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“Middle of the Night” by Riley Sager
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“Middle of the Night” by Riley Sager
Review by Yvonne Selander, collection development librarian
Riley Sager hits it out of the park again with a spooky novel set on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban New Jersey. (And it sounds like a part of suburbia pretty darn close to where you are sitting right now…)
On a warm summer’s night 30 years ago a tent was slashed in a suburban backyard on Hemlock Circle and 10-year old Billy Barringer was never seen again. For 30 years Ethan Marsh, the boy who innocently slept beside his friend in the tent that night, has been haunted by Billy’s disappearance. Ethan fled his old neighborhood but has never left because nightmares and insomnia have followed him. Now he’s back on Hemlock Circle and strange things have been happening. Billy was obsessed with ghosts and the mysterious Hawthorne Institute hidden back in the woods behind his house. Could they have anything to do with what happened? Ethan swears he feels that Billy is back. Is Billy alive? Or has his ghost come back to Hemlock Circle?
Fans of ghost stories and mysteries will be riveted – this isn’t so much horror as a spooky mystery appealing to all types of readers. Add in tons of red herrings, strange goings-on, and the secrets hidden in the most quiet and seemingly safe of places and you’ve got a great summer read.