Title: Mr. Midnight
Author: Allan Leverone
Genre: Dark Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Publisher: DarkFuse Publications
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Given up for adoption just hours after her birth, thirty-year-old Caitlyn Connelly has longed her entire life to uncover her family history. Subject to bizarre and inexplicable visions, Cait is desperate to learn whether her biological mother can provide any insight as to the origin of her unusual ability.
When a local investigator learns Cait was born in a Boston suburb, the Tampa lawyer wastes no time booking a flight to the East Coast.
In Boston, with the city under siege by a killer known as “Mr. Midnight,” Cait’s visions intensify, morphing from merely annoying to graphic and terrifying. Worse, Cait begins to realize she shares a strange psychic connection with the depraved sociopath. A connection that may just get her killed.
As Cait and the murderer are drawn inexorably toward a violent confrontation, unraveling a decades-old mystery might be the only thing that prevents her from becoming the next victim…of Mr. Midnight.
Mr. Midnight is a thrilling, suspense, dark fiction novel about good vs. evil, family, and the supernatural. It’s another great published by DarkFuse, a publisher quickly establishing their name and fame in the dark fiction market. This book is another great quality read with a stunning cover and an even more stunning narrative.
Cait has always had bizarre visions, which she likes to call “flickers”. These flickers come and go unannounced, and usually they only show her marginal facts about other people’s lives, like where they left their wallet, or how their cat ran away this morning. Without any real family, Cait has always felt like she got left out somehow, like she didn’t belong anywhere. She’s been looking for her real family for years, but their whereabouts are a well-kept secret she can’t find out. Her boyfriend Kevin has hired a private investigator to find out more about her family though, and he has some stunning answers.
Meanwhile, a serial killer is holding court in Boston. He kidnaps young, innocent-looking prostitutes or drug addicts from the streets, tortures them for days, and then cuts them up until they die. The killer, nicknamed “Mr. Midnight” is the second protagonist of the story. His narrative picks up when he meets a young girl and takes her home for some fun – which would be fun for him, and terrible for her. Strangely enough, Mr. Midnight is being tormented by the same bizarre visions Cait has whenever he meets random people, and these visions only make him even more hateful toward humanity.
There’s a sinister connection between Mr. Midnight and Cait, and she’ll have to find out what, because the moment Mr. Midnight gets a vision of her, he wants nothing more than to completely and utterly destroy her. If Cait doesn’t find a way to stop him, she’ll become his next victim.
I loved the overlapping narratives, the way the stories worked together, the switching perspectives. Even without mentioning, or without the move of setting, it’s easy to recognize when Cait is doing the talking or when it’s Mr. Midnight doing so. What I didn’t like that much however, was how linear the contrast was between good and evil. Cait is good, without question, and Mr. Midnight is evil, without question. It’s portrayed as if they cannot choose whether they’re good and evil. This sort of works because of their background story, but still, the book could’ve been stronger had the distinction not been that big. I don’t believe people are inherently good or evil, but that there’s something as free choice. While Cait chose to be good, chose to love, chose to make the flickers part of her life, Mr. Midnight chose to hate, chose to be afraid of the flickers, or chose to use them for bad things. However, at some points, the novel seems like it wants you to believe neither of them had a choice, that Mr. Midnight would always be evil, no matter what.
That’s surprising considering how well the author portrays the tortured killer, the one uncapable of feeling remorse, love, or any emotion except hate, but actually feeling a tad sorry for doing so. It’s not like Mr. Midnight didn’t want to be loved, at some point, it’s just that he wasn’t, or that he couldn’t love in return.
The sharp, intriguing portrait of Mr. Midnight actually makes Cait come across as a bit dull, but in a good way. She’s had the most normal life you can imagine, never doing anything remotely evil, like most of us. Which makes her a great opponent for Mr. Midnight.
The flickers were a nice touch, but even without those, the novel would’ve been strong. The author has a way to make really intriguing characters, and the way the two stories connected was simply sublime. Mr. Midnight never slips from his role, and Cait gradually becomes a stronger character. The final chapters, when the storylines collide, are downright amazing. This is definitely movie material.
An excellent, thought-provoking read. If only it wouldn’t have been so black and white, this would’ve been outstanding, hence why the 4.5 stars instead of 5.
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