We’re all gonna die down here. . . .Something is hunting Casey and her friends in the underground tunnels of New York City, the abandoned subways, flooded by the storm. After finding the body of her friend Julie dead and disemboweled, Casey and her friends seek an exit, a way out of the dark, away from the monster that this hunting them. How do you fight what you can’t see? How do you survive the night?

Gripping, terrifying, Survive the Night is a can’t put down thriller. Published on July 7, 2015 by Razorbill, this is the second novel by Danielle Vega who has written a horror novel that puts horror films to shame.

Survive the Night takes place in the abandoned subway tunnels of New York City and follows Casey and her friends as they hit the Survive the Night rave, an all-night ragger of a party. But things take a turn for the worst for these band of kids when Casey discovers her friend Julie, dead and disemboweled. On the run for their lives, these guys have no idea what they are up against. All they know is that it isn’t a who.

Vega has such a talent for suspense and this novel makes that very evident. This novel has a slow and steady pace to it but it is quick, constantly moving forward keeping the reader hooked with the suspense that builds throughout the book. What’s more is as the suspension grows so does the tension between the characters, really building the character development between the characters and their dynamics. It’s not just a horror novel, it’s a survival story so character development is an essential factor to that. Vega built her story and didn’t neglect her characters. Casey starts off one way and ends turned around, all the characters take a turn around and something about them, each of them is revealed, making them very human and very understandable.

However, as mentioned above, Vega’s talent for suspense is what steals the show, captivating the readers. The sensations she creates, with her use of detail, it’s breathtaking and chilling at the same time. Some scenes in the novel just make a chill rise, make the room go cold, make the reader terrified. It’s all so simple, smooth, her word precision is exceptional because some scenes they aren’t fully detailed, just a few words, but they are amazing. The reader can feel them and that is creepy, the whole novel is creepy and submerges the reader into that feel.

There is no doubt, Survive the Night is scary good. Nothing is handed to the reader, the audience, by the end of book will still be thinking about it, the sensations, the horror, the fear it all creates is still there. Danielle Vega is a very strong writer who knows just how to make a story scary. If only they made horrors films as good as this book. (★★★★★ | A)