Sawyer 89

by C.J. Hawthorne

Nobody could find Bobby Peterson. It's the summer of 1989, and forty teenagers were at the bonfire by Lake Sawyer the night he disappeared. Nobody saw him leave. The police say boys run away all the time. Suzie can't let it go. Two nights later, she and Ed take a tape recorder to the treeline, hoping to catch whatever everyone else missed. At first there's only static. Then there's a voice, and it says his name. With Cass, Tommy, Nina and Jordan, the six friends start recording, searching and writing down names. Every tape gets harder to explain. Whatever is out there seems to know exactly who is about to leave. This was supposed to be their last perfect the last bonfires, the last drive-ins, the last nights before everyone goes their separate ways. But somebody has been keeping count. "We couldn't wait for our lives to begin. We didn't know they already had." SAWYER 89 is a nostalgic, slow-burning horror about first love, fading friendships and the cost of growing up, for readers who like their dread soaked in 80s mixtapes and lake water.

290 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2026

Reviews

[Anoushka · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance copy of Sawyer 89 directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.
For a debut novel, this was such an enjoyable read and one I flew through in two nights.
Set during the summer of 1989, Sawyer 89 follows a group of friends during their final summer together before college, when a missing boy and a mysterious recording lead them to start investigating what is really happening in their town.
As a child of the 80s, albeit on the other side of the Atlantic, there was something wonderfully nostalgic about it. It gave me definite Stranger Things vibes: close friendships, teenagers investigating something they probably shouldn't be investigating, cassette tapes, a small town and the creeping feeling that something isn't quite right.
The atmosphere was one of my favourite parts. It's unsettling and increasingly creepy without relying on constant horror, and the mystery kept me turning the pages because I genuinely wanted to know what was happening.
I also really enjoyed the multiple POVs and the friendship between the characters. They felt like people I could become invested in rather than simply characters being moved through a mystery. Cass in particular absolutely had my heart. She's going through so much throughout this book and there were moments when I just wanted to reach into the pages and give her a hug.
My only real criticism is that I would have loved a little more background surrounding some of the supernatural elements. There are glimpses of the history behind what is happening, but I finished the book still wanting to understand more about the mythology and why certain things were happening. The foundations were there and genuinely intriguing; I just wanted the author to let me dig a little deeper into them.
Overall, Sawyer 89 is a nostalgic, atmospheric and genuinely addictive supernatural mystery about friendship, first love and one final summer together, with something much darker lurking beneath the surface.
An impressive debut and a very easy 4⭐️ from me. I read it in two nights, cared about these characters and absolutely wanted to know what was waiting on the next page.

[Joanne Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer 89
6 Friends
Missing boy
Casette recorder of a voice nobody spoke of.

Bobby Peterson goes missing the night of the bonfire and 6 friends embark on this journey together to try and e
uncover what happend and get more than they bargained for.

At first the group only started off with 5
Suzie
Ed
Cass
Nina
Tommy
And with their one casette recording it brought them to Jordon who had been looking into this for a number of years and for the first time has found people who don't judge him and actually believe him that something is going in their town.

Before long the group are piecing all this together and uncover this has been going on for your years and start to dig more to uncover just when these strange disappearance occur.

Throughout there is weird things happening to the kids . They get to hear more voices and also strange things happen to some of the group that they cant explain all while trying figure out how to bring Bobby back.

I wouldn't say this is a horror but it definitely has the spooky , suspense/mystery kind of feel throughout and even right through to end and It was just enough to keep me hooked.

The only critique I would say on this is that we didn't really get any resolution of stopping what ever was out there that was pulling these kids into this alternate plain field however what it did did was to give each of the kids some resolution to open up more and follow the paths they want to go on.

Overall a solid read for spooky season read.

[Anne M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t often read this sort of thing, but after seeing it recommended I started it and couldn’t put it down. Sawyer 89 takes you right back to the summer of 1989, in a little Ohio town where a group of friends are about to go their separate ways. Then a local lad goes missing, and they start to realise something isn’t right about that lake.
It’s spooky without being too much. I had a few goosebumps and kept saying “just one more chapter” well past my bedtime. What I loved most was the friendships. Suzie, Cass, Ed, Tommy, Jordan and Nina all feel like real young people. You care about every one of them, and some parts really got me in the heart, especially Bobby.
If you liked Stranger Things, or you just enjoy a good mystery with a bit of a chill to it, you’ll love this. The ending has left me desperate for the next one. Highly recommend!

[Jay Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sawyer 89
CJ Hawthorne

Wow! What a fantastic read!

A nostalgic slow burn horror set in the 80s about first love, new found and fading friendships & growing up in the 80s!

The story was captivating, raw abs the tension throughout was unbelievable!

If you loved Stranger Things this is definitely your next most favourite read!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate to be an early reader for debut Sawyer 89.

New gen Stephen King, and I don’t say that lightly. Sawyer 89 is eerie and creepy in a way that gets under your skin. It’s not a jumpy scare-fest, it’s psychological, and that’s exactly the kind of horror I prefer. It stays with you after you put it down.
The characters are what really got me. Cass’s storyline had me hooked, and I loved the dynamic between Suzie, Ed and Cass. Tommy surprised me too. He wasn’t what I expected at all, and how genuinely caring he turned out to be was one of my favourite parts. By the end I cared about every one of them.
I really hope there will be a sequel. I want to know what happens next for Cass, and it feels like there’s a lot of unfinished business in Sawyer that still needs answers.

[B Hall]

Unputdownable!!

An intriguing and gripping read that is hard to put down! You’ll be drawn in by the well developed and multi-layered characters and left wondering what will happen next to the very end!