What an outstanding debut novel, in the outset Daphne Woolsoncroft speaks of her own aunts unsolved murder as her inspiration and motivation for Night Watcher, along with her podcast, I’m not big into podcasts, but I’d be interested to hear this one.

Night watch is a radio phone in show hosted by Nola. She answers calls from people who have witnessed UFO sightings or paranormal activity and in the middle of a regular show she takes a call from a seriously distressed woman who describes a ghost in her home, as she gives a description and the line goes dead Nola knows immediately that this is no ghost, that her own history is repeating itself, but is it possible that the hiding man is back and if he is can Nola escape him a second time.

Spine tinglingly creepy!

The dual narration of this title by Helen Laser and Will Collyer was excellent.

Huge thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧

This book felt like a chore to get through. The writing was overly remedial, bogged down with excessive clauses that disrupted the flow and made the prose feel clunky. A lot of the content leaned heavily into info-dumping with details piled on that ultimately had little or no relevance to the story.

I struggled to connect with any of the characters in either timeline; they felt flat and underdeveloped, leaving me emotionally disengaged from the narrative. The structure and tone gave the impression of a self-published draft that hadn’t yet gone through the rigorous editing it desperately needed. With sharper pacing, better character development, and a strong editorial hand, this might’ve been salvageable but as it stands, it fell flat.

The author narrating her own writing only embellishes the run on sentences with a cringe attempt at voice work.

I listened to this in a day! Wow, this thriller got me from the very beginning and I couldn’t stop! It was creepy and unsettling in all the best ways. Nola as a character was fun to follow as things were pieced together and the mystery was unraveled. My only gripe is that I wish the ending had more substance to it. It felt a little rushed

I've seen some good buzz about this one and decided to be brave and listen haha. Twenty years ago a serial killer was making the rounds in Portland, Oregon. Nola, at the tender age of 8, unfortunately lost her babysitter to this monster while she was upstairs. She saw the masked man and has been living with those images ever since. Now the host of a very popular late night show, Night Watch, a woman calls in frightened. Listening to her account of what's happening in her home right now instantly puts Nola back in time. He's back, The Hiding Man, is back.  Nola and her coworker are pleading at the woman to call the police but the line goes dead... A race against time as Nola tries to put the pieces together before more women are killed while the evidence is somehow really stacking up against her Dad. Wow this was a suspenseful listen! Helen Laser and Will Collyer did such a great job with the narration. The story was creepy to begin with but these narrators really brought it to life. I couldn't listen too late at night for fear I'd be too scared to sleep. At one point while reading in bed the wind was blowing and slowly and eerily my bedroom door creaked shut. Did I get up and open it? Heck no, that hallway was dark, haha. I was thoroughly immersed in this one and it's going to be a great thriller for summer! I was also super impressed it was a debut. Fingers crossed Daphne writes more books! Thanks so much Hachette Audio and NetGalley for a gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t make the best choice by listening to this book at night, alone, in the dark, and with AC blasting so I can’t hear if there is a creepy masked killer entering my house. This book was CREEPY! Definitely had to stop listening some point because I started getting to creeped out lol!

Very enjoyable debut for Daphne Wolsoncroft. I will say, I did have a pretty good idea who the killer might be but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book because it felt more like the point was to be creeped out and to feel watched like Nola and the other women felt.

For audiobook listeners- I enjoyed the male narrator. I prefer when narrators don’t go to intense with voices for the opposite sex and he handled female voices well. I’ve listened to other books with the female narrator and I’m not the biggest fan of her. Mainly due to how she does male voices but I do also think she can get overly dramatic with her reading and it feels goofy.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC of this book!

EXCERPT: The creak, the squeak, from in the night, Is quite enough to cause a fright.

But when you see his wielding knife, It’s far too late, he’ll take your life.

He lurks from deep beyond the gray, He thrives as loose among the prey. Like a fox, to his hen,

This “He” is called the Hiding Man.

His first victim’s stifled scream echoes in his ears as he composes each line, acting as background noise to his typing. Mere hours ago, while he drew his blade across her throat, her lips pressed against his gloved hand, the woman wrestled for mercy. Mercy, compassion, pity that would never come. It now forms as an unforgettable memory in his mind, one he has been replaying repeatedly since its recent genesis.

In clean gloves, he tugs the poem from his aged typewriter and settles it delicately into a manila document mailer.

His breath is heavy against the mask, with only thin slivers of air available through the mouth slit he cut out himself. But wearing it completes his transition like new skin, letting him embody the man of his choosing—his making. He’s finding it loathsome to remove the newly created mask from his head, nearly wishing it would melt into his flesh and become his authentic face.

With his nondominant hand, he scribbles the Portland Police Department’s address on the front of the mailer and thinks still of the screams, and the sirens approaching the dead woman’s house, and the pigs finding his slaughtered hen. A tight smile forms beneath the fabric.

He knows this is only the beginning. He’s just getting started.

ABOUT 'NIGHT WATCHER': Nola Strate, a late night call-in radio host in Portland, Oregon, listens to stories of hauntings and cryptic sightings for a living. But one foggy, wet evening, when a caller describes an eerie scene that triggers memories of Nola’s escape from a serial killer years before, she becomes fearfully aware that he’s back to finish what he started.

Nola Strate is being watched, again.

After an encounter with a notorious serial killer in the Pacific Northwest as a child, Nola has grown up and tried her best to forget her traumatizing night with The Hiding Man. She installed security cameras outside her Oregon home, never spoke of her experience, and now hosts Night Watch, a popular radio call-in show her semi‑famous father used to run. When coincidences lead Nola to believe that she is being stalked, and a caller on Night Watch has a live incident with an intruder in the caller's home—the description of whom is chillingly familiar—Nola is convinced that The Hiding Man has resurfaced and is coming for her.

With a mysterious next‑door neighbor lurking in the shadows, more people getting hurt, the police not taking her concerns seriously, and evidence pointing towards her own father, Nola decides to become, like her listeners, a Night Watcher herself, and uncover the monster behind The Hiding Man's mask.

MY THOUGHTS: A thrilling and suspenseful debut!

Probably best not to be read at home, on your own, late at night . . . you know, when the house is creaking, shifting and settling, and there's a branch tap-tap-tapping on the window . . .

Night Watcher was very easy to become immersed in from the very start. There's nothing worse than that feeling of being watched, and Daphne Woolsoncroft has picked up this ball, run with it and scored.

Told from multiple povs including Nola, Jack - the detective, and The Hiding Man himself, Woolsoncroft will have you on your toes and glancing nervously over your shoulder.

Nola is a great character - she has put her past behind her until the call in to her radio show which, understandably makes her anxious. But she is also determined and gutsy and does the prerequisite dumb things occasionally which had me yelling at her, 'Don't do that! What are you thinking?!'

Harvey is a treasure.

Jack left a little to be required as a detective and I don't feel his character was developed as fully as it could have been.

Nola's dad - Chic Strate - made a great suspect (and there's not many of them). There was something just 'off' about him from the start. He's certainly dodgy, but a killer?

The reclusive neighbor . . . hmmm . . . certainly had me thinking.

I felt a little let down at the denouement but, hey, I know people have been killed for less. It just felt a little flat for me. I kept expecting something more to happen . . .

Woolsoncroft kept up the suspense throughout the story and I was listening every opportunity I had. The audio was superbly narrated by author Daphne Woolsoncroft, Helen Laser and Will Collyer. The author's note at the end is informative and interesting.

⭐⭐⭐.8

#NightWatcher #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR - DAPHNE WOOLSONCROFT a Los Angeles native, is the host and producer of the hit true crime podcast Going West, with a 150K-200K listeners per episode and over two million monthly downloads. When she's not writing or researching true crime cases, you can find her traveling to gloomy destinations, catching the newest horror film in theaters, or reading on the couch with her plump English Bulldog, Dewey.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley for providing an audio ARC of Night Watcher written by Daphne Woolsoncroft and narrated by the author herself and Helen Laser and Will Collyer. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft is scheduled for publication July 08, 2025.

The creak, the squeak, from in the night
Is quite enough to cause a fright.
But when you see his wielding knife
It's far too late, he'll take your life.

If you think you have stopped being afraid of the dark, think again. This book will have you pulling down your blinds and looking over your shoulder on deserted streets.

Nola Strate is a successful podcast host. Her show 'Night Watch' entertains callers who share creepy tales in the night. Some have earthbound villains and some are about UFOs. It's an eclectic mix that will keep you company in the dark.

There is more to Nola and as the story unfolds we also learn more about her family and the victims of a serial killer who is know as The Hiding Man. This upcoming release is so much more if you go in blind. I highly recommend the audio version narrated by Helen Laser and Will Collyer with a bonus note from Daphne Woolsoncroft about her motivation for writing this story.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC and to Grand Central Publishing and Edelweiss+ for a digital ARC. I loved the audio production, but happily finished with the digital copy so I could find out how this would end.

Night Watcher
Author Daphne Woolsoncroft
Narrators Helen Laser will Collyer
4 stars for this mystery/thriller

Nola was young girl when her babysitter was murdered , she caught a glimpse of the killer a man wearing a mask , other women have been murdered in the same way and there is another eye witness who describes the same mask as Nola .

The adult Nola has a podcast that used to be hosted by her now retired dad , when one night a caller rings in very disturbed seeming think there was a ghost in her house and locks herself in her closet , the call is abruptly ended . Nola already is nervous and feels like she is being watched , this only escalates as the women is discover to have been murdered .
There are links to the murder of Nola’s babysitter .
The story is fast paced as Nola and Jack the detective , who worked on the previous murders and now working on the present search for the killler.

I thought both narrators did a great job , and the story was engaging .
There were a couple of points such as Nola easily entering a murder victims house and accessing her computer just as forensics left very unbelievable and although Jack seemed a likeable character he seemed a poor detective , making some very dubious decisions that made the plot less believable but all in all a satisfactory mystery .

I will look out for other books by this author as I did enjoy the book .

ALC 🎧 Review: Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft
⭐️⭐️💫 (2.5 stars)
Pub Date: July 8, 2025.

I was really into this one at the beginning because it sounded so creepy, but I ended up feeling kind of bored throughout. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t love it because the masked murderer and home break-in tropes usually scare me so much. Eh, anyway… on to the next one. 😅

Thank you to @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

👻💀🎭

After an encounter with a notorious serial killer in the Pacific Northwest as a child, Nola has grown up and tried her best to forget her traumatizing night with The Hiding Man. She installed security cameras outside her Oregon home, never spoke of her experience, and now hosts Night Watch, a popular radio call-in show her semi‑famous father used to run. When coincidences lead Nola to believe that she is being stalked, and a caller on Night Watch has a live incident with an intruder in the caller’s home—the description of whom is chillingly familiar—Nola is convinced that The Hiding Man has resurfaced and is coming for her.

#netgalley #thrillerreads #arcreader #bookish #books #audiobooklove #audiobooks #reading #bookworm #booknerd #booklove #booklife #read #bookstagram

Alright, I know I'm in the minority here, so I suggest you look at other reviews since a lot of people really liked it. I probably would have liked it more if I had read it myself—not that the narrators were bad, but I think my own inner voices would have resonated with me more. Overall, it was just an average read/listen for me. It certainly wasn't awful. But it also wasn't fantastic. I thought it was pretty slow-paced, and the characters didn't show much growth at all (either before or during the story).

The premise of this book really had me intrigued and the beginning starts off with a bang. However, the pace fluctuates so often that it feels like a slow leaking balloon. I was beginning to wonder if the author was going to take us down the unreliable narrator road at times. She sets up our main character to "see things" and feel she may have imagined things. I suppose these are attempts to create mystery surrounding the stalking and to make us wonder if they are really happening. It made me feel like our main character was flighty and untrustworthy in telling her point of view. The narration switches between Nola the FMC and Jack the detective that is working on the case. I liked both of the narrators so the audiobook is a great place to "read with your ears". I just think the execution of the storyline wasn't as strong as I would have liked. The motive that we discover in the end for the killings seems so weak as to not really be worthy of so many lives taken. I get that we are probably dealing with a crazy killer who's not a rational person but I think what I enjoy about "true crime" fiction is when we get a bad guy with a past that provides a deep motivation. Set all that aside, I wish the author had spent a little more time on Nora's personal life before the present day crimes took place. We get a moment with one friend, a brief encounter with her co-worker/potential lover but the main plot lines are focused solely on the murders. I understand that the author has a personal story involving an unsolved murder in her family and she is also a podcaster so her background brings in some interesting background. I just think this had so much potential. I would read a future book by this author because I think there is promise of interesting stories. This one wasn't quite what I hoped it would be.

4.25 stars. After hearing all the hype I just couldn’t pass this up, better yet, it’s a debut! Night Watcher is a chilling, spine-tingling thriller that will instantly cool you off under the hot summer sun!!🥶☀️ Wowza.. we have an escaped serial killer and a true crime radio show host who is paranoid that she’s being targeted by him. Twenty years ago Nola survived a near death experience with the “Hiding Man.” As if by deja’vu, bodies are piling up again.. but if you think you know where this is going think again. Prepare to be spooked. This book has a much darker atmosphere giving off eerie, unsettling horror vibes and the constant feeling of dread as to what might happen next. Is superb on audio - a must read for your beach bag! 🎧 Pub. 7/8/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Night Watcher begins with an intriguing concept. Nola Strate is a late-night call-in radio host in Portland, with a show that focuses on hauntings and mysterious sightings around the city, and one night, she receives a call from a distraught woman. The woman is convinced there is a ghost in her house and describes a scary scene startlingly reminiscent of Nola’s narrow escape from a serial killer when she was a child. When the caller is later murdered, Nola must face the fact that The Hiding Man, the killer who still haunts her dreams, may be back to haunt her reality as well.

This idea is a unique take on the genre, but unfortunately, after the initial set-up, Night Watcher becomes just another average serial killer thriller with nothing truly special to differentiate it. I definitely find myself in the minority here, but I was bored for large parts of the audiobook when not much was happening to move the plot forward. The narrative is split between Nola’s perspective and that of Jack, the police detective responsible for investigating both the original Hiding Man murders and the new cases. This caused some overlap where the same information was being presented from multiple perspectives, which slowed things way down. And Jack is possibly the most inept police detective in the history of serial killer fiction, which actively aggravated me during his chapters and kept taking me out of the world of the book.

The reveal of the killer was lackluster, and I found that the characters, specifically Nola, lacked development. The writing was a lot of telling rather than showing, which made it difficult to connect to Nola on a deeper level. And while I appreciated her strength and resilience, some of her reckless amateur sleuthing decisions had me shaking my head.

The audiobook is well-read by Helen Laser and Will Collyer, with a forward read by the author. I was unfamiliar with Daphne Woolsoncroft prior to reading Night Watcher, and I found her reasons for writing it to be incredibly profound. Even though I didn’t love this debut, I will definitely be checking out her podcast, Going West. Thank you to Hachette Audio for the early listening opportunity.

As a child, Nola Strate witnessed her babysitter being slain at the hands of a serial killer - The Hiding Man. Though he was never captured, she does her best to put the traumatic experience behind her and move on with her life. She took over Night Watch, a popular call-in radio show that her father ran for years before, where listeners can call in and share creepy and unexplained stories. After one eerie phone call where the caller described a ghost that resembled the mask of The Hiding Man, Nola's trauma and fears begin to resurface.

This was a dark novel with eerie scenes throughout. I would definitely consider it more of a thriller, but did have horror elements. I really enjoyed Nola's character and <i>most</i> of the other characters in this book. I thought I had The Hiding Man pinned not just once, but twice, and was wrong both times. Woolsoncroft did an excellent job with the writing and the plot. I was a bit disappointed in the end as I was hoping for more of a twist - however, it did wrap up nicely.

Both narrators did a great job. I would have loved if the call into the radio show was a bit more theatrical to add to the story as we see now with other audiobooks. Nevertheless, I absolutely recommend the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC of Night Watcher, expected to release 07/08/2025.

While Night Watcher is entertaining enough to keep me reading all day, I felt like the book overall was kinda bland. It wasn't exactly thrilling and I don't know if the author's goal of the book was entirely reached. While it does show the trauma of the victim years later, I don't think it shows the hardships investigators deal with when they're dealing with horrendous crimes. I don't think this will be a novel I remember long down the road. I know this is the author's first novel, so I'm interested enough to perhaps read something she writes in the future.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

Daphne Woolsoncroft’s Night Watcher opens with promise, a moody atmosphere, a layered structure shifting between past and present, and a mystery brimming with potential. The premise immediately hooked me, and I was eager to see how the plot would unfold. Unfortunately, despite a strong setup, the narrative didn’t quite deliver the payoff I was hoping for.

While the central mystery was engaging and the killer’s descriptions added a satisfyingly eerie undertone, the character development left me wanting. I found it difficult to connect with the protagonists, as they felt underdeveloped and emotionally distant. The “big reveal” lacked impact, not for lack of shock value, but because the character in question hadn’t been fleshed out enough to truly matter. I’d built up so many fun, twisted possibilities in my head that the reality felt a little… “Oh, that’s it?”

That said, I appreciated the use of alternating narrators and the timeline shifts, they added texture and intrigue. I also enjoyed the book’s ability to deliver creepy moments without veering into full-on nightmare territory (always a bonus for late-night readers).

In the end, I wanted more: more tension, more complexity, more breathless page-turning. There were glimpses of a heart-pounding thriller, but it didn’t quite take flight.

Wow! I listened to this book in 1 day! Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It was really fast paced and kept you hooked from the beginning to the end. It is in written in dual POV, with an occasional 3rd POV mixed in for interest. There are a few time hops, but nothing was confusing. This could have been a 5-star read, but the ending was a little bit of a let down. Not that it wasn't exciting, there just wasn't enough of a shock. All in all, this is a really solid thriller.

I enjoyed the audio book. I appreciated the male and female readers, that is ALWAYS a plus in my book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Man oh man, so thankful to have an early access to this book - thanks to NetGalley!

As a crime podcast lover, this was so fun. The audiobook made it even better, gripping as the story unfolded. Just when I thought had it figured out, another curveball was thrown, proving my theory wrong. Although it wasn’t a jaw-dropping twist at the end, it still was an “ohhhhhhhhhh yeah, I forgot about that part” to wrap it up.

While this wasn’t a huge, dramatic storyline, I enjoyed the straightforward plot, not so much character development, and a quick paced crime. A bonus for those that don’t listen to the authors notes at the end, she has a podcast that I’ll definitely be checking out!

What really grabbed me was the very beginning note from the author. It was heartbreaking but I just knew it was going to be a great mystery. It seems quite brave to have family history of a murder mystery and still feel compelled to create a fiction story regarding one.

I appreciated the author’s note at the end because as much as we love to hear these type of stories, most are real life events. A lot of the stories we read are fiction but the premise of them is very much real world issues.

4.25/5
A very solid thriller perfect for true crime fans!
My only complaint is that I guessed who the bad guy was but I read a lot of thrillers.

"Night Watcher" is the perfect summer horror listen! It is creepy, compelling, and grounded in a truly unique premise. Woolsoncroft's background as a podcaster shines through in the layered storytelling and investigative elements, lending the novel an immersive, true-crime feel. I wasn’t sure if the plot would veer into the supernatural, and that uncertainty only heightened the tension. The killer’s method of stalking was deeply unsettling, and the suspense kept me hooked.

I’m usually not a fan of alternating POVs, but here it worked incredibly well. Woolsoncroft used the shifting perspectives strategically to push the story forward and build emotional stakes.

As for the narration, Helen Laser and Will Collyer were phenomenal. Laser delivered each scene with such raw emotion that you could feel the fear pulsing through the characters. Collyer’s performance added an excellent balance, and his voice is both steady and captivating.

Highly recommend this for horror fans looking for something chilling yet smart.

Thank you to Daphne Woolsoncroft, Helen Laser, Will Collyer, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.