Oh how I wanted to love this. I really did. The blurb? That cover? Sounded right up my alley. I read it over the span of two days. After the first, I was enjoying it. After finishing it, I’m just kind of meh. Indifferent. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

Here’s what I liked: Riley Sager finally went with a male protagonist…at least somewhat, as all of the flashbacks hop between a bunch of characters. I loved the main arc of the story with the missing child as it felt so of its time. I loved the idea of The Institute and wish it had a larger piece of the story.

What I didn’t like: This book felt very Alex North to me with its back and forth timelines. North does it better…and his characters are more fleshed out than the characters in this book. I get why there were so many of them…but the problem with that is that none of the characters (minus Ethan) felt like characters that you cared for.

In typical Sager fashion, there are red herrings…but they tend to show up in the final third with so many bonkers plot points that it starts to feel completely ridiculous.

This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy Riley Sager’s books. I do.

I’ve been a fan since I read “Final Girls” years ago. (I still love that book.) I’ll continue to read his future books…but this one didn’t hold me the way his debut, “The Last Time I Lied”, or “The House Across the Lake” did. I’ll keep reading because I know what he’s capable of and know he’ll write other things that I’ll enjoy in the future. This one just wasn’t for me.

I feel this book struggled to find its footing. I thought I was reading an homage to Stranger Things, or It, but ultimately abandoned those themes.

As the big fan of Riley Sager's books, 'Middle of the Night" was one of my most eagerly anticipated book of the year, and I'm delighted to report that it absolutely delivered! From the beginning, I was completely ensnared by its intricate plot and compelling characters and couldn't pull the book down until I finished!

The story opens in 1994, with 10-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy embarking on a camping trip in Ethan's backyard. However, what starts as an innocent adventure takes a dark turn when their tent is slashed in the dead of night, and Billy vanishes without a trace. The haunting mystery of Billy's disappearance lingers for three decades, casting a shadow over Ethan's life.

Fast forward to the present day, and Ethan finds himself back in his hometown, grappling with the ghosts of his past. But as he settles back into his childhood home, strange and unsettling occurrences begin to unfold. Ethan is plagued by eerie visions and inexplicable phenomena, leaving him to question his sanity and confront the possibility of something far more sinister lurking in the darkness.

Riley Sager masterfully crafts a narrative that is equal parts gripping and atmospheric, weaving together elements of mystery, suspense, and a subtle touch of the paranormal. Each twist and turn kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly turning the pages to unravel the truth behind Billy's disappearance and the mystery events haunting Ethan's present.

'Middle of the Night' is absolutely a masterful thriller that delivers on every front. It falls second in my list of favorite Riley Sager books, right after "Home Before Dark."
Highly recommended for every fan of suspenseful, atmospheric mysteries!

I have really loved everything Riley Sager has written - Middle of the Night is up there with my favorites, in terms of the way the conclusion is ultimately pretty emotional and nostalgic in addition to the high level of creep factor.

I will drop everything I am doing to read anything from Riley Sager. This book was my most anticipated book of the year and I am grateful I got to read it so soon.  This book has the classic 90's nostalgia I am always searching for, and
the present day to the past timeline. Without giving anything away, this book is classic Riley, but this time with a male main character - which blew my mind. Other than this fact, it has the plot twist you will not see coming, and characters you fall in love with.
Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for my gifted ARC.

So exciting to read the new Riley Sager book!!! Some supernatural elements that will keep you pushing through wondering what is happening? The setting is a basic neighborhood in the Hemlock Circle, but the woods behind the houses will have you thinking about it long into the night. I didn’t realize how in-depth the parapsychology was studied until introduced to the Hawthorne Institute created by the billionaire Ezra Hawthorne, where basically they study ghosts or tried to explain the unexplainable. This institute is located deep in the woods beyond the neighborhood and forbidden territory. Try telling that to curious pre middle school boys, as they go for an adventure through the woods. Later that night, one boy will disappear.
Ethan, 30 years later, has moved back to his childhood home where a camping trip in his backyard ended with his best friend vanished. The only remnants of a disturbance was a slash in their tent. He tried desperately to find something in that night that he could remember. When Billy’s bones are discovered near the Hawthorne Institute, he thinks it has something to do with their trespassing.
The characters are flawed people sharing a piece of the past that brings them together, some confrontational and others welcomed. A well thought out book that I felt every move as if I was there. Well-done, Riley! You have earned all the recognition!
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed reading this book. It was gripping and kept you wanting to read to find out what happens. I like the way that you go between present time and the past to learn what was happening that leads up to the incident.

In 1994, 10-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy are camping in Ethan's backyard. Someone slashes the tent in the middle of the night and Billy disappears, never to be seen again.
Thirty years later, Ethan is back home when strange things start happening. Is it Billy? Or some supernatural force leaving Ethan messages?
I usually love Riley Sager's books, but this was a big miss for me. It was basically a whodunit but very, very slow paced. It's not difficult to figure out the Claudia storyline or who is leaving Ethan clues. Now, I didn't expect the culprit to be who it was, but by that time I was just ready for the book to end. I think the Hawthorne Institute could have been more fleshed out to make the storyline more interesting.
I did like the dual timelines between the present and 1994.
Really, it PAINS me to say that this is a miss for me.

For my preferences, I think I am past the "trauma as a kid; secrets will come out in due time" plot, but the inclusion of the institute with ritualistic elements was a nice twist. This reminded me of What Waits in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, and Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates.

Middle of the Night starts out explosively, turns down to a slow burn in the middle, then boils over at the end. Moving back home, Ethan is having a hard time with his memories because Billy, his best friend, disappeared while they were camping in his backyard, never to be found again. His first night back Ethan watches his neighbors garage sensors come on and turn off one by one and he’s positive someone’s out there, and it might be Billy. Other strange things start to happen and Ethan is forced to rethink his memories of that night.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

Wow. I honestly have no words after finishing the newest Sager thriller. Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced copy of " Middle of the Night". I have read every single one of Sager'ss books, and he is one of my favorite thriller authors. His newest focuses on Ethan, who was camping in his backyard with his best friend who seemingly disappeared. Decades later, Ethan returns to his family home to filled with anxiety and depression due to what happened that one summer night. He starts to see things at night and wonders if it is his insomnia driving him mad, or whether it could be something paranormal. While this book was not my favorite of Sagers, it kept me glued to my kindle and more importantly kept me wondering until the last page. I truly didn't see the ending coming.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Middle of the Night by Riley Sager.

This book was a treat. I've only read one other Riley Sager before, but I just might go back and read all of his other ones when I need a solid spooky thriller. Middle of the Night features a character reckoning with the trauma of his past, just enough supernatural haunting to keep you wondering, and some surprisingly endearing elements of family and healing. Well worth the read.

This was a really good read. Every time I thought I had the answer, there was a twist to make me change my mind. The plot of “repressed memories-missing kid/best friend-immense guilt-investigating-haunting” was pretty well written and easy to follow.
4.25 stars, but only because I could see where it was going at times

Pretty creepy, surprised me a few times, overall really entertaining. Not my favorite from Sager, I think, but a solid read. Fans of the author and the genre should be happy.

I will always enjoy a Riley Sager book. This is definitely up there in my favorites by him! He does a great job with the setting, juggling multiple characters which is something we don't normally see him do, and balancing basic thriller elements with the more outlandish that we've seen in his more recent work. Overall I loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone as I do with most of his others.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for sending me the arc 🫶🏻 coming off of the only one left, i feel like this one fell a bit flat and moved slow only to end up at an anticlimactic ending. the last quarter of riley sager’s books are always my favorite, but this one didn’t have me as excited as some of his others. it was still an enjoyable read though! there were a few moments i was really creeped out and wanted to turn a light on 😅

I read this as an ARC and i can't decide how i feel about it. i knew it would be hard to top the only one left & it is also hard not to compare it to that. it was a good story overall but i can't decide how i feel about different plot points and twists that occurred. more could've been done with the institute plot line (more details about the institute itself) because without more details, it doesn't really seem vital to the book and that that piece is just there to distract from the key story. (i was worried the book was going to take a stranger things approach and im glad it didn't.)
i didn't super love the ending with [redacted] being guilty. i totally think that would've worked if we had focused more on the kids summer and less on the mystery of the hawthorne institute (which isn't really solved?)
it felt like part of the book was going for the mystery neighborhood storyline and another part was going towards the hawthorne institute mystery storyline and i feel like it should have been primarily one or the other.
my one major complaint about the main character is he would be certain that someone was guilty and he would confront them and all they'd have to say is "no i'm not" and he'd switch up and be like oh okay you're right. but maybe that is just commentary on men.
idk i seem like im hating a lot but i did enjoy reading the book (i am a riley sager stan at the end of the day

4.5 stars

Holy cow! This book was intense. This is officially my favorite Riley Sager book now. This was full of emotion and mystery. Every time I thought I knew what or who, this book would take a sharp left.
Simply put, well done.

This was a nice change from Sager's usually tales - it didn't feel like a Sager book. It felt more restrained than his usual chaos. Still, full of twists and turns, it had me hooked right from the start. Definitely worth a read!

One I’m SHOCKED I got the ARC of this book due to how popular Riley is and how many people requested this! I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this one! I’ve always loved Riley’s books so I was so excited to get this one. A kid goes missing in the middle of the night and has spooky scenes? Sign me up. This book had me questioning what was really happening or if it was all in Ethan’s head. I enjoyed the ending and how the story played out.