This book had me turning the pages until about the three quarter mark. Sager does a great job of building the tension and exploring the characters, but ultimately I felt that the end let me down and I was disappointed.

"Middle of the Night" by Riley Sager is a pulse-pounding thriller that plunges readers into a world of suspense and intrigue. Sager, known for his knack for weaving intricate and gripping tales, does not disappoint with this latest offering.

The characters are well-drawn, with Maggie serving as a compelling protagonist whose journey from fear to empowerment is both believable and engaging. Sager's writing is crisp and evocative, painting vivid scenes that enhance the book's ominous atmosphere. The plot twists are cleverly executed, ensuring that just when you think you have it all figured out, Sager pulls the rug out from under you.

However, some might find the pacing a bit uneven, with certain sections dragging slightly before ramping up to high-stakes revelations. Additionally, those expecting deep psychological exploration might feel the character development is somewhat secondary to the plot.

Overall, "Middle of the Night" is a thrilling page-turner that showcases Riley Sager's talent for creating spine-chilling narratives. If you enjoy suspenseful, twisty mysteries, this book is definitely worth a read.

"You can't sleep because you think you might miss another chance to stop something terrible from happening. And that whoever took Billy will eventually come back to take you."

When Ethan is ten, his best friend Billy vanishes from the tent the two boys were sleeping in, camping in Ethan's backyard. Ethan sleeps through the event, waking up alone the next morning, with only a knife slice in the tent wall to indicate something is amiss.

Thirty years later, Ethan returns to Hemlock Circle, the upmarket suburban cul-de-sac where it happened. For three decades he's had the same nightmare, about someone taking Billy in the night. A week after his return, Ethan begins to sense a presence at night. The security lights all around the neighbourhood are being triggered, seemingly by nothing. Baseballs, the kind Billy used to send secret messages with, appear on his lawn.

This leads Ethan to investigate Billy's disappearance on his own, starting with the woods behind his backyard, and the mysterious Hawthorn Institute at the far edge of the forest. Billy believed in ghosts, something Ethan always scoffed at. Now, he's not so sure. Is Billy trying to send him a message?

This book reminds me of 'Home Before Dark', the first Riley Sager book I read and the one that's been my favourite because of just how creepy it is. This is a very close second. The unease and tension are built up layer by layer until stretching to a snapping point. I was freaked out, scared, and uneasy reading this myself at home – even during the daylight, a measure of a good chiller.

I loved the twists and only figured out who the culprit was (but not the why) a few chapters before the reveal. This is Riley Sager at his best. I recommend it to anyone who likes interesting characters, ominous tones and creepy settings.

Another hit for Riley. 30 year ago two boys sleeping in a tent in the garden the next morning one has disappeared, now Ethan returns to his childhood home when creepy things start to happen. Is Billy trying to get in touch from beyond the grave. Full of mystery and twists. Good characters and well plotted a must for Riley fans. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for a review ARC.

I’ve not read a Riley Sager book before but have seen lots of rave reviews online so I was excited to read this but sadly it really disappointed me.

The premise was promising, a man returns to his hometown decades after the disappearance of his best friend determined to find out what really happened

My main issue was that the writing is very repetitive, for example I went back and looked and the fact the main character lives on a cul-de-sac is mentioned 52(!) times.

It’s very slow paced and there are a lot of red herrings that get tedious by the end - I also thought the ending was a huge anti-climax and was annoyed that I just didn’t DNF halfway through like I should have.

I don’t usually write such negative reviews but I really didn’t enjoy it at all.

The Middle Of The Night by Riley Sager
I give this book 4.25 stars.

On 15 July 1994, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy fell asleep in a tent,in the morning it had been sliced open with a knife, and Billy was gone. Never to be seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan has returned to his childhood home.Every night, he's kept awake by strange disturbances on the street.This isn't a bad neighbourhood. These aren't bad people. Are they?

Loved it!
A creepy, thrilling and suspenseful mystery. A missing child from 30 years ago. A quiet cul de sac setting surrounded by a forest and a mysterious institute that has now closed down.The perfect combination of paranormal possibilities and 90’s nostalgia.Its great to switch it up and have an unreliable male narrative mixed with multiple POV’s amongst this dual timeline.
Secrets unfold and as always with this author there’s the twists and misdirection I expect.
I will always read and recommend this authors books.
With thanks to Netgalley,Riley Sager and Hodder & Stoughton for my chance to read and review this book.

I've both enjoyed and disliked Riley's books previously, but I mostly enjoyed them. This was a middle of the road book for me.

I always enjoy the questionable paranormal element that he tends to throw in his books, and I did so in this one. The reveals were great, and I didn't predict most of them, especially the ones towards the end.

I also like the little chapters that jumped between each of the characters from Hemlock Circle building the events of the night up from 30 years ago.

However, I did find Ethan a little dull, he does have a lot going on and more than you're initially led to believe as well, but he's just incredibly boring so sometimes it was hard to follow from his POV.

The other thing that bothered me as well was that with some things, I feel like we've been left with more questions than answers. The Hawthorne Institute and everything we learned about it, I don't feel like that was wrapped up fully, I still have questions. Plus, there are some other things I don't want to mention as they are spoilers. But that does bother me.

Yeah, I just feel like this one didn't come together as seamlessly as I've seen Riley Sager do before, unfortunately.

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.