Book Review: Middle Of The Night by Riley Sager

“Who took Billy? Are they still out there?”

Set to be published on 2nd July, Middle Of The Night by Riley Sager is set on 15th July 1994, when ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy fell asleep together in their quiet New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. The tent was sliced open, and Billy was gone, taken. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has returned to Hemlock Circle, still desperate for answers. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening on the street under the cover of darkness. Someone is prowling the cul de sac when no one is awake to see them…

Rating:

Thank you to NetGalley for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always really excited for a new Riley Sager book, but mostly because I never know what to expect. Will it be a popcorn thriller with slightly unbelievable twists? Will it be a horror with a nerve-wracking atmosphere? Or will it be a mystery with cliff-hangers galore? Yet Middle Of The Night still feels like something completely different from everything else I’ve read by Sager so far. Although the one thing that remains the same is that I never want to put his books down!

For me, Middle Of The Night felt a little tame for Sager overall, but it also felt obvious that he wanted a break from the jaw-dropping twists we can usually expect from him, and that he wanted to write something more authentic instead. Because I’ll be honest, the twists in this one were average and I didn’t much care for the ending, but there was also a lot that I did love. I loved the characters, the chilling atmosphere, the spooky location and mystery surrounding The Institute and what they do, and the true-crime feel to the whole story.

Some may be more disappointed with the slower pace and lack of shocks, but what we have instead is a well-written mystery with strong characters development and a moving exploration of grief. I love a story with supernatural elements and I really like how they worked in this story, bringing back Ethan’s fears, guilt, and worries.

It’s definitely a book I’ll think about often, and another hit from Sager for me.