Just when I thought his books couldn’t get any better, Riley Sager goes ahead and publishes this wonder, Survive the Night! Of his five novels, this one cemented itself as my favorite within the first chapter! It’s a thriller, takes place in the year I was born, the lead character is headed back to her hometown which is dangerously close to where I’m from, and she’s obsessed with movies!
Granted, Charlie does love movies, but she uses her vast cinematic knowledge to help her create a mental means of escape. She’s faced a lot of trauma in her past and present, and at the start of the novel decides it’s time to leave college and go back home to her grandmother. That past trauma? Both of her parents died in a car accident, and more recently her best friend and roommate was found dead at the hands of the Campus Killer. Now, anyone dying is truly tragic, but Charlie’s got it in her head that it’s very much her fault. She left Maddy at a bar where she thinks she saw a guy sidle up to her before she left for good. When questioned about it later, Charlie had no real details and was pretty well convinced what she saw was “a movie in her mind.”
Back to the present, Charlie accepts a ride back to Ohio from a stranger named Josh, and basically as soon as they get ready to go Charlie is on alert. Things Josh is doing seem a little odd, but as things get even stranger, she continues to give him the benefit of the doubt. Mostly because she can’t trust her mind. Obviously that is a running theme in this book, but not as a means of making things ridiculous. This device helps make her an unreliable narrator, but then almost immediately assures you that she is aware of these “mind movies.” After some time, she’s convinced that Josh is the Campus Killer, but from there things take seriously unexpected turns!
I refuse to say anymore for fear of totally ruining all of the twists and turns this book takes, but trust me when I say it’s a magnificent read! Everything about seems to have been meant to appeal perfectly to me. It takes place in the 90s, Nirvana is heavily featured, they’re dealing with winter in the mid-west, and most importantly it references films constantly! There are certainly classics that have never made their way into my life, but you don’t need to be a film buff to know what’s being referenced. The nostalgia should reel you in, but the mystery will keep you there – hard recommend!