Why did the cop pull over the U-haul? Because he wanted to bust a move.

Why are pigs terrible drivers?
Because they always hog the road.

Okay, I know you might be wheel-y tired of my car jokes and puns, but I promise I'm just getting started. Let's get this show on the road!

Charlie desperately needs a ride home to Ohio. She has not been able to cope with college life since the death of her roommate at the hands of the Campus Killer. Fortunately, Charlie meets Josh at the ride board, and he's going her way. However, there are some things about Josh that just don't add up; things that fill Charlie with fear, things that make her think she could be riding with the Campus Killer, himself. Down the dark, desolate highways on this long, lonely trip, who will Survive the Night?

Just like my sense of humor, this story took a wrong turn somewhere. Riley Sager is an amazing author. There's always a crazy anticipation for his newest work, and that was especially true with this book. You had me at "set in the 90s". Unfortunately, this one wasn't pulled off without a hitch. I feel like it was set in the 90s purely to be able to use a payphone in one scene. I appreciated the mention of some music I loved when I was younger, but other than those 2 things, nothing about the book felt like 1991 to me. It took me awhile to get interested, but to be absolutely clear, I did get interested. There is a good deal of tension and suspense during the car ride. It's what happens after that strains credulity. I didn't love the ending, either.

This is still a solid 3 star book, and I'm sure will be much higher for other readers, especially if they are new to the author. A middle of the road Riley Sager book is still more than most could hope for.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I'm <b>notoriously</b> bad at picking up on context clues throughout thriller books, but that usually just makes my experience that much more fun. And that's true for this one! This was a wilddddd ride. Every time I thought I had it figured out, we took a hard right turn somewhere else. I stayed on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed the entire thing.

Charlie is an incredibly likeable character. I would give anything to have friends like her and Maddy. The serial killer aspect was fun. Overall, just a blast.

And that *ending-ending*, chef's kiss perfect. I loved it. A+ Riley Sager. A+

**I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I Love Love Love Riley Sager's books! Survive the Night is another great novel from RIley that really helps remind us how terrifying the world was without the safety net of a cell phone! Much like Charlie, without the ability to call for help, everything can seem that much scarier. Especially when you find yourself on a long car ride with someone who may be your best friends killer!!!!

Riley Sager does it again!! What a great book. He will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen. Love his books, I cannot wait for the next one.

Detective Pikachu voice: "twisty, very twisty."

Another great book by Riley Sager! I loved the characters and how they all puzzled together. The reveals didn't feel too rushed and it felt natural (well, as natural as it can in such a situation). If you've enjoyed other books by them, I definitely recommend it! Kept my attention throughout and I didn't want to put it down!

This was my first Riley Sager read but probably will not be my last. A local librarian recommended this author to me because I like Stephen King and psychological thrillers. It was a good mix of everything I like and a quick read. I didn't want to put it down!

Survive the Night wasn’t my favorite Riley Sager Book. It was a good book that kept me in suspense from page 1 till the very end. But It’s just wasn’t fantastic for me. 🙁 I loved that the book took place in the 90s (no technology to communicate); it set the tone for a fun thriller. Also, I enjoyed the random movie references that were mention throughout the book. What I didn’t like was the lack of action. Most of the action happens in the last 10 percent of the book. The ending was super predictable, which was a disappointment; usually, the endings are mind-blowing 🤯Overall, it was an entertaining read; it just didn’t wow me like his other books. I still planned to buy Survive the Night on pub day. It does deserve a spot on my shelf. 🖤 Thank you, @Dutton and @netgalley, for the ARC copy.

another amazing book by Sager. Such cool vibes and a story that is so captivating. I love following the main characters thoughts while trying to figure out if she has been with villain or not. I want to give this book to so many friends to read, a great summer nights read

At this point, I don’t need to know what the book is about, if I see that Riley Sager has written it, I’ll want to read it. All I knew before digging into Survive The Night, was that it took place in the 1990s. I love a different era for a book like this.

Once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. I was so into it that I read it in two sittings!

It was fantastic.

If you are looking for a book that will literally keep you on your toes, this is one that you must read!

Synopsis:

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 shocking 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.

The longer she sits in the passenger seat, the more Charlie notices there’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t want her to see inside the trunk. As they travel an empty, twisty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly anxious Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s jittery mistrust merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

One thing is certain—Charlie has nowhere to run and no way to call for help. Trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on pitch-black roads and in neon-lit parking lots, Charlie knows the only way to win is to survive the night.

Coming out on July 6, pre-order now!

It’s 1991, and Charlie Jordan decides she has to get away from Olyphant University She has lost her best friend to a serial killer, and feels responsible for leaving Maddy alone that fateful night. She decides to post a flyer asking if anyone is going her way, and surprisingly meets John, a stranger who just happens to be posting his flyer! The whole story takes place over one long night. In the beginning, she does question if it’s wise to be traveling with a man she never met across two states, but he seems nice and is cute, so what the hell! As they drive, Charlie begins to realize that good old Josh may not be who he claims to be, and in fact, catches him in several lies. From here we move forward with LOTS of twists, some of them downright comical, which I enjoyed! Also, Charlie is a lover of classic films and has “spells” where she gets lost in movie fantasy, sometimes revealing important points of the plot. If you like suspense and on occasion laughter, I highly recommend this to while away a couple of hours!

Okay, I'm a big Riley Sager fan, so it's a no-brainer that I enjoy his books. This was a bit different from his previous works, it's a tight story that takes place all in one night! This is going to be the most effective with fans of noir and stories with a Hitchcockian flair. Charlie was going to school to be a film major, but after a traumatic event she just wants to go home to Ohio. She catches a ride with a student named Jake heading the same direction, but as they get further on the road, she's starting to feel that Jake may not be who he says he is and she might be trapped with a dangerous person, but can she even trust herself?

Charlie is in a ride share with a stranger named Josh. He's driving her home to spend time with her grandma. Charlie's best friend was murdered by a serial killer and she can't spend another day at school. Josh is not who he says he is. It took until 44%, when we first get Josh's pov, for the story to pick up. Charlie is an unreliable narrator because she sometimes plays events in her mind like they're movies so she has moments where she doesn't know if it's real life or a movie. It's over the top but the second half reads so quickly. My real question is... hasn't anyone ever heard of hypnotherapy?

Survive the Night.  Great title and the plot was very enticing.  A college students decides to leave campus and accepts a ride home with a stranger after her best friend is murdered and she is having trouble coping.  So far so good.  But I just feel too many of the scenarios were just not believable.  Her boyfriend’s attitude when she is leaving with a stranger (although, it was the 80's I guess?), Josh’s behavior on the trip, and several decisions Charlie makes during the trip just didn’t seem plausible considering there was serial killer on the loose.  Having said that, I must say, I found myself unable to walk away from the book without knowing what happened.  The first half drags a little, but keeping reading!  It picks up during the second half.  Overall, a good summer read, especially for fans of Sager and similar thrillers!

What a ride! When I’m in the mood for a thriller, this is what I’m looking for. Fast pacing, plot twists, and some awesome nostalgia had me hooked on this until the end. I actually loved how much Charlie’s character infuriated me at times. She was your typical horror movie victim/heroine type who survives more because of dumb luck than any actual skill, but I loved her. I love how she wasn’t magically turned into a skilled assassin just for the plot. The multiple twists in this book kept me engaged and I was satisfied with the ending. Once again, Riley Sager has written a great summer thriller.

This book pretty much had me hooked from the start! Whenever I breeze through a book and have that "can't put it down" feeling, I know it's a good one. This is the first Riley Sager book I read, even though I have already bought two and want to read all his other books, this book just solidified that for me. I'm not good at guessing plot twists, which is why I love reading thrillers, and this book was no exception. There were quite a few twists that I obviously didn't see coming, and had only made me want to read more.

I think the one thing that I wasn't too keen on was Charlie's "movies in her mind". They were definitely necessary to the plot, and it's something I completely understand when dealing with grief. But it left me a bit confused at parts. I think I just need to sit with it for a bit. My opinion on that might change. But overall, incredible book!! I can't wait to talk about it with people when it comes out.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for sending me an eARC of this book!

I have read all of Riley Sager's books and so when I got this ARC, I literally screamed. I was so excited and I thought the premise sounded so promising. Well let me tell you, this book BLEW ME AWAY. I immediately loved Charlie and started rooting for her immediately. You couldn't help but feel bad for her, because she was clearly traumatized and feeling guilty about the death of her friend Maddy. Her ride partner is creepy and freaks you out almost instantly - and I found myself yelling at Charlie and freaking out for her.

I liked the setting being early 90s (even though I wasn't born then), and I liked all the movie references. I thought it really added a fun level to Charlie's character.

I am a huge fan of books that span over an entire night and this one was done so well. I was instantly sucked in and didn't want to stop reading. Because it was over the span of a night, you really got a lot of details and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I never felt bored or like I knew what was going to happen. Riley Sager does an outstanding job of really keeping you on your toes and making you think one thing when another thing is true. It was like I had most of the puzzle put together, and then he came over and pushed the whole puzzle onto the floor, shattering everything I thought I knew.

There were a lot of twists in this one and I honestly saw none of them coming. The ending had me freaking out, gasping, screaming, and crying. I honestly don't want to give too much away because I went into it blind and I think that is the best way to do it.

This is Riley Sager's best book yet!!!!!

2.5 stars, rounded up

I'm pretty sure that I will still continue to pick up every Riley Sager book that comes out, because they feel nostalgic to me - like my battered collection of old R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike books from seventh grade. Were they great? Nope. Were they campy? Yep. Were they totally predictable? ABSOLUTELY. Did they keep my attention enough that I binge-read them anyway? Totally.

I thought that the premise of Survive the Night sounded fun (especially with the '90s flashback setting and nostalgia and all), and the book started off well enough to hook me, but the suspension of disbelief required to get through the second half was pretty tough. The absurdity of the last 20% and the epilogue really killed any lingering good thoughts I had been having about this one.

Riley Sager's books are usually "twisty" in ways that we can see coming from a mile away because they're one formulaic cliché stacked on top of another. Survive the Night definitely holds the new record for least shocking "twists" since the cast of characters was so small to begin with. There's something about the way that Sager writes female leads that grates on me, and it makes me really unsympathetic and often irritated with them when I should be rooting for them.

Survive the Night was definitely my least favorite Sager book to date. Still, I am always hoping that the next one will be the one that I fall in love with!

I have enjoyed some of Riley Sager's past novels, but this one was incredibly disappointing. The first 3/4 was boring. The ending did pick up but was predictable. I would not recommend this to anyone.

Riley Sager has become a staple name in my house. I feel like each book just gets better and better, this one included.