I’m a little underwhelmed by this one, probably because it was so widely hyped and anticipated. I liked the characters. Ethan and Russ were my favourites. I liked the backstory and the mystery surrounding the institute, although this could have been explored in greater depth. I liked the creepy atmosphere. I felt like I was right there with Ethan. I liked the twists but the reveal felt a little lacking. I did guess part of the reveal. I would read more from Riley Sager in the future.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for this advanced copy.

2.5

Enjoyed this but the ending was disappointing and lacklustre in my opinion. I was hoping for a bigger twist and the build up throughout came to nothing

*Delayed review due to holiday!*

Ethan moves back into his childhood home, where his friend Billy was taken from the garden during a camping sleepover and never seen again.

When strange things start to happen, Ethan starts reliving the past and before long, Billy's body is found.
With the help of old friends, we head back in time to what really happened that night...

Gripped from page 1, I really enjoyed this book. I did find everything slowed a little after the gripping start, however the ending was great. The twists, albeit not jawdropping, also added to the story and I enjoyed how it played out.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Middle of the Night is my second Riley Sager novel and I'm so relieved I have a few more in my collection I can get straight to reading! I'm really drawn to small-town stories and the idea of returning to them from childhood to adulthood, so how could I resist this? We follow Ethan who's best friend went missing in the night when they were kids as he returns to his old house and ends up pulled into solving the mystery of what happened. The whole thing was building to an ending I wasn't expecting, especially after the light supernatural intrigue, which kept me on my toes. I know anything that's a bit 80s nostalgic is going to be compared to Stranger Things, but I felt Middle of the Night really had that appeal - expect it's like meeting up with the kids as adults. I wish the pace was a little quicker though the absolute race of the ending felt off-key with the rest of the book - I wouldn't have minded if things were left not so neat.

This is my first Riley Sager book and I went in with high hopes after hearing lots of good things about the author.
Middle of the night did not disappoint!
Easy to follow, likeable but slightly suspicious characters and multiple pov.
I will definitely check out future books

It took me a while to get into this one but once I did, I enjoyed the characters and the story. Unfortunately something was missing from this book which wasn't from Riley Sager’s last book. Couldn't quite put my finger on what, but it meant this book ended up with 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars) instead of last years 5 stars.

Read if you like;
-Paranormal elements
-90s Nostalgia
-Psychology Thriller
-Dual timelines
-Multiple POVs

The is a good psychological thriller that has elements that will pull on your hearts strings. I went into this book blind and I really wasn’t sure what to expect! As a parent this is everyone’s worst nightmare!

The main elements in this book for me are friendship, grief and loss. Unfortunately, the paranormal elements that was supposed to have more of an impact just didn’t hit the spot for me. It wasn’t a spooky as I was hoping and it felt like the author was trying too hard on this front!

Overall, I did enjoy the writing style and the way the plot slowly weaves through both timelines, especially the 90s timeline. The 90s vibe really does take you back to the good old days.

The MMC was a little flat for my liking, and I didn’t really find myself warming to him as much as he would have like. However, I liked the way the author had the element of unreliability!

The ending was concluded really well and the culprit was as unexpected. However, it was missing the wow/shock factor.

Ethan returns to his childhood home, haunted by his best friend Billy’s mysterious disappearance 30 years ago during a backyard camping trip. Plagued by insomnia and eerie late night happenings, he’s drawn into a web of 90s nostalgia, spooky vibes, and deep emotional drama. The story unravels long-buried secrets with a touch of the paranormal. It’s a slow-burn thriller that’s all about grief, trauma, and haunting revelations. If you love moody, atmospheric reads with a twist, this one’s for you! But if you crave fast-paced action it may not be the book for you. I’m a huge Sager fan and couldn’t put it down!

Solid and exceptional slow burn thriller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five.

The pacing was good throughout, gradually revealing pieces of the mystery of Billy's disappearance. I enjoyed the flashback chapters from the different characters perspectives

I normally love Riley Sager’s books and his writing but unfortunately this one just missed the mark for me. I found the characters boring and under developed and the plot repetitive. I normally really dislike books that feature ghosts and paranormal elements so this may have just been a personal preference but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

I’m on the fence with this one a little bit, I did like the story and was intrigued by what might have happened to Billy and all the neighbours seemed like they could possibly be suspects at some points. However I think the ending let it down for me, it didn’t really feel like the big reveal I was hoping for.

Overall Good but could have been great with a bigger more shocking ending

This author is great! I loved it to begin with & was giving super retro 90s nostalgia vibes :)
• Missing Child
• Set in a cul de sac - small town surrounded by a forrest which helps add to the creepy vibe
• It has a dual timeline
• it was super thriller / suspenseful with some secrets and twists
It was a lot slower paced than I thought but I was enjoying it! As soon as I reached the 50% mark I found myself struggling to finish the book :( I loved the vibes of this book I just sadly couldnt finish it

How I love a Riley Sager novel and when I got the opportunity to read Middle of the Night I could not wait.

This novel did not disappoint. Once again, a very well written book with a gripping plot and stunning characters, I love this novel.

We meet main character Ethan, now moved back to his old childhood home we learn that on a sleepover in a tent in his garden many years ago, his friend Billy was taken and never found. Ethan has lived with guilt and as his parents move out, he moves in.

Things start to happen whilst he is living there, a ball thrown on to the back garden, which used to be a sign that Billy wanted to play and strange sightings, Ethan relives what happened those many years ago.

When Billy's body is found everything escalates even more and Ethan is on a journey.

Helped by some old childhood friends, we really dive into the back story of Billy's disappearance.

An outstanding novel that had me hooked from page 1 until the end.

Thanks to Netgalley, Riley Sager and the publishers for allowing me a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2024/07/29/review-middle-of-the-night-by-riley-sager/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Still Thinking About This One

It’s not a bad thing when a book makes you think about it long after you finished reading and yet I have slightly mixed feelings with this one that I don’t think I’ve quite unravelled. Perhaps writing this review will help.

I think that having loved The Only One Left so much I picked this one up with impossibly high expectations. To be fair to the book and author, this is a compelling read with plenty of atmosphere but it didn’t have the breakneck reveals of the last read that made my jaw clang to the floor.

That being said, I had no problems dashing through this one and practically completed it in two sittings – so what can I say.

I’ll keep this overview short to avoid spoilers.

The start is really gripping. Ethan, now an adult, has returned to his family home. Thirty years ago Ethan’s best friend disappeared from the tent they were both camping in, in Ethan’s backyard. The crime was never solved, Billy was never found, and Ethan is still haunted by events. Returning to the home of the trauma might not have been the wisest choice and when strange things start to happen Ethan feels like his long lost friend is haunting him, trying to provoke him into looking for clues about what really happened on that fateful night.

My feelings for this one

Well, firstly, it is undoubtedly a compelling read. I was so curious about what happened to Billy that I really couldn’t stop reading and as I already mentioned, the start really pulls you in.

Secondly, we discover fairly quickly that Ethan is something of an unreliable narrator. This is a ploy that I enjoyed. Within fairly short shrift we discover that the day on which Billy disappeared was a lot more eventful than first suspected and there are many secrets being kept by a number of friends and neighbours.

I love it when everyone becomes a potential suspect and this soon becomes the case here. All the suspects know each other and there’s this close knit feel where slowly but surely one reveal leads to another, and so on.

I liked Ethan. He’s really not a bad guy at all and in fact he’s the only character that I didn’t have my beady eye on.

The setting is small in scope. We have a small, sheltered cul de sac, many of the residents the same as during Ethan’s childhood, an ominous wood that houses a secret institute and an almost claustrophobic feel with everyone watching each other warily.

I liked the way the tension and the atmosphere is built and really enjoy Sager’s writing and especially the dual timelines where we jump back and forth discovering what really happened all those summers ago whilst also trying to get a grip on what’s really taking place in the current timeframe.

What gave me pause for thought. There is some repetition. As things unfold we learn about events but replay them from a different angle. I did enjoy this aspect but at the same time it sometimes felt that the story slowed down and along with this some aspects just felt a little overstretched.

I enjoyed the reveals but at the same time I couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed with the final reveal from the night in question. It felt a bit too much somehow – however, having read the incredibly dramatic and totally OTT The Last One Standing I think I should have been more prepared for all the twists and turns so that’s something I need to embrace a little more with future reads.

As it is, I enjoyed this, I had a slight twinge of feeling let down by the final reveal, but at the same time I’m not quite sure what I was expecting and really that’s more to do with me than the book.

So. I will definitely read more by this author and I would recommend this without doubt.

I received a copy through Netalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This thriller will have you intrigued and hosting a thousand questions in your mind.

This narrative follows a man who is still confused regarding the disappearance of his childhood best-friend. Ethan returns to his childhood home thirty years later, and begins noticing unusual movement outside his house in the middle of the night.

I really enjoyed this thriller narrative, and with a high focus on mystery, it leaves you guessing right until seconds before the reveal. It highlights that really, you cannot trust anyone, and nothing is entirely as it seems.

I'm already a huge Riley Sager fan so I had high expectations for this book and... it definitely lived up to them!!! Middle of the Night is so atmospheric and well described that I felt like I was there. At some parts I honestly felt like I needed to turn a light on, the creepy vibes were getting to me through the pages. I loved unfolding the mystery of what happened along with Ethan and the ending genuinely made me cry. SO good! Riley Sager just gets better and better!

Unfortunately life has got in the way and I haven’t been able to get to this book before publication day. Once I’ve read it I will come back here to update my review and leave my review on all relevant book retailers websites.

<center><i>Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.</i></center>

After enjoying Riley Sager's 'The Only One Left', I was excited to delve into his newest mystery thriller novel. On the evening of 15 July 1994, 10 year old Ethan and his best friend Billy fell asleep together in the backyard in a quiet New Jersey neighbourhood. It was their weekly sleepover but, come morning, Ethan wakes up alone – their tent slice open, and Billy gone. He was never seen again. 'Middle of the Night' takes place 30 years later, when Ethan has returned to his childhood home and continues to be desperate for an answer: who took Billy?

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. Sager starts a lot of threads but they don't always unravel fully. I enjoyed the examination of Ethan's subconscious and his thoughts surrounding the missing persons' case of his best friend. I also quite liked the picture he painted of the cosy neighbourhood – there aren't bad people, only bad happenings. But I found the pacing and weighting of topics to be a bit off. There's a whole part that focuses on the occult and paranormal, which felt disjointed and shoehorned in.

The most intriguing thing about this book is its premise, and that alone, should tell you everything you need to know!

I don’t know what to call this book. It’s not really a thriller because there was no thrill and I figured out the mystery early on, so it wasn’t much of a mystery either.

Moreover, the story dragged on and became so repetitive that my brain was begging me to give up on it and I should have listened.

Meh, not my cup of tea.

Middle of the night by Riley Sager is a little slower paced than his other books, however I feel this is a good thing it builds the suspense.

Ethsn has moved back to Hemlock Circle where 30 years previously his best friend disappeared while camping in Ethans back garden. The story is told mostly in the present day however there are sections which take place on the past.

The twists are revealed at good places in the story as I sometimes.find with thrillers there are hints to things throughout the book and then the answers are crammed in at the end and are a bit disappointing.