I didn’t love this one as much as The Only One Left or The House Across the Lake but it was still very good & takes place in New Jersey! As a thorough Jersey girl I love that!! Let’s review.
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
- Category – Mystery Thriller
- Length – 367 Pages
- Read Time – 2 Days
- GR Rating – 4 Stars
JERSEY!
We’re in quiet rural New Jersey, Ethan Marsh has returned to his childhood home in Hemlock Circle, a quaint cult-de-sac community. Recently retired & moved to Florida, his parents entrust Ethan to care for the home while arrangements are made to get it sold. It’s been 30 years since he’s been back.
In 1994, while 10 year old Ethan slept, tucked in his sleeping bag in a tent in the backyard, his neighbor & best friend Billy, disappeared. Instead of waking up to his best friend in the sleeping bag next to him, Ethan woke up alone, the side of the tent slashed open, Billy gone. Once the adults realized what was happening, police were involved, a search was put together but Billy was never found. Despite the police departments best efforts there was no evidence left behind to point them in the right direction & no witness reports. Ethan has no memories of that night in the tent but that doesn’t mean he isn’t hiding something about that day.
This book was much more suspense than thriller to me, the big reveal feeling anticlimactic despite the entire story being rife with sinister energy it was just wrong place wrong time opps. Every facet of this story had an eerie feeling, being told from adult Ethan’s pov we don’t know if that’s a product of his traumatized mind or if something strange is really happening. The past is pieced together as he tries to figure out what happened to his friend all those years ago & what exactly is happening to him now. Is his mind irrevocably broken because of that day, his guilt making him see & hear things that aren’t truly there? Is Billy back, haunting the cul-de-sac, seeking revenge on his former best friend? & if so, what for?
As is usual in based in small community novels, a lot of people are keeping secrets. While their backyard camping wasn’t unusual many other things that day were. Most notable to Ethan, Billy was behaving strangely that day, what he thought was going to be another summer day hanging out with his best friend turned into a group trespassing excursion. Their friendship tested that day & then Billy just disappeared without a trace, now Ethan wonders if what’s happening is because he failed the test & ran. Fueled by the guilt of his memories he’s determined not to repeat old mistakes.
Although this was a slow build to a flat reveal for me the story itself was still good, the eerie suspense throughout really made up for it. As always happy reading & thank you for joining me for another review.
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Hasta la próxima – V
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