This is not a drill! Riley Sager’s latest book is an edge-of-your seat thriller full of twists and turns to the very last line, and I LOVED IT!

What I Loved

*I loved the 90’s throwback. I was a college girl just like Charlie in November 1991. The music, the culture, the very real lack of technology. In 1991, we didn’t have cell phones, so there were no instant phone calls, no texting, no internet full of information widely and readily available. If you wanted to make a phone call, you carried change and found a payphone. Oh the nostalgia…

*I could genuinely relate to Charlie’s grief and guilt because in 1992 my best friend was also tragically killed. I found Sager’s depiction of grief to be authentic and genuine.

*The tension-filled game of cat and mouse was extraordinary, and I found my anxiety rising so much (in a good way) that I occasionally needed to take a break.

*The gaslighting! Oh the gaslighting and the mind games – all with one with one aim: survive the night.

What I Struggled With

*As a mother, I just wanted to scream: DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? But that’s really more about the reader than the book.

*There was one aspect of the ending that left me scratching my head, and it’s for this reason that I deducted a half star from my rating.

Survive the Night is a nostalgic and electrifying thrill ride, and I rate it 4.5 stars. It’s an absolute must read!

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This will be in stores on June 29, and you’re definitely going to want to grab your own copy.

This book isn't over until it's over!
.
I've been strongly anticipating Riley Sager's fifth novel, Survive the Night, ever since it was announced - so a huge thank you to Dutton for the ARC!! What got me? The title. It's eerie, thrilling, and fills me with all the anticipation!
.
This is a wild, wild ride full of twists, turns, and very eerie vibes. We have an unreliable narration, but it is done in a clever and unique way - so even though I feel this is overused in thrillers, it didn't bother me in this book. Sager is very atmospheric - I felt like I was alone in the car - with a stranger - on a stretch of dark, cold highway, afraid for my life. I got very strong No Exit vibes which thrilled me as I so LOVED No Exit. But the fear pumping through me while I was reading is what kept me turning the pages, I just HAD to know what was going to happen!
.
I thought a lot of the book was going to be predictable, so I am happy to say that I didn't end up predicting a lot of the twists. There were parts that I felt like... oh is that it? But a new twist would re-ramp up my excitement.
.
I'm not sure where Survive the Night fits in to my Sager novel ranking, but I believe it to be one of his better stories. I really enjoyed this book!
.
If you love thrillers, don't skip Survive the Night!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Umm...WOW. I think this is my new favorite Riley Sager book.

The year is 1991. A college student, who has had more than her share of tragedy, looks to escape her life and accepts a ride home with a perfect stranger. Soon, she realizes that he is more than he seems and just may be a serial killer.

This book is dark, twisty, and tightly plotted. Along with the story itself is an exploration of grief that I appreciated.

I can see some people not liking the end of the book, but it worked for me. I loved this.

Thank you, #NetGalley, for the advanced reader copy

I’m a big fan of Riley Sager, and I was immediately hooked by the premise of this book. It’s a dark, action packed and twisty ride, and I felt like I was watching a movie-which is appropriate given Charlie is obsessed with movies and often has elaborate cinema-esque daydreams that she has trouble differentiating from reality. You think you know where this story is going, and then it flips you upside down, and just as you’re finding yourself you get flipped again, and again. And just like when watching a movie, I often found myself yelling at Charlie to “run!” Or “watch out!”
The older setting also plays a perfect part in heightening the tension, as Charlie has to get creative when looking for help in a pre-cell phone era. I’m sure many of us can remember traveling in a time where you used actual maps and carried change for pay phones. I also quite enjoyed the chapter titles that were reminiscent of a movie script; another subtle nod to our protagonist and her love of film.

Read this in less than 24 hours which is always the mark of a good thriller. Not my first Sager, and not my favorite Sager, but a well-rounded entry into the thriller cannon, nonetheless. As someone who also majored in film in college, I loved the nod to movies laced throughout the book. Tropes that I find annoying normally in books like this made all the more sense when bookended by the prologue and epilogue of the story.

A more in-depth review to come on Instagram after I've had some time to digest, but overall, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to its publication date. It will be THE big thriller of Summer 2021.

Riley. Freaking. Sager. I swear, he can do no wrong, and there’s always a spot on his books where I’m gobsmacked.

I can’t share details yet, but Sager reels you in, confuses you, shocks you, then while you’re recalling, he makes you tear through the remainder of the book. Oh, and before you finish? A gut punch. I was not going to sleep until I finished this one, and afterwards, I laid there and just tried to process what the hell I just read.

“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.

Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

What follows is a game of cat and mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there's nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing—survive the night.”

Definitely five stars. It’s amazing, Sager’s writing is fantastic, and this is going to be a huge summer smash.

**Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. My opinions, though gushing, are my own.**

2.5 stars

I've read most of Sager's book, and he quickly became one of my favorite go-to authors. However, I struggled with this one.

There was a diabolical villain, as I expected, but it wasn't as shocking as in prior books. And the ending seemed a bit too neat for the genre. The first half was way too slow for this genre, in my opinion. It did improve a bit as the story went on. The mention of some classic films was a fun addition.

Propulsive, but ultimately not one of Sager's best. The setup is definitely intriguing, there are several interesting story twists along the way, and the book's chapter arrangement and titling by scene setting is both clever and serves a larger purpose. However, I could never fully get onboard with a college-aged girl willingly accepting a car ride from a complete stranger, no matter what her degree of desperation and fragile her emotional state were, and the final act was a bit of a letdown compared to all that preceded it with not everything about the ending sitting right with me.

Charlie is looking to leave her university before Thanksgiving break after her best friend and dorm roommate is murdered by the Campus Killer. She finds a ride on the campus rideshare board is taken on a wild, twisting, and turning ride. Like the main character, the reader constantly feels like they're second-guessing themselves at every turn. This novel is full of tense surprises and the reader will not want to put the book down.

Overall, a great novel, but would make for a fantastic film (if you know what I'm saying). Read this if you like 80s-90s horror films and edge-of-your-seat thrillers.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read and write a review for Survive the Night.

After Final Girls, Riley Sager quickly became one of my all time favorite thriller writers. Survive the Night is another strong thriller under his belt. Charlie is a tough but damaged character, just like the femme fatales and damsels in distress in the old movies that she loves. The plot was fast-paced and compelling. The ending felt a bit too complete and too happy almost for the tone of the book but all loose ends were wrapped up.

Another great Riley Sager thriller! As usual, it was a book I couldn't put down and was taken on a ride with lots of twists and turns. The first half was a bit slow and felt pretty repetitive, but the second half was amazing! There were even a couple of chapters that left me utterly confused in a very good way. I had no idea what was going on and had me second-guessing what I was assuming was happening.

The ending in particular was great! I won't say more in order not to spoil it, but it felt like the perfect way to end the story in a satisfying way.

SURVIVE THE NIGHT is a fast-paced and twisty thriller about a Charlie, a college student who is leaving campus mid-semester following her friend's brutal murder at the hands of a man known as the Campus Killer. She accepts a ride offer from Josh, an unassuming stranger. However there is something suspicious about Josh, and Charlie is beginning to suspect his offer to drive her all the way back home to Ohio was no happy accident. However it is not just the very real threat of danger that is troubling Charlie, her own mind is known trick her and, and turn mundane scenarios into cinematic nightmares.

Riley Sager has once again delivered a one of a kind thriller, filled with unique characters, surprising turns, and non-stop action.

What a rollercoaster ride that was.
4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dealing with the aftermath of her best friend’s murder, Charlie decides to drop out of college and leave it all behind so that she can escape the pain that she feels. To get back home, Charlie hitches a ride with a stranger named Josh only to discover that he might not be who he says he is and that his suspicious behavior might mean that Charlie is in danger of encountering the same fate as her best friend.

Although I figured out parts of the ending, I wasn’t initially able to figure out how those parts were tied together, so by the end when I was able to see these connections, I was both satisfied and entertained.

During the first half of the novel, I found myself wanting to scream at the pages like I scream at foolish characters in a 90’s slasher film. I’m sooooo glad that Charlie’s character turns out to be more than a victim and a force to be reckoned with. When she decides to leave the diner with Josh because she wants to exact revenge herself, I was HERE FOR IT.

I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager novels and will read anything this author writes. This book was far from a disappointment and readers are in for a real treat.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this preview copy.
Oh Riley! I enjoyed this book. Parts of it I thought like the typical viewer of a horror film. I was yelling at characters trying to get them to not be naive. Then I recalled that this book takes place in the 80s before every channel on tv had a show about serial killer. More innocent times. The story builds the anxiety with suspicious characters and an unreliable narrator. I don't do spoilers. If you've read Riley's past books you will not be disappointed.

Another page-turner from Riley Sager! I was REALLY looking forward to this one, so I was super excited to get an advance copy! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher! I've yet to give one of Sager's books five stars yet, even though I highly anticipate their release and know they will keep me invested and staying up late at night to finish. There's always been something about his endings that keep me from giving 5 stars. Nonetheless, I still really enjoyed this book! It made my eyes bug out a few times and say "what?!" It also made me want to watch some Hitchcock films. Charlie may be my favorite character of Sager's so far. I highly recommend this book and any of Sager's other titles if you love page-turning thrillers and crazy plot twists!

Wow, wow, wow! Mind-blowing good! A bit of Last Time I Lied mixed with a bit of Final Girls! This book was completely and utterly unputdownable, with its fast paced, chilling storyline! A few times, you may lose yourself as much as the characters do, because Sager has nailed the character development! Original, but realistic and absolutely chilling to the bone! This was a book that truly had my brain spinning and did so long after I read that final page! I cannot recommend enough, as it’s one heck of a thrilling ride! Trust no one! But most importantly do not start prior to cleaning your schedule, and more importantly do not start while trying to get sleep! This unputdownable thrilling, chilling, and absolutely gasp out loud shocking book will keep you on the edge of your seat, with a want to finish and a crying about it ending too!

There is a campus killer on the loose and has already killed 3 people. When Charlie’s friend, Maddy, is found dead after a night out they suspect it’s the work of the Campus Killer. Charlie is struggling with the lose and decides to leave school to go back home. She hitches a ride from Josh, who she found.on campus since she doesn’t drive after both her parents were killed in a car accident.

That decision turns out to be mistake as she quickly fears that Josh might be the campus killer. She quickly she’s signs that she could be in danger. A series of events occur that lead to one wild and crazy road trip.

I was obviously very excited to get an advanced copy of this one as I have loved all the authors prior books. However, I’d have to say this one was not my favourite of his. I think the premise was interesting and there was definitely a lot of unexpected twists. I think the ending was really well done and was surprised by a couple things. I also found myself not loving Charlie’s character for much of the book but near the end my feelings changed. I could definitely see this book making a great movie so hopefully that will happen.

I loveeeee Riley Sager and he didn't let me down.

Let's jump right into what I loved about the book:

- The characters: Out of all the Sager novels, Charlie has been my favorite leading lady. Charlie wasn't an ignorant female in a thriller. Did she make questionable choices? Sure. We all do. What I liked about Charlie is her ability to clearly think of a plan despite the intense level of danger she felt she was experiencing from those choices. The character development overall was great. I liked the way I was able to find something relatable or likable for every character.

- The setting: I am a big fan of an author making a big moment out of a seemingly small thing. Most of this story takes place in a car, which was really unique for me. I think it was intensely creative to string along a twisty plot mostly inside a vehicle. The movie theme through this book was really unique as well and added a nice touch of nostalgia. Charlie was movie obsessed in the best way. I would actually have loved more of this. I also loved that Charlie's mind gave us a setting with characters of its own.

- The plot: Here's the part where you have to trust me. I don't want to write a review with spoilers, so this will be vague. I did not see the twist coming at all. I give major points here for this. When you read a lot of thrillers you get better at guessing, and thank goodness I wasn't betting anything on this ending. It was wild.

Overall, no complaints from me. Another solid thriller from my favorite author.

I was able to ready this book as an ARC from Netgalley. I usually like Riley Sager books, but I just couldn't really get into this one, which was disappointing.

ARC/Netgalley

ARC/Netgalley

Will I probably ever rate a Riley Sager novel 5 stars? No. Will I still read all of them? Apparently yes. They are addictive literary candy. The perfect read in one sitting on a plane or long drive.
This novel basically takes the premise of the beginning of When Harry Met Sally and makes it scary. Although I thought I had the entire book figured out quickly there were still enough twists and turns to make it interesting and entertaining.