Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Middle of the Night

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

79 reviews

whatjoannasreading's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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tarynlannister's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I liked this book a lot more than I expected to going in. It really picks up in the second half. Plenty tense at times but surprisingly heartwarming, with unexpectedly lovable characters. I didn't expect the culprit, but felt the author dropped enough subtle hints that it didn't feel like she tricked the reader.

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heather_harrison's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 ⭐️

Not my favorite Sager but a pretty enjoyable read.

Loved:
Creepy suburbia
90s nostalgia

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jocelyn62013's review

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

Unfortunately this is probably my final Riley Sager straw. There was enough juice here to keep me from DNFing, good cliff hangers that made reading this propulsive despite poor writing and kinda bonkers plot points. I wish Sager (in most of his books) would just go firmly paranormal horror or realistic thriller, the bait and switches often felt like flimsy papering over plot holes.

There were maybe too many elements to this one that were not fully explored, which left me wanting more. The insular, kind of weird neighborhood full of strange characters? Could have leaned into a kind of Stepford Wives vibe! The creepy and mysterious institute in the forest? Could have gone full occult! It’s like he couldn’t decide what book he wanted this to be so halfway chose a bunch of them.

The ending was… weird! And mostly unsatisfying! I guessed Ashley had something to do with this, but like… an accident and a pretty half-assed cover up? Also, it would be pretty suspicious to have your daughter show up late after hitting a deer with a car on the same night a child disappeared. Another gripe I had is that I honestly forgot Andy existed, so his inclusion at the very end felt surprising but more so in a “wait, Billy had a brother this whole time?” kind of way. If he was built up slightly more, I think that could have been more successful. Also Ethan adopting Henry?! lol don’t get me started.

This was readable and twisty and interesting enough, but I leave this feeling immensely dissatisfied.

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madisonjordan5693's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3.5 ⭐️ This was a decent book and I enjoyed reading it. In typical Riley Sager fashion though there were just sooooo many twists that it’s hard to not roll your eyes. Still worth reading though.

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cait_readsandspins's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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lovelymisanthrope's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As a long time fan of Riley Sager, this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. As an added bonus, it is the Literally Dead Book Club pick for the month.

“Middle of the Night” follows Ethan, on the 30th anniversary of his former best friend’s, Billy, disappearance. When Ethan and Billy were younger, they were sleeping in a tent in Ethan‘s backyard one summer night. When Ethan woke up the next morning, there was a slash through the tent’s wall, and Billy was gone. Nobody has been able to figure out what happened to Billy. Now, Ethan has returned to his childhood home and has the strange sense that Billy is there, trying to communicate with him.

Because Riley Sager has long been one of my favorite thriller authors, I tend to have higher than normal expectations with his books. With that in mind, I do think this was a stronger, and more interesting thriller from him than his previous couple of releases. I really enjoyed having a male main character, because sometimes male authors just do not write female main characters well. I think this was a great change of pace for Riley, and it shows growth and development for him as an author.

I really enjoyed the overall mystery of this story. I did not see where the story was going, and I enjoyed how the ultimate mystery ended up having layers to its big reveal. As the reader, we would learn one aspect of what happened that night thirty years ago, and Ethan would take that information, run with it and start accusing other characters of hurting Billy. By the time we finally learn what actually happened to Billy, there were so many theories, it was almost hard to keep track. However, I was overall interested in what happened to Billy. I think the novel set us up to think some thing a little more sinister took place than what ended up being the cause of Billy’s disappearance, but I think that is part of the appeal of not seeing where the story is going.

Ethan was a very mediocre character to read from. He is kind of selfish, kind of unreliable, and just not a super memorable or interesting person on his own. He does have a secret, that once it was revealed, I had not seen coming, and I really enjoyed that reveal. I think it added a layer of complexity to his story that made my impression of him all the more memorable. I also think this reveal was very important for him as a character because it added a necessary layer to him as a person so that we were ultimately invested in his story.

I will 1000% read more from Riley Sager, and I definitely recommend this book to someone looking for a lighter thriller mystery. As for where this falls in my personal ranking of Riley Sager books, it is somewhere happily in the middle.

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book_byrd's review

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emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Riley Sager did it again! This was the summer thriller I needed. The 90s nostalgia was strong and reminded me of those summer camp horror stories. I loved how realistic the ending seemed and how all the pieces connected together. Although I guessed some of the twists,I didn’t even mind because I was so engaged by the atmosphere of Hemlock Circle, my curiosity constantly piqued by the goings-on of the suburbanites.

I’d recommend this book to fans of:
- R.L. Stine
- True crime
- Vintage ephemera
- Slow burn mysteries
- Suburban settings
- Everyone is a suspect-type books
- Reads that have you questioning what’s real and what’s fantasy

Thank you to Tandem Collective, Penguin Random House Canada, and the author for a gifted copy of this book. I loved joining in on this readalong and theorizing with the other participants about how the story would unravel and whodunnit.

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