30 years ago 10 yr old Ethan and his friend Billy were camping in the back garden . When Ethan woke in the morning there was a tear in the side of the tent and Billy was missing -never to be found .
Now Ethan is back in his old house along with his childhood memories . Can he eventually solve the mystery that has haunted his life ?
Absolutely Brilliant !

Thank You NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

Brilliant. I loved this book. I have read one of this authors books before and didn't think that much of it, but loved this. The characters were relatable. I went through all the emotions with a sadness when finding out what had happened to Billy.
I love books when I do not expect the ending to be as it was. I will recommend this as a good read.

I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager, I typically find his books very engaging and entertaining, this one was just a bit of a let down - for me!

The premise was very interesting but the story was quite slow to get going, the chapters that covered the past were interesting but short, while the present day ones dragged on a bit. I felt the occult theme could have played a much bigger part.

Overall I thought it was an okay book, easy to read just not one I’d recommend to someone new to Sager.

A wild ride. I thought this was going to end paranormal which I wasn’t expecting but I’m glad it didn’t. The ending was unexpected but a little boring, couldn’t predict it though. I had hoped it would have more twists but overall, a good story.

In Middle of the Night we follow dual timelines:

1994 - Ethan and his friend Billy camp out in his backyard only for Billy to go missing, a slash down the tent and no trace of what happened to him, the only possible witness Ethan doesn' remember seeing anyone that night.

Present Day - Ethan has moved back to the family home where the disappearance occured, and something strange is happening. Ethan senses someone lurking in the cul de sac. Is Billy back? Is it paranormal? The mysterious institute in the woods? A neighbour?

This was a fun read for me and I love Riley Sager, you never know what kind of thriller you're going to get going in to one of his books. He keeps you guessing and looking for twists right to the end, and at this point, I'll read anything he releases!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the chance to read Middle of the Night.

I’ve read all of Riley Sager’s books and am a big fan of his work and writing style. His books have ranged from 2-5 stars for me and I really enjoyed his last book but this one was a middle of the road 3 for me. The premise is interesting, I love a dual timeline and the involvement of the Hawthorne Institute. However, the latter wasn’t used to its full potential - I wanted it to be even creepier and darker to really ramp things up but the overall book was just a real slow burn and the ending was just a bit flat for me.

Also the police did a shitty job of investigating Billy’s disappearance the first time around and the kids kept a hell of a lot of vital information back considering they wanted their friend to be found.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read nearly every single book by this author.. and I can confidently say this is another huge hit!! Loved every second

This book follows Ethan as he grapples with the disappearance of his best friend Billy, 30 years ago. The two boys were camping in Ethan’s backyard when the tent was sliced open with a knife and Billy was taken, never to be seen again, while Ethan slept.

This story had a number of positives. It definitely scared me! (A win for storytelling, a definite loss for my ability to sleep when reading this at night - mistakes were made). I enjoyed the dual timelines. I thought it worked really well to allow us to see what actually happened 30 years ago and how that impacted their actions and thoughts in the current day. Additionally I liked the range of characters and how they impacted the story in both timelines.

However with that being said, the first 50% of this book was quite slow. While the story teased you at times, it ended up being quite mundane and underwhelming. I was left thinking “was that it?”. It felt quite drawn out and when I look back I realise, not much actually happened.

While this book had potential, in the end I feel like it underdelivered and won’t be overly memorable to me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Absolutely fantastic, I have been hooked for the last 2 days as I knew I would with another amazingly gripping book by one of my favourite authors! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this title.

I want to start off by saying I have read every Riley Sager book and even the ones that aren't the best are still entertaining and still rated mid-level for me. This is the first time I have hated a Riley Sager book.

The one thing I like: I love Henry. He was like a little Sheldon Cooper.

The rest are just SOME of the things I didn't like. But I have to say the majority of the book I disliked, but there is just too much to list, im going to keep it shorter.

The chapters about the past go by quickly and are interesting but the present day chapters are SLOW.

The amount of detail the characters didn't mention to the police as kids because they decided it 'wasnt important' but, guess what?, ended up actually being important, is unreal.

The amount of times the narrator will blindly ignore the fact that Billy Barringer had a younger brother is insane. 'Only the Barringers and the Chen's had a key to our home... So it could ONLY be Russ Chen that broke into my house!' Um... what??
Also he believes the 'Hakuna Matata Dude' note was dead Billy's ghost because only him and Billy know that phrase??? HIS BROTHER KNOWS. You were there when he said it to him! The brother is unaccounted for and not once does he consider it could be him creeping round?? I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot. I am being gaslit by a book.

Classic RS trope where the MC falsely accuses someone close to them and ruins a friendship/relationship. I am so bored of this.

The police (AND FBI) work done to try and find Billy is SHOCKING. One set of footprints (which we now know to belong to a BAREFOOT TEN YEAR OLD) but they suspect an adult kidnapper?
No search of the nearest body of water for miles? At the super secret institution?
No tyre marks or blood at the road the dogs lead the police to????? Doubt it.
No vehicles searched on the estate. Even though they checked houses. Even though they suspected he was taken in a CAR.
Someone's 'deer' accident wasn't questioned. Ever.
Someone's knife incident wasn't questioned. Ever.

I could go on but I need to put this behind me.

This story of Ethan and Billy camping in the back garden of Ethan’s house, then waking up and finding the tent slit, and Billy missing, kept me glued to the page.
When Ethan returns to his parents home thirty years later he starts trying to unravel the past. With a wide range of suspects, and all the neighbours under the spotlight, the plot comes together slowly.
I really enjoyed this Riley Sager book and found it a real page turner.

Middle of the Night is classic Riley Sager—a compelling mystery, with hints of the supernatural and a big dose of nostalgia. I love how his writing style brings to mind spooky horror films and how his twisty plots are laced with atmosphere, while the characters are people you find yourself caring about and rooting for. This latest offering is no different. While I did guess a couple of twists, there were others that I didn’t see coming. I raced through this book to discover the truth of what happened the night Billy Barringer vanished and wasn’t disappointed. Fans of Riley Sager’s previous work will love Middle of the Night.

Riley Sager’s new book was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I was convinced it would become a new favorite…unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

When Ethan Marsh was ten years old, his best friend Billy went missing from their tent in his backyard. And he was never found. Thirty years later, Ethan finds himself back in his suburban childhood home. When mysterious things start happening in the middle of the night and they all point to Billy, Ethan starts investigating.

The first chapter was amazing but then things quickly went downhill. Nothing really happened and I was bored for a huge part of the story. I did enjoy Sager‘s writing but it wasn’t enough to get me hooked. I also loved the suburban setting, the 90‘s vibes and the queer rep. (And the cover) But all in all I wanted more. More thrill, more action, more impressing twists, more interesting secrets, more ghosts, more occult stuff.

This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything more than okay either.

July 15th 1994. In their sheltered cul-de-sac of Hemlock Circle, Ethan and his best friend Billy spend the night camping in Ethan’s backyard as they’ve done every Friday throughout the summer. Only when Ethan awakens the next morning, he realises this isn’t like any other time the pair have camped out. This time, the tent is damaged. This time, Ethan is alone. This time, Billy is gone, without a trace.

The story is told in dual timelines: Present day follows an older Ethan, who experiences strange occurrences after returning to his childhood home thirty years after that fateful night. The flashback chapters to 1994 offer new perspectives of various residents of the neighbourhood in the lead-up to Billy’s disappearance and reveal that the lives of those in Hemlock Circle are not as picture-perfect as they may seem…

Middle of the Night was my third Riley Sager book (the other two being Final Girls and Survive the Night) and I have to say this has been my favourite so far. This book was a page turner that had me racing to the end to uncover the mystery: WHO TOOK BILLY BARRINGER? Ultimately, I burned through this book and enjoyed every minute of it. The suspense made for a gripping atmosphere and the characters felt well-rounded and developed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Riley Sager and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced copy. The opinions presented in this review are entirely my own.

Sagar really has this genre locked in, he gets it right everytime! Genuinely gave me chills, its so atmospheric and well described, the characters are complex, the plot is tightly woven (though some plot devices get reused a tad too much). And, as always, it has the trademark 'put you book down to process' plot twist

Firstly thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this Arc, and Penguin Publishing Group.
I'd say this book doesn't quite peak however the ending had me crying so it went from a 3* to a 4 for that reason.

I was intrigued by where this was going with the ghost talk and spookiness, certainly not like everything else out there.

Only downfall for me was the repetitiveness. How many times can Ethan say cul-de-sac and Hemlock Circle. That grated on me a little and felt like someone writing an essay and having to hit a certain word count.

That being said the signs were there for the ending but I still didn't see it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat throughout and it did give me the creeps at points as well. I like how it changed from present day to the past and the story flowed really well. It definitely had me gasping out loud in places as I just didn’t see any of it coming!! 5 stars!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6435809937

A fun whoodunnit/thriller with added supernatural touches. A pacey, page turning read, interesting characters, lots of potential suspects, lots of twists, a satisfying ending. Nothing not to like. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I hate to only leave 3 stars as I appreciate the arc, but this was too slow for me. The story didn’t progress very quickly and I found myself skipping through to get to something happening. I enjoyed other books by this author, perhaps others would enjoy the pace of storyline development but it wasn’t for me sorry.

This tale of Ethan and his young friend Billy who goes missing while spending the night camped out in Ethan's back yard had me hooked from the start. Thirty years later Ethan is back living at his parent's house in Hemlock Grove, a small cul-de-sac where all the neighbours know each other. No one was found responsible for Billy's disappearance and for Ethan that weighs heavily as he's sure somewhere, deep down in the deeps of his memory, his ten-yr old self must have seen who took him.

When Billy's body resurfaces coinciding with Ethan's return, in the grounds of a mysterious institute it can't be a coincidence.

Ethan then tries to find out what really happened to Billy so he can stop carrying around the guilt of losing his best friend.

Another great book from Riley Sager who doesn't disappoint.