This story revolves around a group of children who experience significant childhood trauma, which they, in turn, inflict on other kids, perpetuating a cycle of lifelong trauma into adulthood. The narrative follows the main character, whose best friend, Billy, goes missing on his watch, adding layers of guilt and anxiety.

As far as thrillers go, this was okay. I wasn't the biggest fan because when I read thrillers, I like to feel thrilled. Instead, I felt incredibly anxious because the main character was incredibly anxious, which stressed me out and annoyed me. This is probably the point, considering his best friend's disappearance. We get a front-row seat to many adults who never reconciled their problems from youth, which festered into something much darker as they grew older. Everyone in Hemlock Circle is kind of weird, tormented, and dishonest over the 30-year span covered in the narrative, which alternates between different characters and "That Night" (the night Billy went missing).

I will say that the killer was not who I expected. There were a lot of little breadcrumbs throughout the book, but they didn't come together as I thought they would.

I've heard Riley Sager has some great books, but this is his newest one, and while it was mildly entertaining, I look forward to reading his other works to see what the hype is all about.