Middle of the Night

A Novel

By: Riley Sager

Narrated by: Santino Fontana

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.

©2024 Riley Sager (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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

The narrator ruined it.

I LOVE Riley Sager. I read all of his books and pre-order every one. The narrator on this ruined it for me. He was SO whiny!

did it again

Sager has done it again. good mystery. great characters and an ending I didn't expect.

Intriguing story

Very engaging story. Perfect for Santino to read. My first read from Sager, I look forward to others.

excellent

this book had a lot of twist and turns with a surprise ending and the narrator was excellent

every single book!

I love this author. every single book, I go through the whole thing guessing who did it. this book is no different. Great story, great mystery! very easy to listen to. recommend just like all other books from this author!

Well it’s better than the last three

This book was almost enjoyable until the final third. I wouldn’t say it went off the rails; it was just lazy.

The only thing that really killed me was the narrator popping every single “p”. I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown by the end the way he was popping p’s left and right.

Great Ending

This was my most anticipated read of this month l! I absolutely love Riley Sager books.

This book was a lot different than his normal books, first of all, the MC is a guy, which is a first.

Although this book was enjoyable and I love the cover, this was probably the least favorite of mine thus far.

Normally Sager surprises me with a bunch of different twists, but I was able to figure some of these ones out! It was still fun to read it, it was a bit less of a shock factor for me because of it.

There were a lot of moments in the book that I thought were unnecessary and the story would’ve ended up the same had they been skipped. The entire middle of the story got slow for me as well which was a bummer for me.

I felt like the ending was well done. I enjoyed that he wrapped everything up and didn’t leave us guessing.

I still think others would really love this book, and would continue to recommend this book along with his others.

Captivating Story

This book kept giving just enough information to keep me interested and guessing :) I loved it.

Had me on my toes but anticlimactic

The pace of this book was good, it kept me coming back and the end was a little anticlimactic

Better than the last one!

I definitely liked this more than Riley Sager last book and I appreciate the happy ending. Not as many twists, but it was a good go.