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Sign up todayMiddle of the Night
A Novel
Narrator
Santino Fontana
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Length
11 hours 21 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“I was totally invested in these characters, especially Ethan. By the time the twist was revealed, I wanted to sit and sob alongside him. I loved the neighborhood scares and the cult elements, it all blended together so well.”
— Nadi • Lark & Owl
Bookseller recommendation
“Riley Sager is an amazing author all round. This one had a slow build up, and was less twisty/surprising than most of his, but it was still such a good read! Love love love me some Riley Sager books!”
— Cheyenne • Gottwals Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A parent’s worst nightmare. A neighborhood’s least favorite thing to do. It has happened a child goes missing in a idillic town. What actually happened? Is what he remembers true? What is he blocking? What are people not telling him? Major plot twists. So good. ”
— Andrea • Molly's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Riley Sager is a master of thrillers. I'm a sucker for trying to figure out what happened. The audio for this was great. I switched between audio and the arc. I enjoyed the pacing, the investigation, and the slight creepy vibes the novel gave. This was well thought out and executed well. Also the cover is exquisite.... Also I just love love love it!”
— Abby • Buy The Book
Bookseller recommendation
“I knew it! I knew I would not guess the turn this book would take. Thrilled, I was to get approved to read Middle of the Night, as I knew I would be in for a wild ride that would ensure I wouldn't walk away unharmed. Now I sit here, in front of my computer, wondering if I should call the ambulance because the WHIPLASH Sager gave me while reading this book is unreal! I left many notes along my journey, hoping that one of the theories that I tossed out would catch something, but alas in the end I had nothing but the aforementioned whiplash. I loved every bit of this novel, told in dual-timelines as well as first- and third- person point of view which was different, but not unwelcomed. We get the present-day story in which we follow Ethan, thirty years after the disappearance of his best friend from the tent they shared in Ethan's backyard. We also get a peek into the past (mid-90's) via a third-person point of view, getting a feel for what was happening back then, as events unfold in current time. ”
— Keeley • Ink Drinkers Anonymous
Bookseller recommendation
“This audiobook is an excellent spooky listen! Atmospheric, multiple timelines, multiple POVs, and very contained within the neighborhood. I really enjoyed the vibes of this one and felt that the reveals were surprising and rewarding! Definitely could feel Ethan’s anxiety and paranoia leaping off the page in a way that could be excessive at times, but I think it added to the overall spooky vibes. I also feel like Sager captured childhood friendship dynamics well. It reminded me of telling scary stories around the campfire or watching scary movies all summer.”
— Julia • Book Vault
Bookseller recommendation
“Riley Sager has done it again – taken me totally by surprise! The families that live on Hemlock Circle are still haunted by the disappearance 30 years earlier of ten-year-old Billy. But none as much as his best friend Ethan who was asleep in a tent in the backyard with Billy when he mysteriously went missing. You will find yourself in the middle of a bone chilling ghost story as you dismiss one red herring after the other and finally learn the sad and horrible truth about what happened that night.”
— Nancy McFarlane • Fiction Addiction
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.
Riley Sager is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, most recently The House Across the Lake and The Only One Left. A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
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Reviews
Praise for Middle of the Night“Sager is a master of twists, and he delivers plenty of them here. The novel is also full of ’90s nostalgia, but the things stalking the backyard and the mysterious institute hidden in the nearby woods are what make this a gripping read.”
–New York Times Book Review
"Full of tension, urgency, atmosphere, and feeling—this is Riley Sager at his very best."
–Lee Child, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
"Ethan Marsh has returned to his childhood home 30 years after his best friend, Billy, disappeared from their backyard, and some seriously strange things are afoot. The vibe is a classic summer coming-of-age story with a page-turning side of paranormal activity."
–PEOPLE, "Most-Anticipated Summer Books"
“Sager’s Middle of the Night is a twisty mystery with a touch of the supernatural, but it’s also about the complexities of friendship, those fleeting but overwhelming feelings from growing up and coming to terms with profound grief.”
–USA Today
“A thriller with a touch of the supernatural, Sager’s suspenseful mystery is gripping, unsettling, and for some fans, takes a deeper dive into emotional conflict and trauma than in his previous novels.”
–Huffington Post
“If there's one book that will be on BookTok shelves in 2024, it's Middle of the Night.”
–Refinery 29
“Riley Sager’s knack for melding fear with emotion, at tapping into the stuff of nightmares and of dreams, has run through each of his best-sellers. This especially is part of Middle of the Night, which poignantly delves into childhood fears that continue into adulthood…an illuminated look at what shapes adults, with a solid mystery.”
–The South Florida Sun Sentinel
“It's summer horror reading at its finest and the perfect choice to pull you out of a reading slump!”
—1428 Elm
"Sager's thriller is packed with the author's trademark psychological suspense and one big "Oh my!" moment."
–Star Tribune
“Beyond the big, final reveal, another twist — personal for Ethan — changes our feelings about him, mine dramatically. It’s then that all the pieces fall into place to make Middle of the Night the most satisfying Sager yet.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Bestseller Sager expertly doles out chills and pathos in his mesmerizing latest…This standout work of psychological suspense confirms that Sager has few equals when it comes to merging creepiness and compassion.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)
“There are twists aplenty in Sager’s latest. His signature style will leave readers dizzyingly satisfied.”
—Library Journal
“This is what Riley Sager does so well. He sets up circumstances and characters you feel very comfortable with and then puts plenty of doubt in your mind about everyone and everything involved with his well-plotted story. The ending is both satisfying and touching.”
—Book Reporter
“[T]his thriller unfolds with a frenetic, almost feverish pace that will keep readers hooked.”
—Bookpage
“Sager, author of Final Girls (2017) and Survive the Night (2021)—to name but two of many fine thrillers—has devised a genuinely frightening story and populated it with characters who feel as real as anyone you might encounter in the ‘real world.’ He is a master craftsman, and Middle of the Night is a superlative novel.”
—Booklist
"I've read all of Riley Sager's novels and Middle of the Night is my new favorite. It's a sweet-and-spooky story about an unsolved mystery, childhood friendships, and things that go bump in the night—with plenty of 90s nostalgia and a twist I never saw coming. Read it outdoors with a flashlight on a warm summer's evening—if you dare!"
—Jason Rekulak, bestselling author of Hidden Pictures
“Middle of the Night is Riley Sager at his masterful best—this story is dark, scary, and twisty, but also bittersweet. It’s the secrets that hide in a bucolic neighborhood on a summer night, lingering in the freshly cut grass and the sound of crickets. You will follow these fascinating characters through its brilliantly woven plot all the way to the unexpected, poignant end.”
—Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of Murder Road
“Sager takes other risks in his 2024 thriller book, and they pay off, making it one of the best additions to his lineup yet.”
—Screen Rant
Praise for Riley Sager
“The latest dependable airport bookstore grab and name in summer suspense.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“Sager is a master of the twist and the turn.”
—Rolling Stone
“[Sager’s novels are] all creepily atmospheric, easy to read without being fluffy, and fun as hell.”
—Vulture
"Suspense master."
—USA Today Expand reviews
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