Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

"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."

It's every suburban family's worst nightmare. Now, 30-years later, Ethan returns to the scene of the crime - his family home. Still dealing with the mental and emotional consequences of what happened in his backyard, to say that Ethan is on edge is probably an understatement. But shortly after moving back into his parents' house, strange and inexplicable occurrences confirm that the past is still very much connected to the present. Ethan hasn't moved on. Is it possible that Billy hasn't either?

Just about every character in this book was unreliable, which I loved! The first half of the book brings the creep factor. The second half was very twisty-turny. There were moments that felt like overkill (like Sager pulled an Oprah —you get suspicion, and you get suspicion, and you get suspicion. Suspicion for everybody!) but it was largely a lot of fun to read. It touched on the fragility of being human and the vast ways people cope (or dissociate) with grief and trauma. It touched on our desire to look ‘beyond’ for answers to questions about life (and what lies thereafter) that may never make sense.

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