| Publisher | Hodder Paperbacks |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 23 December 2021 |
| ISBN-10 | 1529379946 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1529379945 |
| Format | paperback |
| Pages | 336 |
| Price | £ 8.99 |
Survive the Night
by
When Charlie Jordan decides she can’t stand being in college any longer and must go home, she accepts a lift from a stranger. But Charlie soon starts to realise that she might have made a very dangerous mistake …
Review
Charlie Jordan has had enough of college. Everything changed when her best friend Maddy was murdered. Charlie walked away from Maddy after a stupid row, leaving her to get back to their room alone, and that was when her best friend was killed. Everyone blames Charlie. And so does she.
So, she puts a notice on the ride board in college and that’s how she ends up getting in a car with a stranger – well, not exactly a stranger. She met Josh the day she put her details on the board, so that means he’s not a stranger, doesn’t it? The only precaution Charlie takes is to agree a code phrase with her boyfriend Robbie, so that if she tells him things have taken a detour, he’ll know she’s in trouble, and even through they’re probably not really even together any more, Charlie knows he’ll still come running to help her. He won’t just leave her, the way she left Maddy at the mercy of a serial killer.
Over the course of one almost unbearably tense night, Charlie gradually comes to realise that Josh, who at first seems like such a nice, normal guy, might be the man who murdered Maddy and other girls before her. He might be the Campus Killer. And Charlie might well be his next victim.
Survive the Night is set in the US in 1991, a time before mobile phones became such an integral part of our lives, and the idea of this lack of communication with the outside world on a long journey is probably now enough to freak out most people, almost as badly as the thought of being in the car with a potential serial killer.
Charlie is an interesting main character. She’s deeply immersed in film culture and has episodes of disassociation when things play out in her head like scenes from her beloved movies, taking her away from her fears and leaving her unsure whether her memories are real or imagined. Charlie’s suspicions of Josh yo-yo back and forwards but it’s not easy to work out how reliable she is as a narrator, especially when it becomes clear that Charlie doesn’t even trust herself.
Eventually, sure now that she can’t trust Josh, Charlie manages to call Rob from a payphone in a lonely diner, and then the tension ratcheted up even more, convincing me – if I ever needed convincing – that getting in a car with a stranger is a really, really bad idea. Riley Sager has an undoubted flair for writing creepy, atmospheric stories that prey on deep rooted insecurities and fears. Trust and friendship are at the heart of this scary, subtle YA thriller. The story is chock full of surprise revelations and twists that would make a corkscrew look straight. In the closing stages, there was no way I was going to put the book down as the shocks came one after another with the speed and impact of a high-powered rifle.
Survive the Night is clever, tense and very absorbing, with an engaging narrator, a limited cast of well-drawn characters and a very scary premise. I was hooked from the start and the story never relaxed its iron grip.
So, she puts a notice on the ride board in college and that’s how she ends up getting in a car with a stranger – well, not exactly a stranger. She met Josh the day she put her details on the board, so that means he’s not a stranger, doesn’t it? The only precaution Charlie takes is to agree a code phrase with her boyfriend Robbie, so that if she tells him things have taken a detour, he’ll know she’s in trouble, and even through they’re probably not really even together any more, Charlie knows he’ll still come running to help her. He won’t just leave her, the way she left Maddy at the mercy of a serial killer.
Over the course of one almost unbearably tense night, Charlie gradually comes to realise that Josh, who at first seems like such a nice, normal guy, might be the man who murdered Maddy and other girls before her. He might be the Campus Killer. And Charlie might well be his next victim.
Survive the Night is set in the US in 1991, a time before mobile phones became such an integral part of our lives, and the idea of this lack of communication with the outside world on a long journey is probably now enough to freak out most people, almost as badly as the thought of being in the car with a potential serial killer.
Charlie is an interesting main character. She’s deeply immersed in film culture and has episodes of disassociation when things play out in her head like scenes from her beloved movies, taking her away from her fears and leaving her unsure whether her memories are real or imagined. Charlie’s suspicions of Josh yo-yo back and forwards but it’s not easy to work out how reliable she is as a narrator, especially when it becomes clear that Charlie doesn’t even trust herself.
Eventually, sure now that she can’t trust Josh, Charlie manages to call Rob from a payphone in a lonely diner, and then the tension ratcheted up even more, convincing me – if I ever needed convincing – that getting in a car with a stranger is a really, really bad idea. Riley Sager has an undoubted flair for writing creepy, atmospheric stories that prey on deep rooted insecurities and fears. Trust and friendship are at the heart of this scary, subtle YA thriller. The story is chock full of surprise revelations and twists that would make a corkscrew look straight. In the closing stages, there was no way I was going to put the book down as the shocks came one after another with the speed and impact of a high-powered rifle.
Survive the Night is clever, tense and very absorbing, with an engaging narrator, a limited cast of well-drawn characters and a very scary premise. I was hooked from the start and the story never relaxed its iron grip.
Reviewed 30 September 2022 by Linda Wilson
