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"There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she's beautiful and dangerous. Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred's regular and very wealthy clients dies during a reading. Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight"--… (more)
User reviews
One of the things I like best about this series (so far) has been the leisurely way Harris allows the characters to reveal themselves to each other and to the reader. While it can occasionally feel frustrating, I mostly like that there's no rush to get to 'answers.' However, this focus on the characters can sometimes lead to a plot that feels somewhat disjointed. Especially in this volume, the main 'mystery' gets solved in a really rushed way that didn't feel of a piece with the rest of the book. I'm still looking forward to the third volume, but more to spend time with these characters than to find out what happens.
I loved the first book in the series, Midnight Crossroad, but this book was even better. The characters are
Day Shift has more than a few intriguing mysteries running throughout it that keep you guessing and turning pages like crazy.
Bonus for fans of the Sookie Stackhouse series: There's not one, but TWO cameos by beloved characters from Bon Temps!
Manfred brings unexpected attention to Midnight when one of his clients died in his presence. He is being accused by her paranoid son of stealing her jewelry - jewelry that she told Manfred she hid from her son. Things heat up for him even more when it is learned that his client didn't die of natural causes.
We learn more about Olivia in this book too. Some of the mystery about her is revealed as we learn of her abusive childhood and her current career as a hit woman. She is clearly someone who feels a lot of rage and who doesn't really see other people as real. She is recruited by the Rev to help solve Manfred's problems and get the spotlight off Midnight. Her first thought is to kill the son to end the threat.
Adding to the things bringing unexpected attention to midnight is a young boy who is staying with the Rev. Figi helps keep his fed and clothed as he enters an accelerated growth period. It turns out his is a shapeshifter getting ready to make his first shift - into a Bengal tiger. We learn that the Rev also shifts into a tiger.
There are some crossover characters from the Sookie Stackhouse series that make appearances in this story. Barry Bellboy happens to be the grandson of one of the elderly characters staying at the new hotel. He is terrified of being in Texas because the Texas vampires are still very unhappy with him. And the father of the young tiger shifter is Quinn who was one of Sookie's love interests.
This was an interesting story filled with fascinating characters. There are certainly more stories to explore in Midnight, Texas, and I look forward to reading each of them.
I enjoyed this book; more than I anticipated and more than I had enjoyed the first in the series, Midnight Crossroad. In Day Shift, Harris focuses in on some of the more intriguing residents of Midnight - Olivia, the Rev, Joe and Chuy - while skipping the
I had not been aware that several of the other Midnighters had appeared in other series written by Harris. Maybe Midnight, TX will prove to be the epicenter of some great Charlaine Harris literary mash-up. She certainly has quite a bit to draw from. It could be fun!
Didn't gel with the characters, too much like a Stephen King story.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Orion via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
When I started this book, I didn’t realize it was the second in a new series, but I’m happy to say that didn’t interfere at all with my
This series is set in the small town of Midnight, Texas (so small it’s pretty much just a couple of streets). Almost everyone who lives there is some kind of paranormal.
The main character, Manfred Bernardo, is “just” a psychic, and in a very deeply funny conceit, all these other paranormals think that someone who says he is a psychic is off the wall and must be “woo-woo.”
As the story begins, Manfred is seeing clients in a nearby larger town, but his first client of the day, Rachel Goldthorpe, dies while he is holding her hands and channeling her dead husband. Not only does this totally freak out Manfred, but Rachel’s son accuses Manfred of murdering her and stealing her jewelry from her purse.
The other residents of Midnight know Manfred couldn’t possibly be guilty, and furthermore, don’t like too much attention directed at their strange little town, so they band together to help him get exonerated. They are also concerned about a new hotel that opened in their town - as if it needed a hotel!
So the small group of “denizens” of Midnight have a number of reasons to meet and compare notes, not only about what is happening in their town, but about each other; there is much they don’t know, but only suspect, as to each other’s particular talent.
Working together, they solve the crime, although there are a number of loose threads that will no doubt be picked up in future books in the series.
Discussion: I saw that Manfred is from Harris's Harper Connelly series, but to be honest, I don’t remember him. So I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to “know” him better in this book.
On the whole, however, I really liked the characters - especially Joe and Chuy. I also appreciated the many indications of Harris’s humor, in the way that she makes fun of the genre as much as she clearly loves it and her characters. I feel that this new series has a lot of promise, and will definitely be looking for the next book in the series.
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 3.75
Audio Rating: 3.50 (not part of the overall rating)
First Thought when Finished: Day Shift by Charlaine Harris really had 2 good mysteries but left me with some character
Overall Thoughts: People ask me if they liked Sookie would they like this series? The answer I give them is always the same: If you liked the mystery part of Sookie then I think you will like this series more. If you were more invested in the romance then I would skip Midnight Texas. Me, I am a fan of Charlaine's ability to write a solid, fun, twisty mystery with just a bit of "Oh my did that just happen" thrown in. Day Shift had 2 mysteries and I liked them both. That being said, I do have character questions left but I am guessing those will be answered in the next (final) book of the series. I really enjoy my time in Midnight!
Audio Thoughts:
Narrated By Susan Bennett / Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
Susan does a solid job with the narration but her male voices (2 of them) are a little too high pitched for me. I do love the emotion and cadence she brings to the table though. Her pacing is stellar and I will continue with this series on audio.
Part of my Read It, Rate It, File It, DONE! Reviews
The mystery of who/what the other citizens of Midnight are is answered.
While it was an entertaining book, it is the second in this series. I would suggest reading Midnight Crossroad first,
I highly recommend Charlaine Harris' books for quick, fun reading.
I would like to thank Penguin Group Berkley/Signet Romance & NetGalley for a complimentary kindle copy. This did not change my opinion for this review.
I love how we are seeing characters from Sookies world –so now we have seen characters from all of Ms Harris’ series –I love this concept. Who do you think we’ll see in the third of this trilogy?
There is so much going on in Midnight –a company has come in to reopen an old time hotel. They’ve turned it into a longer stay hotel and a sort of, elder care for those not quite ready for assisted living, place –interesting that all of the older people who come to stay, had interesting lives in Reno!
Poor Manfred---well he just about has the poop kicked out of him when a client of his dies as he is holding a sort of séance for her to meet up with her dead husband. So now poor Manfred now looks like a murderer, since she has died under very unusual circumstances…but wait…her son Lewis also is accusing Manfred of a huge theft -Lewis is, how can I say this nicely? A shmuck!
In the first book we learned quite a bit about Fiji and Bobo; in this book we learn a lot about Olivia and the Rev…Lemual is away from town so there is very little about him in this book.
The Rev…what can I say. We finally find out just what he is and we get to do it in such an interesting way. The Rev is child sitting. Yep, that’s right; he is watching after a very unusual youngster who literally grows right in front of your eyes. A youngster whose father had to go off for a job…a father who was once one of Sookies lover’s (though not for very long).
Great writing, great set up for the next novel, some frustration because we get no satisfaction with Fiji and Bobo (will there really be any? At least, to our satisfaction?) And just why the heck are Teacher and Madonna in Midnight. How the heck does everyone live –there really are no customers.
Many questions are asked but not all are answered.
I loved it!
Note: I was given an ARC of this book through the NetGalley Program.
Two things happen that causes the residents concern. The first is that the old hotel, vacant for decades, is being refurbished. And the other involves Manfred when he goes to Dallas to do private readings out of a hotel room and one of his clients dies during the séance and he’s being looked at as a possible murderer and thief.
The overall story moves slowly for a good part of the book, but it is interesting, has some humor and we learn more about the residents that live there. And for those that read the first book, all of the residents are mentioned in the first chapter, so even though a year has passed since reading the first book, you won’t feel lost.
And if you haven’t read the first book, I don’t suggest you start with this one. This is an ensemble cast with the story told from many different characters. And learning about their secrets is part of the draw. This is very unlike the Sookie series.
Fans of the Sookie series, however, are going to be thrilled to see that two characters met in that series make an appearance here.
My only disappointment was that something on the side was wrapped up without us learning how. Perhaps that’ll be part of the back story. But I definitely enjoyed the story, the conclusions reached and learning more about the residents. More is yet to be learned and I liked this book better than the first one.
One of the two story mysteries really doesn’t get solved and I wonder if it will come to the forefront in the next book. The other mystery is fairly straightforward but does need to be solved in order to clear Manfred’s name. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous book and I can’t wait to see what happens in the not so sleepy town of Midnight.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley