Publishers Weekly
★ 03/11/2024
Bestseller Sager (The Only One Left) expertly doles out chills and pathos in his mesmerizing latest. In 1994, when Ethan Marsh was 10 years old, his best friend, Billy Barringer, was kidnapped from the tent where both boys were sleeping in Ethan’s New Jersey backyard and never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan’s marriage has ended, his parents have decamped to Florida, and he’s returned to live on the well-to-do cul-de-sac where he grew up. Still plagued by nightmares about Billy’s disappearance, Ethan comes to believe that someone may be lurking in the shadows of Hemlock Circle: neighbors’ motion-sensor lights flick on for no apparent reason; he senses a presence “linger in the way certain smells do” when he’s out for night walks. His paranoia increases when someone tosses a baseball into his yard, the private signal Billy used to give him when he wanted to play. Could Billy have returned? Or is his kidnapper back for seconds? Sager takes his time ratcheting up the tension, peppering in crucial flashbacks that flesh out Ethan and Billy’s friendship and painting a three-dimensional portrait of Ethan’s fractured mind in the present. This standout work of psychological suspense confirms that Sager has few equals when it comes to merging creepiness and compassion. Agent: Michelle Brower, Trellis Literary. (June)
From the Publisher
Praise for Middle of the Night
“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
“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
"Full of tension, urgency, atmosphere, and feeling—this is Riley Sager at his very best."
–Lee Child, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
"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
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
Library Journal
05/01/2024
In 1994, 10-year-old Billy was kidnapped, leaving best friend Ethan with nothing but a recurring dream and a knife hole in the side of their shared tent. Billy was snatched while the boys were camping out in Ethan's back yard, which left the close-knit cul-de-sac residents of Hemlock Circle reeling. Now, 30 years later, as Ethan moves back home, he can't help but feel that Billy is still here, toying with him, begging him to remember the events of that night. Did Ethan really not wake up, or could he be blocking out what happened? Worse, could he have recognized the killer? Flashbacks from various characters will keep readers guessing, even if Ethan's childhood scenes feel a bit too mindful for the average 10-year-old. Themes of survivor's guilt and grief are touched on and add a heartfelt, empathetic aspect. While the paranormal element would have benefited from more exploration, it adds a pleasant chill as the tension gradually builds, ending in head-spinning reveals. VERDICT Red herrings abound, and there are twists aplenty in Sager's latest (following The House Across the Lake). His signature style will leave readers dizzyingly satisfied.—Elisha Sheffer
