3.5 stars
Ethan Marsh has recently arrived back to his childhood home. With his return, comes the memories of his childhood friend, who disappeared in 1994 from the tent the two boys were sharing in Ethan’s backyard. Ethan didn’t hear a thing and Billy was never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan is determined to find out the truth.

I am a fan of Riley Sager and if he writes it, I will read it. I love the 90s nostalgia, I loved the dual timelines and I would say the latter half of the book was when I really got engaged. I did however, find some parts of the book a little slow and repetitive. There was a hint of paranormal that I’m not sure was really worth it. Some parts of the initial investigation (or lack of) made me a little frustrated which is why I can’t say that I loved it overall.
It was a decent mystery and you constantly wonder what happened to Billy. Even though some bits were predictable, I really enjoyed the ending of the book.

Serviceable supernatural thriller.

It was a little predictable in parts and a little underwhelming in how it ended, but it was entertaining enough.

I haven't read that many books by Riley Sager but he's quickly become an auto-read author thanks to his tense settings, unreliable characters, and paranormal teasers. I loved The Only One Left and instantly requested The Middle of the Night as soon as I saw it.
 
On a summer night in a safe, suburban neighbourhood, Ethan and his best friend Billy spend the night camping in Ethan's garden. But when morning comes, only one boy remains. Decades later, Ethan is still haunted by the gash in the tent, sliced by an unknown intruder who presumably snatched Billy. Returning to his childhood home, he tries desperately to remember the night so he can solve the mystery. All with a little help from Billy who he can feel all around him and who apparently wants to play...
 
As expected, this was an absolute page-turner. The chapters flick between present day and the events leading up to Billy's kidnapping, as well as some one-off character POVs from the night it happened. Normally I hate this way of telling a story as it can feel lazy to use POVs excessively but because these all revolved around the night in question, it felt more like we were collecting the puzzle pieces to create a complete picture of what actually happened on the day Billy was taken. 
 
This drip-feeding of information had me coming up with wild theories that were soon overturned a few chapters later. I was thoroughly invested in the story, particularly the present-day chapters as Ethan tried multiple methods to regain his memory from the night it happened. Every character was suspicious at some point and there were enough red herrings to keep throwing you off the scent. 
 
However, after all that, the reveal fell a bit flat for me. There were so many ways this could have gone and I was quite disappointed after all the build-up and compared to how complex the twists were in The Only One Left. While I consider Riley Sager a master of thrillers, this one felt a tad amateur and basic. Even though the ending let me down, I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend to those looking for a fast-paced, tightly-plotted supernatural thriller.

I enjoy Riley Sager the most when he goes a bit more off-the-rails. This was a well-written ghost story with a compelling main character, but ultimately a rather basic mystery. What redeemed it in my eyes was the writing style and atmosphere - the more supernatural scenes were creepy and had me at the edge of my seat. But the resolution felt mundane. A solid atmospheric character study but I wouldn't expect to be absolutely blown away by the reveals.

I picked this up because I enjoyed his last book but this one just really, really did not hit the mark. It felt like it could have been a hundred and fifty pages long instead of however long this took to give us a watery plot twist (if you could call it that)

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager ⭐️⭐️

Let me start by saying I had really high hopes for this book, I’ve LOVED previous titles by this author like Final Girls (5* and read in one sitting) and The Only One Left (4*) but sadly this one was a miss for me.

The premise is harrowing, a child camping out in his back garden with his best mate who also happens to be his next door neighbour. They live in a quiet, close knit culdesac that backs onto a forest and in the morning one of the boys is missing. We flash forward 30 years when our narrator moves back into his parents old house, where the disappearance took place, and tries to uncover the truth of what happened on that fateful night.

The book was just so slow moving for me that I didn’t find any aspect thrilling and had quite honestly lost interest from 30%. The pace remained the same for me until the conclusion and I wasn’t really interested in any of the characters or even the mystery by that point. I will say though that I’ve seen people absolutely adoring this book, so I would say, if you like Sager’s book The House Across The Lake (which was also a flop for me) then maybe this one will be for you! This is why all star reviews are helpful, because if you know our tastes don’t align, this may just be your new favourite!

Unfortunately a flop for me this time but I will certainly still read from this author as I know some of his books are a bop for me! Thank you so much to @netgalley as well as the author and the publisher for the review copy!

After reading and absolutely loving The Only One Left last summer, Middle of the Night was one of my most anticipated reads of this year.
We follow Ethan, who tries to navigate his new normal as he goes back to live at his parents' house 30 years after his best friend was abducted in this same house. Snatched from a tent in the garden. While Ethan was sleeping.

The premise, the 90s element, the flashbacks, the whole vibes of the book ; these were amazing. It made me think of a spooky Wisteria Lane, with the drama, the gossiping neighbors ; but with a dash of creepy.
I also love a good character development book, and I do feel like Ethan's arc is a very interesting one to follow. How he's been beaten by life again and again, and how he survives it all.
I also got caught up in the plot, trying to figure out what happened to Ethan's childhood best friend, Billy. I have to admit that I did not see the ending coming.

Investigation wise, it did feel odd though, because the author leads us the spooky way for a good chunk of the book ; but the resolution didn't feel just right, it felt a bit too easy for me.
I also think it was a bit too slow at times. And so I do feel like you have to be in the right headspace to read this novel. You need to be able to take your time, and appreciate the atmosphere and the character development.

Read this if you enjoy :
- investigation into a disappearance
- 90s vibes
- flashbacks
- spooky wisteria lane
- an ominous forest
- cult vibes

Thank you NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

#MiddleOfTheNight #NetGalley
Loved it.
On July 15, 1994, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy fell asleep together in their quiet New Jersey cul de sac.
In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. The tent was sliced open, and Billy was gone, taken. He was never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan has returned to Hemlock Circle, still desperate for answers. Who took Billy? Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening on the street under the cover of darkness. Someone is prowling the cul de sac when no one is awake to see them. Are they still out there? This isn't a bad neighourhood. These aren't bad people. What if they are?
I loved it. Riley Sager has done it again. I really believed that there was a ghost in this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straughten for giving me an advance copy.

This is a paranormal thriller set in a quiet suburban neighbourhood touched with tragedy. Main character Ethan moves back into his parent’s house thirty years after his best friend Billy was stolen from his back yard while he was asleep in the tent next to him. No one knows what happened to Billy back then but now someone is trying to get Ethan’s attention, could it be Billy?

Riley Sager is absolutely one of my go to thriller authors and this book has cemented that fact. I absolutely love the cover of this book, I’m not sure what it is about it but it just really fits the story.

This had such good pacing and twists were revealed at just the right time to keep me guessing (wrongly) and on the edge of my seat. I remember thinking I had it all figured out with about an hour of reading left to go and it turned out I was completely wrong.

This book also really spooked me! It’s the first time I’ve been properly scared to read a book at night on my own it was that spine tinglingly spooky in parts. I think it was the anticipation of who could potentially jump out at me! I’m not sure that bodes well for my new desire to read everything Stephen King has ever written!

This is my fifth book from Riley so I have a few more to go to complete the back list and I’m very much looking forward to those.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this title.

I wanted to love this book and really liked the flashbacks and dual point of views but for me, I just found it quite repetitive and it didn’t really grasp me. Normally I fly through a thriller but I struggled with this one.
That being said, I enjoyed the twists and the ending but I wish there had been a bit more to it.

This was not a great thriller book but an emotional mystery about grief and letting go I always look forward to a Riley Sager book I really enjoyed this one and its unpredictable twist and already looking forward to the next one

Many thanks to Net Galley and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This is my fourth book by this talented author. It is packed with suspense, drama, the supernatural, mystery and delayed grief
The story is told in a dual timeline, Ethan as a boy and the traumatic disappearance of his best friend, snatched from the tent him and Billy were sleeping in in Ethan’s backyard and Ethan as a 40 year old man, back living in his childhood home.
Since the night Billy disappeared 30 years ago, Ethan has been having the dream, he always wakens at the same point, he is determined now, being back in the culdesac Hemlock Circle to find out what happened.
Things are happening in the middle of the night, Ethan is sure he can feel Billy’s presence, is his mind playing tricks?
This was a slow read, there are twists, turns, tension and dread all which keep the reader guessing, with a bittersweet ending.

BOOK REVIEW📚⚾️👻:Middle Of The Night by Riley Sager. ⭐⭐⭐⭐. 5

The summer of 1994,in suburban New Jersey. Ten year old best friends and neighbours, Ethan Marsh and Billy Barringer,camp out together in Ethan's back yard every Friday night. They have fun filled nights, play games, eat s'mores and drink hot chocolate.
That is until one July morning, when Ethan wakes up alone. There is no sign of Billy. His belongings have been left behind and Billy's side of the tent has been sliced open. Billy was never seen again. From there on out, everything irrevocably changed and a shadow was cast over Hemlock Circle.

Thirty years later, Ethan returns to live once more in his childhood home. The trauma of Billy's disappearance has manifested itself in the form of crippling insomnia and a reoccurring dream which plagues the very few moments of sleep Ethan manages to grab. Confronted with the reality of living back at home and being reunited with childhood friends and acquaintances, he becomes determined to find out once and for all what happened to his best friend. Ethan soon becomes convinced that someone-or something is prowling the neighbourhood. He senses a presence lurking in the shadows, watches as the garage lights illuminate for no apparent reason, one by one. Ethan is consumed with the notion that it is Billy. Is Billy alive after all?

I simply adored this book. The combination of mystery and the paranormal is just perfect, alongside Sagers masterful ability to maintain suspense and tension from beginning to end.
The dual time narrative, alternating between past and present, is beautifully written and provides a deep dive into the past as well as the slow meticulous unraveling of the mystery.

This story is the home of many wonderful and complex characters. I rooted for our protagonist, Ethan, all the way through, a man so deeply haunted by the past. As characters go, little Henry Wallace has my heart. Such a genuine old soul!

This is a thriller with a heart. Yes it's creepy and atmospheric,but it's suprisingly emotive, very moving and is an excellent exploration of both trauma and the aftermath.

💚

I enjoyed this, but I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped to. I liked the begining but I felt it was lacking that wow factor.
I would still recommend it but I don't feel like it had much of a twist.

When they were ten years old, Ethan Marsh's best friend Billy was kidnapped from Ethan's own back garden when the pair were camping outside. Nobody knows what happened to Billy or who took him. The mystery devastated the local community and continues to haunt Ethan Marsh who, thirty years later, has reluctantly returned to his childhood home in Hemlock Circle. Once there, Ethan is plagued by nightmares of the night Billy went missing and haunted by guilt and shame for what happened to him. After there are developments in what had previously been considered a cold case, Ethan becomes obsessed with finding out exactly what happened to Billy and why. Meanwhile strange things seem to be happening to Ethan in the middle of the night. There's someone stalking the neighbourhood and leaving footballs and notes for him in his back garden. Is someone messing with him or is Billy back and trying to communicate with him?

Riley Sager's Middle of the Night is a decent thriller. The mystery is well executed and there were lots of red herrings along the way which kept me guessing. I didn't guess the ending which, for me, is always a sign of a good mystery. The book is very atmospheric - when strange things keep happening to Ethan there is even the suggestion of the supernatural which definitely added to the tension. There was lots of high-stakes suspense and I was left needing to know what happened even if I wasn't quite on the edge of my seat.

As well as being a mystery, the book grapples with themes of grief, loss, and trauma. Ethan is a flawed character who is haunted by what happened to his best friend and is grieving the end of a relationship. A lot of the novel is spent developing his character and establishing how the events in his life have shaped him and continue to shape him.

I like how Sager doesn't shy away from writing morally grey characters. Many of the characters in this book are far from perfect and are well-written, realistic characters. I think that Sager did a good job of characterising both the young and old, with young Henry being my favourite character in the book. I do think that we could have had more characterisation of Billy. Considering the whole book is about him going missing it would have been helpful to have some sense of him beyond the fact that he was interested in ghosts and the supernatural. That being said, most of the characters were well characterised and developed.

I wasn't a fan of the timeline of the book. The present day parts were written in the first person whilst the flashbacks were written in the third person which I found a bit jarring. I understand that this allowed for multiple POVs but it interrupted the flow of the book for me.

I did appreciate that we got some queer representation in this book. Two of the side characters are LGBT which I loved. Although it was only a very small part of the book, it's worth mentioning.

I was satisfied by the book's ending - the entire mystery was solved and I wasn't left guessing, which I appreciate in any mystery novel.

Overall I give the book three stars. It was a compelling and atmospheric mystery but it didn't dazzle me. It was pretty average for me, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes their thrillers with some in-depth character development.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-ARC.

Tropes:
✨ Slow burn mystery
✨ Small-town mystery
✨ Multiple POV
✨ Dual timeline
✨ Morally grey characters
✨ 90s nostalgia
✨ Queer representation

I highly recommend you go into this thriller knowing very little!

What's It About?

I am only gonna tell you this... Ethan must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend, Billy—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

What I Thought Of It:

- Riley Sager is an autobuy author for me, I will preorder any book he releases and this was no exception.

- Less of a tense wild ride thriller and more a slower burn emotive mystery thriller which pulled me in from the very beginning, because you wanna know what happened to Billy! But it's not short of twists!

- The last third of the book is where the pace really picks up and the twists and turns start to drop. I enjoyed the build up to this.

- It's got Sager's signature story telling style, which I love.

- The story is told over two timelines: present day - when Ethan is trying to solve his friend's disappearance - and 30 years prior when Billy and Ethan are kids and the disappearance occurs. I love a story with different timelines!

- Although this book isn't as fast paced as previous, I was hooked, and it kept me turning the pages as I was desperate to know what happened to Billy and by whom!

- I loved the setting in a closed (cul de sac) neighbourhood where you watch a tight knit community , unravel in the aftermath of the tragedy, as you don't know who to believe or suspect.

- This story is so well plotted and written that I loved spending time with the characters and following the twists and turns that story took.

- There are many possible subplots that come through as the mystery is unfolding which I won't share to avoid spoilers but I enjoyed them all!

Another enjoyable thriller from Riley Sager, I already can't wait to read the next!

This is highly addictive However absurd you think the ghostly element is you just cant put it down A real page turner with plenty of unexpected twists

This thriller was ok not my favourite but still enjoyable . I am big fan of the authors book so still would recommend it

When Ethan was ten years old, he did a camping in his backyard with his neighbourhood friend, Billy. But when Ethan woke up in the morning, he noticed that the tent was sliced and Billy was nowhere to be seen.
Billy just disappeared, and his disappearance became a cold case after years of no lead.
Thirty years later, Ethan is back to his childhood home, and memory of Billy's disappearance haunts him.
There are chapters that brought us back to thirty years ago - the last hours before Billy and Ethan back to the tent for the night. Those chapters will make you thirst to know what did happen or lead to Billy's disappearance.

Ethan: "He's just not any boy,  he's my friend, his name is Billy"

Billy : "Hakuna Matata, dude."

Riley Sager never disappoints me. He always presents an unputdownable book, which makes us wonder throughout the book. I love his writing style - which unexpected event is being revealed bit by bit, so you'll never get boring reading his book.
This one is full of suspense with a touch of paranormal thing.

So myself and a Bookstagram pal are of the opinion that Riley Sager books are either excellent or completely miss the mark - I’m sad to say that his newest book falls into the second category for me 😬 it could have been SO good but instead it was unendingly repetitive, ridiculously unbelievable and just l o o o n g. I thought about jacking it in multiple times throughout which goes without saying is not a sign of a good read.

Ethan is a very odd character and I still can’t work out my feelings for him, although I’m leaning towards intense dislike. He is a very unreliable and boring narrator and I simply ended up not caring what he may or may not have witnessed 30 odd years ago because it was dragged out for far too long (and when it was finally revealed, it was anticlimactic at best). Literally all of the other characters were forgettable so this really doesn’t make for a strong cast.

I feel like so much more could have been done with the Institute - it was alluded to as being a pretty focal point of the story but just ended up seeming like a tiny insignificant detail in the pages and pages of Ethan’s dull narration. A shame!

There were bits and pieces of this story that captured my attention which is why I’ve given it 2 stars but overall this was a flop. I’m not giving up on Riley Sager yet though 🫡 can we have more gems like The House Across The Lake please?!

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.