He can recall so much about that era, in particular that specific year, that no research was required. First, he liked the idea of setting the book in a time period that had affected him so personally-the music, the movies, the lack of technology. Sager picked the year 1991 for a few reasons. 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.” To steal from the book jacket description (because it sets the perfect tone), “It’s November 1991. That’s by design, though delving too far into the why of that constitutes a major spoiler.

Sager flexes his impressive skill in SURVIVE THE NIGHT by creating a suspenseful road trip book that, at times, seems much larger than life. And then I put them on the highway at night.” “So, I tried to come up with an idea that boiled down to the basic elements,” he says. As it turns out, Sager had more than enough chops to get the job done (and done well!), but having not yet recovered from the writing marathon it took to meet his deadline, in addition to the daily grind of COVID-19, Sager was in the mood for something…simpler. In fact, there came a point when Sager doubted he had the time-or talent-to do the story justice. The response has been overwhelming, which is wonderful to see. The novel, though it met with critical acclaim, involved a complicated story-within-a-story plot that threw twist after twist at its readers.

Burnt out both physically and emotionally by the pandemic but still facing a deadline, Sager knew he couldn’t churn out another Home Before Dark-not if he wanted to keep his sanity.

Riley sager book to movie