Nach fast dreißig Jahren ist Ethan zurück, im Elternhaus, kurz bevor sich Billys Verschwinden jährt. Wieder ist er in der Nacht viel zu früh durch seine Erinnerungen aufgeschreckt. Als er schlaflos ans Fenster tritt, sieht er draußen in der Sackgasse Lampen automatisch angehen, aber kann keine Bewegungen erkennen. Er ist gleich beunruhigt und muss an die damaligen Ereignisse denken. Schnell erschafft der Autor eine leicht gruselige Atmosphäre. Ethan erwartet seit damals immer gleich das schlimmste. Trotzdem versucht er den Eindringling zu konfrontieren. Aber es ist niemand da. Dennoch spürt er Billys Gegenwart. Doch das ist unmöglich!

Schon seit Jahrzehnten leidet Ethan an chronische Schlaflosigkeit und muss sich jede Nacht viele dunkle Stunden um die Ohren schlagen. Er hat mit den Jahren über Therapie, Hypnose, Tabletten usw. schon alles versucht, nichts hat geholfen.
Mit Ethans Rückblick auf die letzten dreißig Jahre führt der Autor die Leser schnell in das damalige Geschehen und seine persönliche Entwicklung ein. Die Geschichte wird so fließend erzählt, dass man direkt darin eintaucht.

Vergangenheit und Gegenwart vermischen sich, Kinder sind in die Häuser ihrer gealterten teils dementen Eltern zurückgekehrt. Nach alle den Jahren begegnet man sich wieder, erinnert sich. Was geschah in Wirklichkeit in den Tagen vor Billys Verschwinden? Stück für Stück setzt sich das Puzzle zusammen. Welche Rolle spielt das abgelegene Hawthorne Institute und der heimliche Ausflug der Nachbarskinder dort hin? Einer von ihnen ist heute sogar Polizist am Ort. Doch auch zwischen den Eltern spielte sich mehr ab als oberflächlich bekannt.

Es werden immer weitere Details ihrer Jugend aufgedeckt. Die Spannung steigt langsam. Das Buch liest sich flüssig. Die Schreibweise des Autors kann erneut überzeugen. Immer stärker tritt die Frage nach der Existenz von Geistern in den Vordergrund.

Nach und nach stellt sich durch die Erzählungen der verschiedenen Personen ein Bild zusammen. Die Kapitel wechseln geschickt zwischen den heutigen und den damaligen Ereignissen. Die vielen Nachbarn und Angehörigen am Hemlock Circle bringen eine interessante teils sympathische Gruppe an Nebenfiguren zusammen.

Dann kommt es zum großen Show Down und zu einem Ende, das überraschen kann.

Dieser leicht gruselige Thriller konnte mich sehr gut unterhalten.

The king of retro themed thrillers strikes again with this masterpiece!

Thanks NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the invite to read this ARC! It was an honour!

Synopsis -

Ethan has returned to his parents’ house in Hemlock circle, nestled in the leafy suburbs of New-Jersey, after 30 years . His best friend Billy’s disappearance on that fateful night, right from their sleeping tent in his backyard still gives him nightmares and has rendered him an insomniac. Now, with some of strange occurrences in the middle of the night in his quaint cul-de-sac, Ethan has no choice to think of the impossible and unearth the truth about that night.

Review -

Firstly, the setting and atmospheric evocation – I absolutely loved how the past narrative teleports us to the nostalgic 90s, to the seemingly perfect and quiet neighbourhood of Hemlock circle. Believe nothing and observe closely - for the woods behind the row of houses, a certain mysterious institute amidst the forest and even the normal looking inhabitants might look suspicious, hiding dark secrets and something deeply sinister buried in the past.

Sager has a quiver full of red-herrings as he casts Ethan as an unreliable narrator - a male MC this time was a refreshing change! He explores Ethan's unstable state of mind - the sleep deprivation, patchy memory, not to mention the deep seated guilt, fear and absolute terror with the bizarre current affairs. The dual timelines works excellently for the plot and the past was evidently more juicier than the present.

The best part was how the plot felt utterly plausible and realistic despite the supernatural elements incorporated into it. The closer we get to the night in question three decades ago, the more we are hit with jolting twists one after the other and there is barely room to breathe let alone think about who took Billy.

The how and why of it were the total jaw-droppers more than the who and the only things left to do were nod and blink in perplexity.

Don’t miss it! It's the best yet from Sager!

Superb writing!!!!!!! Riley Sager is giving writers like Stephen King a run for his money!!!!! Sager is a very descriptive writer & that serves his books very well.

What a spectral thriller this was—a page-turner to remember! I sped through it in just a few days.

The story cycles back & forth between the present day and 1994, revisiting the incident that has impacted Ethan Marsh's life for the last thirty years—the unexplained disappearance of his best friend Billy Barringer.

The boys had been camping out in Ethan's back garden, but when Ethan awoke, there was no sign of Billy and a slash in the side of the tent.

After questioning everyone in Hemlock Circle, the police inquiry fails to turn up any evidence that could explain what happened to Billy. As the evidence dries up and time passes, it appears that the mystery of what happened to Billy Barringer will never be resolved.

Back in the present day, Ethan has moved back to Hemlock Circle just as the 30-year anniversary of Billy's disappearance looms.
Ethan, plagued by incessant bad dreams and insomnia, begins to perceive odd activities during the many hours he spends awake during the night, leading him to conclude that Billy has returned and is attempting to get in touch with him.

Ethan begins to doubt his neighbours' honesty once more and needs to find out what the deal is with the creepy old research facility concealed in the woods behind his house.

Riley Sager is the master of plot twists, and having read one of his books previously, I can attest to that. I really enjoyed how unpredictable the plot got towards the end—it really kept me guessing!

Thank you to Riley Sager, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for a gifted eARC in exchange for my review

First of all I would just like to thank Netgalley, Riley Sager and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Middle of the Night is a horror meets thriller which unfortunately for me fell pretty flat, I found the whole thing really slow paced especially the first 60% or so it just felt like it was really dragging. I personally didn't really care for the main character either which definitely didn't help matters. However in certain areas I did still enjoy Sager's dark & sinister writing style and won't let this put me off reading some more of his books!

2.75 stars rounded up.

In general I prefer going into my reads knowing just the basics and I was so glad I went into Middle of the Night knowing little to nothing. I’m a mood reader so for the fellow mood reader just know that this is more of a slow burn suspense/mystery than a thriller.

Broad strokes what it’s about: Life circumstances force Ethan to return to his childhood home on Hemlock Circle where 30 years earlier his best friend disappeared during a backyard tent sleepover.

I love how Sager manages to make buildings and neighborhoods feel like characters in his stories. Middle of the Night is an atmospheric read as much about grief, loss and friendship, as it is about the unsolved mystery at its center. The Hawthorn Institute is compelling and seductive in a dark way.

This book is a completely different vibe to The Only One Left and I truly enjoy the way Sager likes to switch things up. Pick this up if you’re in the mood for something dark, broody, character driven and with a touch of supernatural elements!

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for my gifted ARC!

As always I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and author for the eARC of this book.


This is my first Riley Sager book so going in I had no idea what to expect. I read the description and was intrigued and I am happy to say I enjoyed this book! I can't get into too much without giving it away but the premise is that Ethan Marsh has returned to his childhood home, 30 years after his best friend Billy went missing while camping with him. He soon starts feeling Billys presence and weird occurrences begins which lead him down a path of a discovery about the mystery of his missing friend that he never thought he'd unravel.

I enjoyed the pacing of this book and I found it a great page turner. I thought I had the mystery solved in places only to find I was wrong! I like that because usually I figure out the mystery before I finish but I was happily proven wrong on this one. I docked one star based on just wanting more of a certain aspect of it which I can't say without spoiling the book but other than that it was a fun read that I would recommend to anyone in the mood for a bit of a mystery.

This is the first ever horror novel I read and now I would definitely be reading more by Riley Sager. As someone who is a horror movie enthusiast I can’t believe I waiting to take this long to read horror.

This was my first Riley Sager book and I LOVED it. I couldn’t put it down. I read it in 2 days.

The dual timeline was really well written and I definitely felt connected to the characters. You’re slowly given more information as the book progresses and while it was maybe a little slow paced for a thriller, I felt the pacing fitted the book really well. It was also pretty emotional in my opinion for a thriller (in a good way!), I sobbed at one point 😮

I did guess one of the twists but there were others I had no idea were coming.

I’d recommend this book to anyone that likes a thriller with a good story that you can really get yourself immersed in. I’m off to read Riley’s back catalogue now….

We start 30 years ago, with Ethan and Billy, two best friends, camping out in Ethan's backyard. Something must have happened overnight as Ethan wakes up to find that the tent in which they were sleeping had been slashed and Billy nowhere to be found.
Fast forward to the present day and circumstances have led to Ethan returning home, to Hemlock Circle, the cul-de-sac he grew up in. To say he is not happy and rather reluctant is an understatement and, as soon as he moves back, his insomnia and bad dreams return with a vengeance. He also starts to see things including, rather worrying, a shadowy presence working its way round the Circle. And then he receives a strange object into his garden, something that only Billy knows about. Is Billy back, and if so, where has he been? If not, then what in heck is going on...?
Well this hit the ground running. It also finished strongly. Sadly though, it did lose its way a bit in the middle third and my attention did start to flag a bit. Whether that was the hint at the paranormal things that might have been happening or the fact that it sort of started going round in circles a bit, I don't know. But I was willing it to get on with itself cos, despite all my frustrations, I really needed to know the truth!
I did feel for Ethan as he was struggling. Forced home due to failures in his life is more than enough to content with, let alone piling on a childhood mystery that has never been solved. All a bit sad really. But he forces himself to try and resolve things by talking to and reconnecting with his old neighbours and childhood friends. Biting the bullet.
It's more emotional than suspenseful but, at the end of the day, the resolution is satisfying. I guess it's a book that is more about the destination than the journey but if, like me, you struggle along the way, stick with it, it'll be worth it.
All in all, another good solid addition to an already rather impressive back catalogue. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

On the plus side, I can accept the dual timeline perspective, the cul de sac setting, a tent slasher scenario and the main character, Ethan. However, the story was really slow and never seemed to get going. after the back garden camping incident.

When Ethan returns to the family home after 30 years, there were some creepy things happening - a baseball suddenly appearing on the lawn!! Not that creepy.

A well written story, but not that thrilling.

Thanks to Net Galley and Hodder and Stoughton for the chance to read and review.

That wasn’t what I was expecting! Took me a while to actually get into. I did really enjoy it though, wasn’t the usual that I expected from Riley Sagar though. Solid 4 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc.

Firstly, thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with this ARC.



Can you trust the people that live in your neighbourhood?

30 years after waking up to discover his best friend went missing despite falling asleep together, Ethan returns to Hemlock Circle, needing answers to what happened to his friend all those years ago.

But can he really trust those in this quiet Jersey cul-de-sac? Especially when an eerie figure roams the streets at the dead of night.




This coming-of-age, psychological thriller is sure to be a massive hit!
Riley Sager may well become an auto-buy author for me after reading this. I cannot stop thinking about the head-spinning twists at the end and kept me up till early morning trying to unravel the secrets and detect the red herrings that were thrown in and got me each time.

As the plot develops, more information is gradually revealed to the reader through flashbacks which were very effective in pacing the novel, and did remind me slightly of Stephen Kings IT.

I really enjoyed my first Riley Sager and would highly recommend to lovers of psychological thriller.



This review has been published on Instagram, Goodreads and Waterstones.

"That’s when I sense it. A presence, faint in the night air. It lingers in that way certain smells do. Cigar smoke. Perfume. Burnt toast. It’s like someone had been here mere seconds ago."

I love small town and suburban thrillers/ horrors which is why I picked this one up. It doesn't disappoint in that respect, you really get a sense of Hemlock Circle, the neighbourhood, the neighbours and how their lives interweave. It is very atmospheric and captures the suburban tension very well. There were moments at the beginning of this novel where I was genuinely unsettled and spooked. It kept me on edge and I was invested in finding out what happened to Billy. There are lots of twists, turns and misdirection's in this novel. Ethan can be an unreliable narrator which is trope I enjoy and I think in this case made sense given the thirty year gap between the disappearance of Billy and the current events in the book. I do think a lot was packed into this story and there were some storylines that I enjoyed more than others. Overall this was an enjoyable read with atmosphere, tension and mystery.

Hemlock Circle, the quiet suburban cul-de-sac boasting six lovely houses, but this picture of bliss is ruined on 16th July 1994 when 10 year old Ethan wakes up from camping in his back garden to find he’s alone and his best friend Billy is nowhere to be seen, the only thing left is a large tear in the tent and a pair or air jordans.

Thirty years later and Billy’s disappearance is still unsolved and Ethan is now back in his childhood home and turns his attention to The mysterious woods at the back of the houses. The woods hold secrets and Ethan thinks his neighbours do too.

This is a haunting thriller, true to Riley Sagers style and kept me guessing and thinking about it long into the night. Flashbacks to the day before Billy went missing and current day updates keep us going on dual timelines and keep the suspense building with paranormal elements and long kept secrets being unveiled. The ending lands with reveal after reveal and I really enjoyed this one.

Many thanks for my complimentary copy from NetGalley , the author and publisher.

Thankyou Net Galley for the ARC! 🥰

This is a weird review for me. I don’t know if I liked this book or not 🤣 it took me soooo long to get into it and by the time I did it just seemed like an odd story? Like I REALLY wanted to know what happened by the end but I was left just feeling like I’d read something really weird. It felt like random things were just being thrown into the plot. It’s the first Riley Sager book I’ve read and I’ve seen lots of different reviews for this ranging to love and hate. I’d definitely read another one of his books because I enjoyed the writing style but probably wouldn’t recommend this book to others unless maybe they’d read a story of his previously.

Hemlock Circle is a quiet cul de sac surrounded by woods. One evening 2 boys camp out. By morning only one remains what happened and where did he disappear too.
Thirty years later and Ethan is back in his family home with bad dreams about that night and suffering from insomnia he starts to notice strange things happening. Is the ghost of his friend haunting him or is someone playing a cruel joke. Ethan needs to get to the bottoms of this once and for all and finding out what happened to his friend all those years ago.

Riley Sager does it again ! I had high hopes and was not disappointed. This was a brilliant suspenseful and creepy thriller. I love a duel timeline and the back and forth of this one was done seamlessly. The twists were brilliant I changed my mind 3 times on the killer and was still wrong 🤣 Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Riley Sager for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

📚 Book Review 📚

This. Is. A. Brilliant. Book.

Here we meet Ethan, an adult who finds himself on his own, moving back to his childhood family home after his parents move to a warmer climate. This is a big move for Ethan; his wife is no longer in his life, he has lost his teaching job and his return to Hemlock Circle is not what he wants.
Especially to his childhood home.
Especially to the place where a young boy was abducted years before.
Especially as this boy was Ethan’s best friend, Billy.
Especially as Billy was abducted from Ethan’s back garden. Whilst Ethan was sleeping next to him …

The dreams of this night still haunt Ethan and now that he’s back in Hemlock Circle, how long will it take for these nightmares to deepen? How long will it take for Ethan to see the shadow that lurks at the edge of his garden?

The shadow which changes form to look like a person. A child.

This is a fantastic book, great characters, great writing. I spent the last two chapters, reading from between my hands. Literally! I can’t wait for more.

I’d like to thank Hodder and Stoughton, NetGalley and the author for the arc and the fantastic opportunity, in exchange for my honest feedback 😊

Book released on 2nd July 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Don't you just love books in which people disappear? I think it’s one of my favourite tropes in thriller books. The inevitable question "What happened to them?" keeps me flying through the pages.

So when I read the blurb of Sager's latest effort, I knew I was in for a treat. Not that I wouldn't have requested it otherwise. 😜

Well, as I have come to expect from this author, it was another brilliant work of art.

Billy, 11 years old, disappears one night while camping in the backyard with his friend Ethan. Ethan can't figure out why he didn't hear anything that night, considering someone cut open the tent Billy was sleeping in with a knife and probably kidnapped him. Or maybe what really happened that night has been hidden in his subconscious all these years!

Now, 30 years later Ethan returns to his parents home to face his demons.

As memories of that time emerge, he experiences inexplicable events such as Billy's baseball appearing in the garden exactly where Billy used to throw it. Or lights turning on and off in the neighborhood. Ethan can't shake the feeling that Billy is back. But how is this possible?

I loved the way Sager mixed the paranormal elements with a good old haunting in this book. The camera in the garden was so creepy (iykyk). For those of you who are not interested in paranormal phenomena, I can assure you that it’s just a hint at it. I enjoyed the journey of discovering all the details of that fateful summer through flashbacks. It reminded me of Stephen King's IT and Stand by Me. And as usual I didn't guess who it was until the end.

Thank you Sager for regaling us each year with a fantastic thriller. It’s become a ritual to buddy read your books with ‘the usual suspects’ and our conversations are always lively.

Thanks also to #netgalley and #hodderandstoughton for my early copy.

Well, I finished this book because I hoped for a real surprise, but it wasn’t as creepy and dark as I was hoping for. In fact, it was in parts somewhat boring. I can understand that Ethan, being only ten years old at the time, never really overcame the shock of his best friend disappearing. I can also understand that children between the ages of seven and fifteen sometimes do things that are not very sensible and not very kind. This emphasis of the story is in what happened during the day and night Billy disappeared. That’s it. It is very, very drawn out and there is a lot of repetition. And paranormal? There’s nothing paranormal in this book; it’s a subject mentioned in the story but the only thing ‘creepy’ about it is the fact that every child will be curious after a large strange house in the woods, no matter who lives there or what is being done inside the walls.
Maybe it’s me, because I do not have a vivid imagination, but it all sounded more as a story about some teenagers bullying some smaller kids. Mistakes were made, but who doesn’t make mistakes whether young or old(er)? The characters stayed rather flat to me, except Henry. I just loved this little kid – wished the other characters were as clearly defined.
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this review copy.