Book Review: Survive the Night by Riley Sager

By Sarah Murray

Content Warnings: kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, multiple car accidents, death, torture, suicide attempt

Survive the Night by Riley Sager is my first by this author and most certainly will not be my last! I have constantly heard so many amazing things about his works that I had to see what everyone was talking about. 

Survive the Night takes place in the 90s and tells us the story of Charlie, who recently lost her friend to a terrible murder by the Campus Serial Killer and feels partially to blame. She no longer wants to remain on the campus of the college that both she and her murdered friend attended. This is due to the memories that she has of their friendship at the college as it is where they first connected. Charlie then decides to put her name up on the carpool board in hopes that she can share a ride with someone going the same way as her. Luckily for her, a young man named Josh wants to find someone to drive with him as he makes his way home to visit his sick father. Throughout the night, as Charlie struggles with the movie type visions of what is going on around her, she begins to get suspicious of Josh and believes him to be the Campus Serial Killer, but instances have her questioning herself and Josh.

Survive the Night is told mainly told through Charlie’s POV, but there are chapters thrown in of some other major characters, which add to the story and allowed us to see more of what was going on, especially due to Charlies mental state. Charlie was an unreliable character due to her mental state and the type of “movie” visions she has of what is going on around her. I enjoyed that the story also took place in the 90s. It made the book more suspenseful as Charlie could not just take out her cellphone and text or call anyone when she felt unsafe. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to be in a situation that you feel unsafe in like being in a car with no way to contact help. One thing I did feel a bit confused by was the way Charlie stayed in the car even when she felt something was off. I understand that she felt unsure of her reasoning and mind, but at the same time, sometimes you need to trust your instincts. Having the book take place mainly in a moving vehicle was unique and different, especially as they were driving in such an isolated area.

Survive the Night kept me captivated from beginning to end. I had to know what was going on and didn’t want to put the book down. Even with my disbelief with some of Charlie’s reasoning—when she chooses to stay in a car with someone she does not trust—the middle to end of this book had me in shock with the twists and turns. I cannot wait to pick up Riley’s backlist!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the ebook copy for my honest review!

Book Review: A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

By Sarah Murray

Content Warnings: sexual and physical abuse, murder, kidnapping, car accident-causing major injury, death of loved one, substance abuse

A Slow Burning Fire is my first by author Paula Hawkins and most certainly will not be my last! I plan to go back and revisit her backlist of two previous works after reading this one! A Slow Burning Fire begins with the brutal murder of Daniel Sutherland on his houseboat and tells the story of the people connected to him and his murder. It is based in London, and I always enjoy reading stories that take place in this location.

A Slow Burning Fire is told through the multiple people connected to Daniel and the different ways they interacted with him.  Within the story they share their connection to Daniel and the various aspects of their pasts that have affected their present. The characters we hear from are Carla (Daniel’s aunt and the sister of Daniel’s mother Angela), Laura (a girl who connected with Daniel while visiting the neighbour of his mother), Irene (the neighbour and friend of Daniel’s mother), and Theo (Carla’s ex-husband, and Daniel’s Uncle through marriage). Lastly, we have Miriam who was Daniel’s neighbour and the one who found his body after his murder. 

All the characters are vastly different from one another, and I enjoyed reading all their POVs. They also are all connected in various ways and not just through Daniel, so seeing these interactions and relationships added to the mystery of the murder. This feels like a very character-driven story and I very much enjoyed this about the book. I also enjoyed how unlikable and unreliable the characters were as this kept me on the edge of my seat and changing who I believed was responsible for Daniel’s murder. Due to the character’s interactions with Daniel we can see who he was as a person and I know my feelings changed multiple times throughout the telling of the book. Hawkins also tells multiple stories within this book which I found fascinating and I wanted to know the conclusions to these mysteries as well. One example is that Theo is an author and one of his novels has several chapters contained within.

Throughout the story I felt many emotions and degrees of interest. In the beginning, I felt unsure of the story and if I would connect with the writing and the way the story was being delivered as I had been in a reading slump. Luckily, after the beginning, I became entranced with the story, its characters, and the way it was being told and I literally could not put this book down. For example, it was Thanksgiving, and I was visiting my in-laws and had to go into the bedroom to sneak a few chapters in. Hawkins has a unique and captivating writing style and, as I previously stated, I cannot wait until I can read her other two works.

Thank you, to Penguin Random House Canada, for the e-book copy for my honest review!

Book Review: A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams

By Sarah Murray

Content warning: sexual and physical abuse, murder, kidnapping, suicide, ritualistic killing

A Dark and Secret Place begins when Heather returns to her childhood home after her mother has passed away from suicide. Heather had sworn to herself that she would never return to the place she used to call home, after leaving at 16 years of age due to a troubled relationship with her mother. During the time Heather spends cleaning up her mother’s home, she finds a very troubling correspondence that her mother took part in. For numerous years Heather’s mother has been writing to convicted serial killer Michael Reave, also known as the Red Wolf, and similar murders to his have begun to happen again. 

The letters, alongside the new murders, get Heather involved with the police, including DI Ben Parker, as well as with Michael Reave himself. Heather starts on a mission to learn how and why her mother was writing to Michael. As a journalist, Heather also sees the advantage of having such close contact to the Red Wolf—getting his story and perspective out through her writing could help with her career.

Heather is a very complex, badass and interesting character and I enjoyed reading from her POV even though she was struggling quite a bit with her mother’s death and other aspects of her life. It was interesting to learn alongside Heather about the parts of her mother’s life that she had no idea about. The story also includes some POVs of the murder victims, and I think this really helped with the suspense of the story and had you as the reader become more invested in the person committing these terrible murders. There were also flashbacks through Michael’s POV which I found captivating, as you get to see how he became the person he is and how he is connected to Heather’s mother. Personally, I am fascinated by serial killers and the mystery behind what they do, so I enjoyed seeing the past through Michael’s eyes. This helps the reader to see why he did these awful things, even if there really is no explanation for murdering others.

Jen Williams has a very intriguing and atmospheric writing style that drags you in and has you needing to know what will happen next. I was in a major reading slump in all of June, but I really couldn’t put this one down. The twists and turns of the story also helped to keep me invested alongside the character of Heather. I found some parts so creepy and spooky that when reading at night, I felt uneasy as I turned the pages. The ending was especially wild, and I stayed up way too late finishing the story! I definitely need to read Jen’s next book and I can’t wait for any sort of news on what she has in store for us next.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!