Burning Midnight

By: Will McIntosh

Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo

For fans of The Maze Runner and The Fifth Wave, this debut YA novel from Hugo Award winner Will McIntosh pits four underprivileged teens against an evil billionaire in the race of a lifetime.

Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn't pay much - Alex Holliday's stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers - but it helps him and his mom make the rent. No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the Earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair, and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement - and the more expensive the sphere.

When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. One day they find a Gold - a color no one has ever seen. And when Alex Holliday learns what they have, he will go to any lengths, will use all of his wealth and power, to take it from them.

There's no question the Gold is priceless, but what does it actually do? None of them is aware of it yet, but the fate of the world rests on this little golden orb. Because all the world fights over the spheres, but no one knows where they come from, what their powers are, or why they're here.

©2016 Will McIntosh (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

I'll take a mustard, chocolate and sea foam green.

Wow this one caught me by surprise. I really enjoyed the concept and everyone is captivated by a good underdog story. I really had many different emotions during this one and found myself chuckling to the abundant pop culture references. That was definitely a nice touch. The characters were definitely likeable and, of course, the villain not so much. The story was well paced except for the last 2.5 hours of the book. I really wanted more from this part of the book. I think I would have been happy with 5 additional hours... Unless there is a sequel in the future? Either way well done. The narrator also did a great job distinguishing between characters and changing his voice to accompany the character. This one had a lot to like but was just missing a little something to give it a 5 rating.

A great concept, only wished there was more!

Gonna be hard to write this without spoilers, but in a nutshell, the concept of the spheres is awesome. The characters are well fleshed out, the backstop compelling, and the pacing is good. Just wish there was more. So many more questions about the origins of the spheres and the larger ramifications of that knowledge.

All in all, a great read/listen. Michel Ferraiuolo did a great job with the multitude of voices in this story. Overall, a great young adult sci-fi adventure. Would definitely recommend this book!

a brilliant concept marred with plot holes

The book was really good until about two thirds of the way through through then it when crazy and the ending being rushed didn't help.

Promising idea falls into BLAH

Im far from a young adult. So maybe this story is lost on me. On the other hand I did get something out of the Harry Potter books and really enjoyed Phillip Pullman's trilogy.

Burning Midnight has a pretty interesting idea at its core. The world gets populated by spheres. The spheres are hunted for the properties they contain. If you have a matching pair, you can use them & they give you power.

What I didn't like about this story most of all were the main characters. Whiny teenagers in a self centered world. After a while I was hoping they would befall a painful demise. Beyond that there is a bad guy, a villain that is 2 dimensional in his evil. People act with dumb intent at every turn.

Also, there is a second part to this book that gets goofy. I won't give it away. But I started groaning with pain of my own over how ridiculous everything gets. I'd stay away from this story if I were you.

Sorry, try again.

Burning Midnight is pretty much a poor rip off of Ready Player One. If you haven't read Ready Player One, Burning Midnight might be ok but just barely. Save your credit and use it on Ready Player One instead.