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 monsters 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.
Narrated by Prince Hans from Frozen.
I hesitate to call this an actual horror book, since while there were horror elements, the integration of them felt more like a Scooby-Doo mystery insert instead of true horror. The book was more of a mystery-thriller.
That said, it was sad.
And it was mostly not about ghosts at all. It was about mourning and trusting and coming to terms with the self. Part of it that caught me was where characters were dealing with their sexuality— Johnny Chen, who died of an accidental overdose; and Ragesh Patel, who got kissed, reacted poorly, and then went, maybe I liked it?, and then reveals that he married a dude. It was brief, though.
And… I didn’t like that the narrator put on an accent for Misty Chen, a Chinese woman. I know the book says she has an accent but bro… it kinda… rubbed me the wrong way.
It was interesting to listen to the rotating perspectives, sort of like puzzle pieces for the reader, revealing piece by piece all the little weird things from the tragic suburban cul-de-sac.
TBH I picked this up based on the cover. I thought it would be a haunted house novel (I literally just listened to the September House right before this and I wanted another horror) and I ended up with something more in the thriller category. Since I mostly enjoy fantasy/romance, it’s a step out of my comfort zone, but I did make it all the way through.
While I won’t recommend this for people who need a really engaging story with a lot of complex characters and a solid hook, I would recommend this for people who like a sort of horror-lite vibe in their mystery. It’s got a feel-good ending that I unfortunately figured out about a third of the way through the book, but I’m sure there are people that would enjoy it more.
Honestly, my two favorite things are Man Loves Wife and Adorable Weird Nerd Child.
