our heroine Charlie is a young woman living in the 1990s, taking a road trip with a man she suspects might be the serial killer who murdered her best friend. Unable to cope with the death of Maddy, Charlie is heading home, leaving her boyfriend behind on campus and hoping that she'll heal with the help of her grandmother and their beloved movies. Charlie is a film buff and uses their familiarity to escape from the tragedies that have befallen her at such a young age.

Her ride, Josh, seems great at first. Handsome and self assured, he's an easy conversationalist and good company on the emptiness of the midnight roads. But soon, Charlie starts to wonder - why is his story changing so often? Why won't he let her see what's in the trunk of his car? Why is he sticking so close, seemingly unwilling to let her leave his side?

Is he the Campus Killer?

And if so, can she kill him before he kills her?

What follows is pretty juicy, up till the end, when everything falls apart a bit. There are some excellent twists throughout this page turner - some I saw coming and others I very much didn't.

The issue isn't with the plot so much - it's with the atmosphere. I wanted so much more of the 90s setting and vibes. The 1990s is the decade in which I became a teenager, and I remember it fondly. The mall, the lack of cellphones, not even a whisper of an Apple Watch or iPad, the clothes and trends, the celebrities (Leo DiCaprio heeeeey), movies, music... it's such a rich decade because it really was the cusp of a new age in the way human beings interact. There was no social media or even messenger / DM - people had to use pay phones when they were out and at night, you talked endlessly on the phone to your friends until your parents shouted at you to stop taking up the line.

I felt that Sager could have utilized this more - although there are plenty of Nirvana mentions and pay phones abound, it just didn't feel like the 90s as much, I'm not sure why.

There's also a gimmick used throughout the novel that weakened it, in my humble opinion. Especially in the epilogue, when the gimmick reveals itself in an extremely meta way that affected how I looked at the novel in its entirety.

However, these really are small quibbles. Survive the Night is a banger of a thriller. It's a testament to Sager's talent that I expect so much from his books and that there were tons of twists I never in a million years saw coming. Like a 90s trend, Sager's writing is just that irresistible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Riley Sager is hit or miss for me. I don’t 100% get the hype and have only had one so far that really made my heart race. Now there are two. This one is set in the 90s - totally awesome vibe and gave me major nostalgia. Loved it!

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have loved everything that I've read by Riley Sager and this is no exception. One of my favorite YA writers!

This was fabulous. I would have read it in a single sitting if I hadn't started the book past midnight the first night. As it is, it only took me two nights to devour the entire thing. I swear Riley Sager just gets better and better with each subsequent book. This one in particular was fabulous--the use of the 90s setting really added to the feeling of isolation and dread. (Can I also mention that isolation horror is becoming one of my favorite subgenres of the thriller/mystery/horror set? And it's done perfectly here.) I was a little surprised by the twist, and not in a way that was like...oh I should have seen that coming, more in a 'wait, what?' way. But it didn't diminish my enjoyment whatsoever. 5/5 stars.

I don't know what I was hoping for with this book but I don't think I found it. It was a pretty fun read, and I finished it in a day, but it wasn't everything I had hoped. This thriller is a fun "beach read" but I just felt myself wondering more about the supporting characters. There was lots of imagery, but unfortunately I felt like I had read it all before in different books.

With a title like Survive the Night, you know Riley Sager's latest thriller is going to be intense. In fact, intense may be an understatement because this is one of the few books I have read that literally had me on the edge of my seat. I rarely find a book that I cannot put down, but Survive the Night takes the cake. If taut, heart-pounding suspense stories are your thing, be sure to pick up Survive the Night.

The premise of Survive the Night is fairly simple, but it is put to such great effect and works so well with Sager's writing style that it quickly becomes a tangled web of deception leaving readers unsure of the events that are unfolding right before their eyes. When college student Charlie puts a notice on a ride share board at her university, she doesn't expect to get a response immediately. Before she knows it, she has a ride back home to Ohio with fellow student Josh. Charlie can't wait to leave her past at Olyphant University behind her - her best friend and roommate was murdered by a serial killer, the Campus Killer, just two months before and Charlie believes it was her fault. She wants to escape to her hometown and forget about what happened at Olyphant, and Josh is going to help her get there.

You'd think that being so close to someone who was victimized by a cold-blooded murderer would make Charlie extra cautious about sharing a ride with a stranger, but rather she does some things that may have those of us living in the 2020s raising our eyebrows (this book does take place in the early 90s.) To make matters worse, not long into the ride, Charlie begins suspecting that Josh may very well be the man that murdered her best friend. Is he the Campus Killer, and if he is, how does Charlie make it out of this car alive? Can she "survive the night?"

"Wow" is all I can say about Survive the Night. This book had everything that I look for in a suspense novel - a simple setting (in this case, primarily the inside of a traveling car); intriguing characters (Charlie is obsessed with classic film noir and so am I, so this was a big plus for me); a short timeline (the events of the novel take place over the course of a few hours); and an ominous vibe (is there anything scarier than being trapped in a car with a potential serial killer?!) To top it off, Sager is a masterful storyteller - he literally had chills running down my spine and my heart beating out of my chest. This novel is unsettling and claustrophobic ... but in a good way.
All the while you are reading, you are hoping that Charlie is wrong about Josh, but you are reading with your eyes wide open searching for clues just in case she's not. And last but not least, what's a suspense thriller without a few twists? You get all of that and more with Survive the Night!

Survive the Night is a book I won't be able to get out of my head for a long time. This storyline is so memorable and compulsive that I will be looking for a similar pay-off in every suspense novel I read for the rest of the year! Highly recommended to fans of the suspense genre, those who love film noir and 80s and 90s slasher films, and anyone who enjoys a taut, tightly-woven tale of utter horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did! Riley Sager has written some great books, books that I've thought about long after the final page. I really enjoyed Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied and Survive the Night is maybe my new favorite!

Charlie, named after Teresa Wright's character in Hitchcock's classic Shadow of a Doubt, is looking to take a break from college. Her best friend and roommate, Maddie, was murdered by someone known as the Campus Killer. Charlie feels like it is her fault. An introvert, Maddie helped entice Charlie out of their dorm room, where otherwise, she could happily have spent all her time watching classic movies on VHS. One night, Maddie wants to go out to a bar. Charlie doesn't feel like going out, but finally relents and goes with her. When Maddie leaves her alone to flirt, Charlie storms off. When Maddie tries to persuade her to stay, Charlie calls her a bad friend and walks away, glancing back to see a shadowy male figure lighting a cigarette for Maddie.

Charlie sometimes has spells, where she can't tell if what she's seeing is reality, or a movie scene in her head. So when she's questioned as the last person to see Maddie alive, she can't describe the man she saw, because he may not have been real.

Maddie's boyfriend, Robbie, doesn't understand why she needs to leave. ASAP. He offers to drive her home, to her grandmother, her only family, when the semester ended, but Maddie goes to put an ad on the rideboard at school. There's a guy there, handsome, a slightly older student in a campus hoodie.
Turns out, he's looking for someone to keep him company on a long drive and he will be going right past where Charlie needs to go, Youngstown, Ohio. He needs to leave that night.
"I can be that someone" she says.
So begins the journey that will take place over the course of a long night. From the moment Charlie gets in the car with Josh, we begin to wonder, along with Charlie, if this was the smartest move she has taken.
This is such a twisty, surprising thrill ride, and we are there, beside Charlie, following that long dark road with a complete stranger, as well as those movie stars also along for the ride, care of Charlie's imagination! This is a perfect book for film lovers who also enjoy a suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end!
Highly recommended! Thanks to NetGalley for the DRC!

I always look forward to Riley Sager books! It's funny because this one was centered around movies, and I always read his books with a "move projection mindset," because I think they all would make great movies. As usual, I thought I had this one figured out but there was an extra twist in the end! Not my favorite of his, but I enjoyed anyway!