This book had an interesting and eerie (but not quite believable) premise that was set in the early 1990's pre-cell phone era which gave Sager some leeway to trap his characters into precarious situations. Although this first half was slower to take off, it had good tension, but I had that niggling feeling that I was waiting for ... more.
Things picked up in the second half and the creepy feel continued with a small cast of characters (featuring unreliable narrators), but the execution became convoluted with lots of movie references (most I didn't get) and Charlie's confusing 'movies in her mind'. To be honest, I think this book would have been amazing as a short story.
In the end, this was a unique read that oozes a chilling, uneasy vibe. It had a few implausible plot points (particularly from a female POV) requiring the reader to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed the 1990's era and the 'locked room' feel within the car. Even though this wasn't my favourite work of Sager's, I look forward to reading his future books.
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Penguin Group Dutton for my advanced digital copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
My Rating: 3 stars
Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Suspense
Type and Source: eBook from publisher
Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton
First Published: June 29, 2021
Opening Lines: Fade in. Parking lot.
The middle of night. The middle of nowhere.
Book Description from GoodReads: 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.
To bad this one didn't give you all the right feels, the premise sounds so promising.
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