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Monday, May 4, 2015

Book Review: Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2) by Charlaine Harris

Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2)
by Charlaine Harris
Hardcover, 320 pages
Expected publication: May 5th 2015 by Ace
In Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris “capture[d] the same magic as the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and [took] it to another level" (Houston Press). Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels returns to the one-traffic-light town you see only when you’re on the way to someplace else…
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…



Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1)
by Charlaine Harris
Hardcover, First Edition, 305 pages
Published May 6th 2014 by Ace Hardcover
FIRST IN A NEW TRILOGY
From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale—populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that’s how the locals prefer it…

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...

I read book one, Midnight Crossroad, and then book two right after. What a great way to spend my week. People either love or hate the new Midnight Texas series from Harris. I’m on the loving side. The biggest complaint the “haters” have is the  so called "slow boring pace." And if it had been written by another author with less talent then yes, that would have been the case. But I wasn't looking for a fast and furious story…and I do love those! But the joy of this story is found in the craft of writing as much as it is the characters and town where they live.

Subtle is the word I’d use. A stroll through the life of these unique and fascinating characters. I also love the multiple POVs, which a lot of people don't. For me, it added more dimensions to the story. As you read, it seems like the town and characters are mundane, but next thing you know, you turn a dark corner and something unexpected has happened. 


There is a murder mystery that needs to get solved and Harris mentions or brings in some characters from her other series. Namely Manfred. You meet him in two other of Harris’ series as a minor character, but in Midnight, TX he is the new guy in town and through him, the reader is too, and you get to discover Midnight’s secrets along with him.

This isn’t a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am story. It is a lie back in the porch swing and sip your sweet iced tea kind of read. In book one, I didn’t know “whodunit” till the end. In book two I guessed it pretty early on, but the mystery I was much more interested in was what was up with the Reverend Sheehan.

I liked book two a bit more than book one. But we are talking the difference between 4.5 and 5 sheep.

The Midnight, Texas series gets 5 “secretive” Sheep




SharonS


About the Author:
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Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over thirty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. Though her early works consisted largely of poems about ghosts and teenage angst, she began writing plays when she attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She switched to novels a few years later, and achieved publication in 1981 with Sweet and Deadly.

Personally, Harris has been married for many years. She mother of three wonderful children and the grandmother of two. She lives in central Texas, and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously. Her house is full of rescue dogs.

12 comments:

  1. Great review - thanks! I'll be checking out this series!

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    1. It's a different kind of read from what most of us are use to...but that was part of the fun of it :)

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  2. Thanks! This sounds interesting, especially to a former Texan. ;-)

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  3. Thanks! This sounds interesting, especially to a former Texan. ;-)

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  4. I'm intrigued. Was a big Sookie fan and am interested in checking this out.

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  5. It is written very differently from the Sookie series, which I also loved. She is just a great writer and storyteller.

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  6. I did not like the first book. The end of my review said: "Charlaine’s power of description is strong at the start; you can feel the hot wind and 'separateness' of the town, smell the diner food, envision the peeling paint, the dust, and the spiky grass. But after a while I felt weighed down by all the description, and the minutiae of internal feelings."
    Looking at the rest, I thought it slow. But there was just too much set up for me and I felt she was trying too hard to not be like the Stackhouse series; it was impossible not to compare the two.

    I wouldn't say I hated it, but it didn't grab me right from the start.

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    1. I can understand that. It is just one of those books where it is your cup of tea or it isn't. It had been so long since I read the Sookie books I couldn't really compare.

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  7. I wasn't a fan of Midnight Crossroad, but am willing to give Day Shift a shot before i give up on the series.

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    1. I guess it depends on your reason for not liking book one. If it was the pace and style then you probably won't like book two...it is written in the same style. But if you are curious about Olivia and Rev's backstory then you will like it. A new character is brought in that is related to a character from the Sookie series. How's that for vague ?

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  8. I am not a Charlaine Harris fan, but I am glad you enjoy this series. Sometimes slow is just what you need, I am not used to that in paranormal though.

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    1. I'm not used to it either...but that was one of the things I liked about it. Nice change of pace.

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