I read: Midnight Crossing

Midnight Crossing by Charlaine Harris
(First in the Midnight, Texas series)

I picked up the trilogy of these books after a discussion in my Sci-Fi/Fantasy writing class.  I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series also written by Harris, so I assumed I was in for another fun read here.


I found the first few chapters a bit slow to get into, maybe because there were so many characters to get to know right away. And it's very clear that getting to know them is going to take a lot of the book and into the second and third novels. Characters in Midnight, Texas are not very forthcoming with their backstories.

But that's partly what keeps a reader reading. And there are some significant plot points that are cause for interest in the early stages of the novel. I didn't find the stories, or the characters quite as engaging as the Stackhouse novels, but because those are what the TV series True Blood is based on, I might have gone in with a bias toward the characters already.

We get to know the town and residents of Midnight through the eyes of Manfred, who has just moved into town. We don't really know exactly why he chose Midnight, but there are hints that there may be more to that story as well. Everyone in Midnight has a secret - why should our main eyes and ears be any different?

It's a cute story, with some thriller/mystery aspects to it.  But mainly it's intriguing as a reader to see if you can puzzle out the stories that the characters are trying not to share with you before they're forced to open themselves up to their neighbours.

Three stars because it was a bit of a haul in the beginning and I'd forgotten how repetitive Harris' turn of phrase can be, but it's a good read in the end.

#04-2020