I've slowly but surely been reading Riley Sager to zero so I knew I needed to read Middle of the Night as soon as possible especially with its atmospheric and horror adjacent premise that focuses on childhood friendship, grief, trauma, and anxiety.

 Back in 1994 Ethan and his best friend, Billy were camping in Ethan's backyard when overnight Billy disappeared from the tent they were sharing and Ethan can't remember anything. As an adult he is plagued by bad dreams and insomnia as Billy's disappearance continues to haunt him. Returning to his childhood home he's hoping to get some answers and some closure but strange things start happening making Ethan question could there really be such things as ghosts.

Told in a dual timeline with the present and 1994 perspectives, Riley Sager expertly unrolls the story in his classic style giving us an overall engaging, absorbing and thrilling story with a truly solid mystery element as well as poking his toe into the potential paranormal element. I found it to be a truly human story with generally well thought out and rounded characters who felt very realised to me, especially young Henry who I think was my favourite all round.

Whilst the story started slow - it took me until 35% in to warm up to it, by 50% I was all in and the story absolutely flew by. I also wish we had been given more about the mysterious research institute as it was a truly atmospheric and intriguing place/set of characters that alone that could be a book in itself.

I found Sager's use of the unreliable narrator trope though, to be pretty solid and it added to the story without ruining it for me. It helped build a sense of tension as we, along with Ethan, questioned him and his own recollections of events in 1994 and it really made me wonder who could be trusted and where did the truth actually lie. Combined with the speculative nature of elements of the story, it all made for a tense and at times, chilling read. 

The truth, when it came out, I absolutely loved and found the final quarter of the book and the ending to be one of the best, for me, from Riley Sager. I found the layered reveals worked really well and whilst I didn't feel like there were jaw dropping twists, I was truly satisfied with how the story played out and how the truth was revealed.

This book doesn't break the mould or strike any new ground but it is a highly enjoyable mystery thriller that manages to be spooky, tense, sad and empathetic all at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a digital review copy of "Middle of the Night" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.