Item: Middle of the Night
Rating: 3.50
Author: quirkycat

by Riley Sager

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul-de-sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed ghosts roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.

Book Summary:

Ethan Marsh’s life was changed one night in July. He went to sleep in a tent next to his best friend, only to wake up to a nightmare. Thirty years later, Ethan never really got over that trauma. He still wakes up at night hearing the same sounds.

He also feels haunted. Haunted by his past. By Billy - alive or dead, he’s not certain. Admittedly, moving back into his childhood home probably wasn’t the best move for his mental health, but it felt like the right option at the time. Maybe now he can finally get some answers.

My Review:

It's time to try another Riley Sager novel! I'm in the minority here, but I feel like Sagar's books can be a bit hit or miss for me. So I promised myself that Middle of the Night would be the last of his I read (for a bit, at least) if I didn't enjoy it.

The good news is that I liked it decently! It's one of my favorites by him. I loved how Middle of the Night played with the past, present, preconceptions, and the persistence of memory. That was all really well done.

A huge chunk of Middle of the Night focuses on building up the mystery and atmosphere of the world. You'll get to know the circumstances of Billy's disappearance very well. You'll also learn a bit about the town and the time. It's the final hundred pages of this book that really kick off. So, if you keep waiting for the twist - keep reading. It's there.

I didn't love the final twist(s) in Middle of the Night, so I'm not rating this book higher. Although well-written and compelling, the ending didn't meet my expectations.

Highlights:
Thriller/Horror
Missing Person
Haunted Past
History Repeats

Trigger Warnings:
Kidnapping
Death of Spouse

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Middle of the Night

by Riley Sager

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on Sep 8, 2024

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