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Title details for Middle of the Night by Riley Sager - Available

Middle of the Night

A Novel

by Riley Sager
Santino Fontana
Audiobook
5 of 20 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
5 of 20 copies available
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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 18, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593869864
      • File size: 327503 KB
      • Duration: 11:22:17

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 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.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Santino Fontana delivers Riley Sager's trademark psychological suspense. It's 1994; in a picture-perfect neighborhood, 10-year-old Ethan and his best friend, Billy, camp out in Ethan's backyard. The night will tragically be remembered as the night Billy was taken from the tent while his best friend slept beside him. Thirty years later, Ethan reluctantly returns to his childhood home. Plagued by insomnia and a recurring nightmare, he starts believing that stray baseballs in the yard and blinking garage lights are signs from Billy's spirit. Immersive storytelling helps listeners follow dual timelines. Fontana's expressive tone enhances the multiple points of view. This is a great slow-burn mystery with a touch of the paranormal, '90s nostalgia, and a satisfying ending. M.I.C. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      December 6, 2024

      New York Times bestselling author Sager (The House Across the Lake) scores another home run with his eighth thriller, a compulsively readable tale that will not disappoint fans of his dark, atmospheric writing. In a run-of-the-mill New Jersey subdivision, a childhood nightmare comes back to haunt Ethan. As a child, waking from camping in his backyard with a friend, Ethan realized their tent had been cut open with a knife and his friend was missing. The child was never found. Enduring marital problems 30 years later, Ethan reluctantly returns to his family's house and faces his past head-on. He is convinced that someone is sneaking around the cul-de-sac at peculiar hours and wonders if there is still something strange happening or if someone is trying to pull an ill-conceived prank. The story is luminously narrated by Santino Fontana, his voice thick with tension and chilling foreboding. VERDICT Layered with mysteries, flawed characters, and a wonderful sense of dread, this thriller is Sager at his best.--Erin Cataldi

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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