My first book of June read, and this one did not disappoint!
I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I will be checking out the rest of his books now.
I thought I had it all worked out a third of the way through, I was confident even. I had it so wrong! I didn't see the twists coming.

This is a slow-burn, it flits between past and present in a way that isn't confusing. It follows Ethan Marsh. He has had to move back to his childhood home when he's spent the last 30 years staying away from it. His best friend, Billy, went missing whilst camping in his back garden. The crime was never solved, and Ethan has been tormented by nightmares ever since.

I was so immersed in this story. It's clever, eerie, unsettling, and terrifying, yet I did not want to stop reading. Full of mystery and suspense, with a touch of the supernatural. This is a must-read!

Thank you, Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton, for my advanced copy
My opinions are my own.

Terrifying, and also a fun ghostly read for fans of horror & true crime stories. Found the ending fell a bit flat but the first half was good enough to carry it through.

I received an ebook ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I just found this book to be very boring. The spooky feeling and tense atmosphere the author tried to create didn't really work for me, the mid-point reveals were glaringly obvious and the ultimate resolution felt very unsatisfying.

Spoilers ahead.

My main problem with this book is that the final big reveal of what happened to Billy is actually so mundane and ultimately, an accident that had nothing to do with anything else that happened in the book until that point. Yes, you could argue that the clues to the how and why of Billy's death and subsequent cover-up were there. But they were both covered by a paragraph in one character's pov and renders the rest of the book as one giant red herring. It meant that all of Ethan's questioning, investigating and research into the mysterious Hawthorne Institute and what really went on there and what Billy saw when they left him behind that day just ended up leading...nowhere. And while the mystery of what happened to Billy was resolved overall, I was left with more questions than answers.

There is also so much repetition in this book. We go over Ethan waking up to the sound of the slit being made in the tent and seeing Billy gone but not remembering what happened next about five or six times in this book. Also, the narrative structure of the book alternates between present timeline in Ethan's pov and past timeline in the povs of various other characters. This means that a lot of the big reveals in the book end up happening twice as the reader will learn something about a character in the past, and then rehash it all again once Ethan learns this information in the present.

The 2* I'm giving this is slightly different from the 2* I gave to The House Across the Lake. That one I actively disliked, whereas this one just made me feel nothing. Apart from those two misses though, I have enjoyed every other Riley Sager book I've read so please don't let this review but you off this author entirely. This was just a miss for me.

Middle of the Night is the latest standalone thriller by best selling author, Riley Sager. Riley Sager is a favorite author of mine and I was excited to read his latest book. This one told across two timelines, gives us some strong horror vibes and plays with our fears. A missing child, small town and a secluded institute who may or may not be up to some shady things. This one would feel right at home to Stephen King fans. A medium-burn, easy-to-read mystery novel that will leave you feeling satisfied and ready to binge his entire backlog.

Amazon review to follow after release date.

Overall, this had SO much more potential but I still did enjoyed it.
I literally nearly cried when I was approved for an advanced copy of Riley Sager's newest release Middle Of The Night (thank you NetGalley)!!! It started amazing, great concept and as always Sager's writing is soooo easy to read, you've read 50 pages before you know it.
However:
The kidnapped and suspected murder of Ethan's best friend
Billy happened 20 years ago right next to this creepy 'institute' with surrounding grounds that the police just *didn't think to check*
I never thought l'd say this but there was one too many twists for me. I would still recommend it just not as a priority read

In 1994, ten-year-old Ethan’s life is turned upside down when his friend Billy dissappears from the tent during a sleepover. Ethan doesn’t remember anything; the only clue is the slash in the tent canvas.

Thirty years later, Ethan returns to Hemlock Circle. Yet something continues to haunt him. Is Billy back? Is there any connection with the institute in the woods? Or is one of the closeknit neighbours not who they seem?

I preferred the more supernatural elements of this story and feel more could have been done with that.

However, I remain a big fan of this author, especially Final Girls (2017), The Last Time I Lied (2018), Lock Every Door (2019), Home Before Dark (2020) and The Only One Left (2023).

I really love the style of Riley Sanger’s books and think this might be the best yet. Ethan is just ten years old when he is camping in the back garden with his friend Billy. The tent is slashed and Billy is never seen again. 30 years later, Ethan returns to the neighbourhood. It’s part ghost story and part thriller and I read it in pretty much one sitting!

4.5 stars
When I received an ARC of this book, I couldn't contain my excitement. I screamed, "Riley Seager is one of my favourite authors!"

To start with, I found this book a little difficult to get into at first. I couldn't pinpoint why, but once I did, I could not put it down...
"When Ethan was just ten years old, his best friend Billy vanished from the tent in his backyard. Now, 30 years later, Ethan finds himself drawn back to the town of Hemlock as strange and mysterious events continue to unfold. Feeling an unshakable compulsion to uncover the truth, Ethan is determined to find the answers he's been seeking for so long."
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the supernatural element and character in this book the most. I thought I had figured out the ending of the story earlier on, but once again, Riley Sager surprised me with his twists, turns, and emotional rollercoaster ride.
Thankyou to Hodder and stoughton and netgalley for allowing me to read this advance readers copy 😊

Really enjoyed this book, although wished that the institute was explored more and used as a plot twist for the actual murder of billy. Well worth a read though, face paced that kept tension and intrigued. Loved the blend of past and present chapters to find out what really happened to billy on that fatal tent night!

‘The truth was that I hated this house. I hated being reminded of that happened here. I hated waking up in the middle of the night, looking out my bedroom window, and seeing the same patch of gras where Billy vanished.’

I am a huge fan of Riley Sager and will read anything written by him!

I enjoyed this latest book, but it wasn’t my favourite.

It was compelling, the twists revealed were good! The ending however just felt a little flat. There were also a lot of characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

3.75 rounded up!

I have to say the start of this really GRIPPPPPPED me. Damn what a great beginning and imagery of the porch lights. Honestly, I could see this being a really entertaining movie or series.

The start, for me, was the strongest part. My prediction turned out a little true but didn't guess it perfectly. The twists.and turned at the end were a great build up but then the reveal fell a little flat for me.
I really liked how this was written as this was my first Riley Sager, so I'm definitely gonna read more.

It took me a little while to connect with this latest book by favourite author of mine Riley Sager but I cant really say why but once I did I just couldn’t put it down.
It’s a chilling story with the tension and creepiness building slowly as Ethan the main character returns to live in his childhood home where a terrible occurrence happened thirty years previously. Ethan still suffering nightmares and insomnia from the incident suddenly finds himself at the centre of some strange happenings as he struggles to try and find out what exactly happened to his childhood friend Billy.
The book for me was so well crafted it created just the right amount of tension and pace as the story unfolded it was a very atmospheric page turner that kept me guessing till the end.
Great characters, creepiness and a fab plot what more can you want !
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

July 15th 1994 Ethan and his best friend Billy fell asleep together camping in Ethans back garden. In the morning, Ethan woke alone. The tent had been sliced open, and Billy was gone, never to be seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan is back at his childhood home, plagued by insomnia and nightmares he begins to notice strange things happening, balls appearing in his garden and notes being left for him. He knows someone is prowling the quiet cul-de-sac, but he knows these people aren't bad. Are they?

This was a very enjoyable book told in alternating timelines between 1994 and now with each part from 1994 written in a different characters POV. This was full of mystery and intrigue and kept me turning the pages with many different twists and turns whilst also giving me a creepy feeling. I always enjoy Riley Sagers books and this was no exception highly recommend.

GENRE: Murder Mystery

MY RATING: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Storyline: 2/5
Writing style/structure: 3/5
Overall enjoyment: 2/5

MY THOUGHTS
This book was just okay for me. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. The main character is quite bland and to be honest, a bit annoying with his constant rehashing of the past. His storyline made it seem like nothing of note had really happened to him after he was 10. For example, “Nearly everything about the room is the same as it was when I was ten.” Why? Granted, his parents sent him away to boarding school after the incident, but he would still visit the house, be in that room, into his teen years and yet the room looks exactly like it did 30 years ago. Again, WHY?

Another thing that started to annoy me is that the street name ‘Hemlock Circle’ was used SO many times. Would it have killed Sager to break up the monotony by saying ‘the neighbourhood’ or ‘the street’? In the first chapter alone, it is mentioned six times. I get it, you live in a cul-de-sac.

The story is told in first person narrative for present day and third person for past point of views. This seemed to work, as you get to see where everyone was and what they were going through, on the day of the disappearance, allowing you to make speculation as to who may have been involved. Although there is one POV remitted until the end, I knew from the very beginning who the ‘mysterious presence’ was going to be. Sager even borrowed the idea of “I need you to remember” from his own book Gone Girls.

I was provided a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The release date for this one is 02 June 2024. If you are a fan of Sager’s work, check it out. It might vibe with you a bit better than it did with me.

Middle of the Night is my second Riley Sager novel. Predated only by Final Girls. So my expectations going into this book were high. In terms of plot - they were met. Writing style? Slightly less so.

To summise, Middle of the Night is about Ethan, a 40 year old man returning to his childhood home. Where 30 years prior, his best friend was taken from their tent as he slept. He's now plagued with nightmarish trauma and while facing it, begins to experience things that cause him to question everything he knows about the dissappearance of Billy.

What then ensues is 400 pages spanning 2 timelines. One in the modern day, where Ethan tackles the remaining members of Hemlock Grove and the paranormal goings on in search for answers and the other, flashbacks to 1994 where clues begin to slowly click into place.

The issue I found with this though is that the two timelines are distinguished in a very distinct way. The chapter number, followed by the modern day segment, then a 1994 timestamp, followed by the flashback. Rinse and repeat. This would be fine - were there not random jumps to the past in the modern day segments and vice versa. It's almost like at times, Sager forgets which timeline he's writing in. Combine this with the zigzagging character POV's despite having one main character and it all becomes quite a convoluted reading experience.

But what Middle of the Night lacks in format, it makes up for in a plot that keeps you guessing. I was convinced I knew the reveal by the 30% mark, but had the rug swept out from under me at least 3 times. I read this outside in my garden across 2 late evenings in the dark, so I may be bias but I believe Sager created some beautifully eerie moments and set every single scene perfectly.

All in all, despite some formatting issues and some less than three dimensional characters, this reading experience was far from lackluster. An enjoyably suspenseful story with some comments on friendship and the paranormal.

I will always read every Riley Sager book regardless of how it turns out.

First of all, I really liked Ethan. The beginning felt like a surreal extension of his dreams and I was INVESTED.

Until it became more and more convoluted with more and more uninteresting side characters who were just doing weird, shady stuff for the vibes.

Did the police just cease to function because the OJ case was happening on the other side of the country?

Why was Ragesh labelled a bully (this was so far fetched to me as a brown kid in the 90s from NJ) until he just wasn’t?

Why was Ashley immediately fine with Ethan watching her kid despite them not even being in touch?

And also…why was Andy?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Can’t wait for Riley’s next.

First I would like to say thanks to Netgalley for giving me early access to this book prior to release. All opinions on the book are my own.

This book is about Ethan and his best friend Billy, who on July 16th 1994 are having a sleepover in a tent in Ethan’s backyard, when Ethan wakes up Billy is no where to be seen. Now years later Ethan comes back to his parents house to try and work out what really happened to his best friend.

The reason I requested this book is many love Riley Sager’s Writing and the premise of the book caught my attention, I was intrigued to understand how a missing child story would become a thriller/horror - but for me it missed the mark and to be honest was a little boring in places.

Ethan is a little dull for a main character and because of this I really struggled to connect with him enough to care why he was doing what he was. We know something happened for Ethan to return and this was explained but it felt a little predictable and thrown in to keep the story moving. Ethan suffers from insomnia but claims he can’t remember anything and then suddenly when he needs to like 30 years later can?

Sager has a habit of bringing in paranormal elements that aren’t needed, also the introduction of the cult like group wasn’t fleshed out enough to really add anything meaningful to the story - to be honest I still don’t know what the group does? I just feel like none of the ”big twists” were well thought out enough, there were too many ideas and I feel like people need to understand that more is more doesn’t make it good.

The atmosphere was good but other than that I’m a little disappointed which is why this scraped 3 stars.

A fast paced and twisty thriller about a man's search for the truth about his missing childhood best friend. A slow burn but by far the best Riley Sager title I've read. Some twists were a little obvious but overall haunting, atmospheric and with an ending I didn't see coming.

Such an amazing book! Twisty and mysterious!

I love Riley Sager’s work and find myself always reaching to read their books, so when this one was available I jumped to read it!

The mixture of mystery and supernatural was fantastic, and you find yourself second guessing with each page. There were parts of the plot that were easily guessable, but the main twists and turns were fantastic. I didn’t know what was going to happen next and found I devoured the book quicker than anticipated.

Highly recommend for mystery / murder mystery fans!

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review

Riley Sager delivers once again!! After reading the author's last book, which became one of my top thrillers of last year, I knew I had to get my hands on this one. I hit the request button so fast without even reading the synopsis. When I was approved for the ARC, I just might have done a happy dance.💃 To say I had extremely high expectations is an understatement! Although this one is not my favorite by Sager, I still enjoyed it very much. Middle of the Night is an emotional, gripping, and atmospheric paranormal thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. In true Sager fashion, the narrative is filled with many twists and turns. While I did guess a few of the twists, others made me gasp out loud, and the ending was surprising.

Overall, I was totally engrossed from start to finish! If you're looking for a riveting and suspenseful thriller with a bit of the supernatural then this is the book for you. I highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!