This was a very slow starter for me and I almost stopped reading. I’m so glad that I didn’t because once the story picked up, I couldn’t put the book down! I do feel a good bit of the first 60 or so pages were totally unnecessary, but I’m more of a fast paced start to finish kind of reader so that’s definitely not a problem, just a personal preference. I would definitely read again and look forward to reading more from Tracy now. I’m always happy to find a new author!

This book was so much more than I was expecting!

There is a lot of ruminating about, shall we say, demons from the past, much of which is a bit WEIRD, and reads more like horror and those passages will take you out of the action and away from the present danger. That created an uneven pace as you question what is real, and what may be imagined before returning to the action.

The quality of the writing here is simply fantastic. It’s written from the unnamed mothers perspective and that is quite fascinating. Her internal thoughts and monologues are riveting as she silently responds to the intruder, hatches plans, reflects on incidents in her life, including tragedies, muses on her motherhood and the guilt she feels, all of these are sharply incisive. There are several occasions where you feel anger on her behalf and though occasionally you do feel some doubt, her brave persistence is truly admirable.

I started reading this spine-tingling book, Nightwatching, by Tracy Sierra, alone at night. Not a very smart move. The first act of this book is terrifying. Imagine being a mother, alone with your children in the middle of a blizzard, when you suddenly hear an intruder in your house. What would you do? In this gripping book, the protagonist finds herself in this situation and is forced to make split-second decisions that could mean the difference between life and death for her and her children. And instead of fighting or fleeing, she chooses to hide. And that means they are stuck. Waiting to be discovered. This beginning of the book enthusiastically preys on our deepest fears, making us question just how far we would go to protect our loved ones from harm.
The author's clever tactic of not naming the characters makes it all too easy for us to imagine ourselves in their shoes - a situation we'd rather avoid. The fear and uncertainty in the first act were palpable, leaving me on the edge of my seat.

The first act of the book was quite scary and left some ambiguity, which made me think that the mysterious man might not be present. However, I kept reading ahead to see if the rest of the book would maintain the same tone. Even though I understand that the first act was necessary, I feel that it could have been shorter. But as I delved deeper into the pages, I was pleasantly surprised by the sudden shift in the story's tone. What started as a bone-chilling horror soon transformed into a captivating tale that resonated with me on a personal level. It portrayed the all-too-real struggle of being misunderstood, unheard, and overlooked, an all-too-common woman's experience.

Sierra's intricate plot twists and turns lead to a heart-pounding climax that adds emotional depth to the book. The contrast between the terrifying beginning and the gripping end is simply breathtaking.


Nightwatching is a top-notch thriller with a surprising and original storyline that is sure to send shivers down your spine. This psychological suspense is a must-read for anyone who loves a thrill and wants to be kept on the edge of their seat.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an edge of your seat thriller. It was so hard to put this book down because I needed to know what happened. I was happy that the break-in wasn't the entire book; I don't think my heart could have handled that.

Then the second half of the book wondering the entire time if she just made it all up or if she was telling the truth was fantastic. The sergeant in this book might be one of the biggest dicks I've seen in a while.

The beginning of this domestic thriller had me on the edge of my seat. The story began as a blizzard raged outside, a woman is awakened by the creaking on the stairs of her old house, and she sees a figure of a man in the hallway. She wakes her 2 children (8 year old daughter and 5 year old son), goes down a back stairway to a secret room hidden behind a wall in the oldest part of the house. She whispers to the children to keep quiet - don't make a sound- as they huddle together. When the man threatens her and the children, she recognizes his voice but doesn't know from where.
The main part of the book focused on the woman reminiscing about her relationship with her in-laws (which was filled with animosity and blame), the trauma of the death of her mother and the trial of the man under the influence who killed her, the death of her husband from a fall in the kitchen. Unfortunately for me, this was so repetitious, that I questioned what it had to do with the main story. (However, by the end, I realized that the story could not have been told in a linear manner, but I think the ruminations should have been shortened). By the middle of the book, the backstory fit into the main story a lot better, and I was hoping that her story would be believed. The police seemed to think that she was making up a lot of the story,. The woman kept referring to her patchy skin, virtiligo, but it had no effect on the story.
The ending was perfect and the author did a great job amping up the tension, at the climax.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily. The opinions expressed are my own.

Nightwatching was a slow burn for me. I think the aspect of the mother and her children having to hide silently amidst the threat in their home made time stand still as I read. The flashbacks to her past and relationship with her husband only slowed things down more for me. Although the pace didn't feel quite as intense as others have mentioned in their reviews, I persisted and was rewarded with a well-crafted plot and character development. I, also, am not necessarily a fan of home invasion novels but again, Sierra crafted a satisfying read. Thank you Netgalley and Pamela Dorman Books for the advanced copy.

This book keeps everything that was great about the last one, but makes the plotting more streamlined and smoother - but just as interesting- and dialed the distracting level or meta commentary back enough to find the right balance. Highly recommended.

I started this i the middle of the night laying in my daughter's bed in MY ancient house where tall guys hit their heads on the stairs. I also have creepy crawlspaces but nothing like that our girl is hiding in. OMG the moment I started it I could not stop reading it. I was too terrified.
I was scared to move away from my kid. I was like "How is she gonna keep them quiet!?"
She is in this little room thinking about her life, her husband and his parents, and how she can escape.
I am now traumatized. Can't wait to read the next one.

*I had to come back and add to this review. The book was almost too relatable for me. The feeling of peace when you are finally alone, the guilt. and even the old house that has been changed so many times that it almost not the same house. I have that house! It's 140 years old and has been altered in so many ways it isn't the same house, save for a few burnt beams from the time it burnt down.
I even related to the way people did not believe her. I keep thinking about it. The ending was so perfect.
I also like that the entire thing was not tied to some stalker on the internet. It was that nice old fashioned realistic stuff that I remember being a little afraid of in the 80s.
I have already told a bunch of people about this book.

A bizarre read. Readers are never given any first names of any of the characters except the invader who is referred to as Corner Man.
It was unsettling.
I found the book hard to follow.

This book is so action packed yet at the same time gets a little slower towards the middle and then picks up again. I almost gave up halfway thru but I’m glad I kept reading. This was a great debut, but I’d be forewarned and educate yourself about some trigger warnings before reading. Maybe leave a light on, too while you read. I’m looking forward to what comes next from this author, Tracy Sierra!

TW: Language, cancer, toxic family relationships, death of parent, anxiety, physical abuse, gaslighting, misogynistic behavior, death of spouse, blood, violence, guns

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Home alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. She hears a noise—old houses are always making some kind of noise. But this sound is disturbingly familiar: it’s the tread of footsteps, unusually heavy and slow, coming up the stairs.

She sees the figure of a man appear down the hallway, shrouded in the shadows. Terrified, she quietly wakes her children and hustles them into the oldest part of the house, a tiny, secret room concealed behind a wall. There they hide as the man searches for them, trying to tempt the children out with promises and scare the mother into surrender.

In the suffocating darkness, the mother struggles to remain calm, to plan. Should she search for a weapon or attempt escape? But then she catches another glimpse of him. That face. That voice. And at once she knows her situation is even more dire than she’d feared, because she knows exactly who he is—and what he wants.
Release Date: February 1st, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 368
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. I liked that the characters have no names - just what they are/do
2. Kept my curiosity

What I Didn't Like:
1. Didn't care for the writing style
2. Repetitive
3. Book is too long
4. The ending is weird

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer I write my review as I read}}

Is the chimney sweep guy the one doing this? He hit his head and talked of ghosts.

I wish this book could have more going on with it. I'm a 100 pages into it and all that's happened with the Intruder is that he broke in and called her out when she's hiding in the room. Other than that happening it's just been flashbacks to how her father in law is toward her, her mother in law dying of cancer, and her husband obsession with forgiving his father despite the treatment and physical abuse he's done toward his wife and children. At this point I keep thinking the father in law hired someone to murder them.

So her son suddenly started wetting the bed during lockdown and the pediatrician didn't care. Okay. And they decided to put him back in diapers. That is weird. He's 5. Not even pull ups but diapers. They never thought that maybe it's something else.

So her son was so scared and kept saying a ghost was visiting him at night, but rather than the father setting a camera up into his room to show him there was no one there he sets it up outside to show him it's deer on the trail. I really had no idea what those two had to do with each other and why he would put the camera outside instead of in the kids room.

Is her husband dead? She keeps saying no one would notice that she and the kids are missing. Also it was just the three of them.

I can't do another 200 pages of her sitting in here thinking things out. I hope something happens. (Oh thank god she left the room)

I swear if some random dude put his hands on my child I would freak out. It is so creepy that the manager picked up the side of her tank top strap and tried to put it back on her shoulder. How disgusting.

I am wondering why she didn't take the kids with her. I get that she felt that they would slow her down outside, but if he was under the belief that they were all in the house still then wouldn't that have bought them more time to get away? Plus he's going to be burning the house down maybe so there is zero things lost in this scenario of taking the children with you.

I am just exhausted by this lady. She keeps telling herself she has to go and do this and when she does she gets beat up so badly from a gravestone, the snow, and a branch. How very lackluster.

We then learn that her mother was murdered by a drunk driver and he got away with it.

I keep thinking it's so odd how every part of this man that she sees is a part of different men she saw in her life that were not good people/things.
• Bald man = man that killed her mother
• Shirt with band on it = manager at Café
• Chatty guy saying it's dangerous and hit his head = chimney guy
• Yellow eyes = cat that almost ate her

Ah. Why would the police waste time asking her about a key when they could just break down a door or a window? She clearly doesn't care and is saying someone is in her house with her kids, but they are worried about a key. Odd.

This book is so completely frustrating and how it deals with women being listened to. Her husband doesn't care about how his father treated her because she misunderstood what he meant. Now we get this cop who's saying that she may have misunderstood how he meant something because his wife had died. So she doesn't get a say in where her children go because now her father-in-law won't let the kids go to someone else that she chooses. I just don't understand why he would even have a say in it their her children not his. Completely frustrating.

You know what I hate in books? I hate when people focus on something trivial and keep this dark secret, but the dark secret is a very important one that a normal person would Center on all the time thinking about. This whole time in the beginning all she can think about is her mother-in-law and how she took care of her mother-in-law and everything like that but we never get a thought about how her husband died in this house. It's kept a secret she pushes it aside and maybe you could say it's trauma she doesn't want to accept that he is dead but it would be weird that your mind wouldn't go there in a traumatic situation like this.

There was just too much of her waking up and passing out. I thought it was never going to end. It all just feels so endless and repetitive. They ask the same questions over and over.

Have I already mentioned how frustrating this book is? What was the point of taking her through the house so she could pinpoint things missing if they were just going to dismiss everything she said? She says that her daughters box is missing and that she loves it and carries things in it and then the detective is just like no she could have just misplaced it. It's like No One Believes her. Everyone thinks that she doesn't know what she's talking about.

Books and movies make it seem so easy to get someone to worry about children. It's so hard to get child services to actually do the work because they are so behind with their casework. I am 100% that certain that her father in law set this all up. I was wrong.

Not me the whole time yelling at the book that she needs to get a lawyer. She finally gets one.

Ohhh so the Sergeant is the one that reported her to Family Services because she was drunk and he was worried. But it doesn't matter because actually the killer was real and she killed him but of course she still had to earn back her kids. But the reason for the alcohol in her system was because of the neighbors giving her those warm drinks had whiskey in them.

Not going to lie to you I kind of skimmed the ending. I was a little over it already I wanted to find out what happened because it felt like every chapter seem to drag and repeat what it had already said.

I'm sorry but the ending makes little sense. Her idea is that he stayed in the house because he was waiting for her daughter to come home but he was in the basement when she was there with the police so he must have heard them say that the children would not be coming back to the house for a while. So why would he wait at the house any longer while she was sleeping in the bathroom? And why would he attack her in the woods? If he was after her daughter he no longer needed her. He could have just went after the daughter. Why would he do all this running back and forth into and back from the house?

But why did he hit his head if he had been in the house before?

Final Thoughts:
I think my biggest issue with the book was the endless inner monolog going on inside the mother's mind. It felt endless and a bit on the boring side. Pages upon pages of what she should/could/would do. I think this would make a great movie (as witnessed in the movie Panic Room), but here things dragged on.

Parts of this book that I found boring and then it would come back around to something interesting but then it would jump into something repetitive and then we would come back around to it being interesting. I just feel like I went through a rage of emotions for this book and one moment I would be like oh this book is like four stars and then I would be like but then it just feels very meh to me.

Honestly this book reminded me so much of a season of Fargo. I just watched season 5 of it and there a lot of similarities between the two.

This book ends up being one of those books that's like is she crazy or is she not? Should we doubt her or should we believe her? Is the monster real or is she just thinking it's real? I wish this book would have been different in that aspect. I feel like we have enough in life and especially for me as a woman where I already feel like I'm not believed, so reading about it in a book is very frustrating to me. I would definitely love to read reviews from the perspective of a man reading this book because all the guys in this book are terrible. There isn't one redeemable man in this book

Someone has just broken into your house! Blizzard and nowhere to go?! What do you do to try and save yourself and your children? Luckily there is a hideaway room in your house until the storm blows over. But how long will that take and what would you do to save your children if found?

Do I have your attention? Yep, this book had my attention from page 1. It had the tension and atmospheric vibe that is great. I think this book could almost be put into three parts. The first one was action packed and on edge. Second kind of slowed down to the point of trying to comprehend what happened at the beginning and lead to the third act of resolution. I loved the inner and outer monologue of the MC.....as an aside. we don't know any character's names......just hearing the MC go back and forth between inner and outer thoughts just increased the tension.

Where I lost it a bit was the final resolution. The whole book was setup as you didn't know what was really happening. Was it supernatural, was it real, was it all made up? And I felt a bit let down, without giving spoilers away. But it still really was super good

This was an edge of your seat read and would recommend. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m tempted to round down to 2 stars because THE BLURB DOES NOT PROPERLY REPRESENT THE BOOK. I’m really getting tired of this new trend. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind the last few sentences of the blurb. Are you trying to make us think it’s one thing so that we’re surprised when it turns out to be another? Either way, I knew that my rating for the book would largely depend on how things worked out at the end. All of the “unreliable narrator” drama throughout the book was over the top but I did like how things resolved on the whole. I might have rated it 3.5 to round up to 4 stars because of the ending but I was still upset about the blurb so here we are!

What a terrifying and layered read!! I will def be auto-buying the next book by TS! It was more than expected and not only a propulsive thriller but a compelling and frustrating commentary on women in society.

Unfortunately, this book just was not for me. I could not get into the story or characters. I stopped reading at the 20% mark and just do not see myself picking this one back up again.

This story became so much more than I was expecting! This was terrifying. It was also absolutely, positively infuriating. The lack of respect shown by all of the misogynistic men in this story made me want to SCREAM!!!! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and was rooting so hard for the main character.

Nightwatching grabs readers right from page one with an intense and heart-pounding thriller that explores the depths of a mother's courage when faced with unimaginable threats. Authored by Tracy Sierra, this thriller catapults readers into a chilling scenario where a mother's instinct to protect her children is put to the ultimate test.

The story unfolds within the confines of a blizzard-stricken home, where the tranquility of the night is shattered by the ominous presence of an intruder. As the tension escalates, the protagonist finds herself navigating the shadows of her own fears while safeguarding her vulnerable children.

Nightwatching is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful fiction. Tracy Sierra delivers a gripping tale that will linger in readers' minds long after the final page is turned

“There was someone in the house”. That one sentence captivated and plunged me into an intense thriller about a possible intruder inside a house with a mom and her two small kids. My heart raced as I read this story. Like the main protagonist, I wondered if she was hallucinating or was she telling the truth about someone watching her and the family. I enjoyed this creepy story so prepare yourself for a wild and gripping ride!

This book....was amazing!! This is the thriller I have been waiting for, for a long time! So many books bill themselves as thrillers and turn out to be just meh but not this book. This book gripped me from page 1 and did not let me go until the end. When I was not reading it, I was thinking about when I could get back to it. There were more than a few parts where I was literally biting my nails or cringing at what happening and I am so please that through her words, Tracy Sierra was able to get me to have this reaction. The entire book is creeping. The setting of being in a locked space with two little ones where danger lurkes just outside if you make a noise or try to move is absolutely unsettling and creepy. I felt that the the points in the story where we go back in time to see different parts of the main characters life were done so seamlessly and at the same time did not throw you out of the story to where you forgot where you were or got disoriented. I really cannot say enough good things about this book. If you put one thriller on your TBR this year, it should be this one! I cannot wait to read more by this author.

This book was strange. The no names, ghost???? Thing, and unreliable narrator was just too much for me. It wasn't intense, it was just .... weird. Not for me.