Midnight Crossroad

A Novel of Midnight Texas

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Susan Bennett

First in a new trilogy

From Charlaine Harris, the best-selling 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....

©2014 Charlaine Harris, Inc. (P)2014 Recorded Books

Great start to a new series with familiar faces

If you could sum up Midnight Crossroad in three words, what would they be?

Atmosphere, Midnight Crossroad is steeped in it, warm, familiar, comfy, scary and fun. Loved catching up with old favorites: Bobo Winthrop from the Lily Bard series, Manfred Bernardo from the Harper Connelly series and the sheriff from the Aurora Teagarden series. Great cast of new characters as well. After being disheartened over the last Sookie novel, this was a happy surprise and vintage Charlaine Harris. Back in my happy space.

Loved the performance. Susan Bennett's voice dropped me immediately in the town of Midnight and kept things exciting and enjoyable.

Very satisfying all the way round!

What other book might you compare Midnight Crossroad to and why?

Dead Until Dark

What does Susan Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Loved the performance. I had bought the Kindle version and started reading, but realized I did want some audio atmosphere. Susan Bennett's voice dropped me immediately in the town of Midnight and kept things exciting and enjoyable.

Who was the most memorable character of Midnight Crossroad and why?

Manfred Bernardo, but I probably say that because he is a favorite character from the Harper Connelly series.

slow meandering plot

I expected something faster paced from Harris. just okay. I won't listen to the next book in the series.

A poor start to a series

This is a mulligan stew of a book. Ms. Harris takes psychic Manfred Bernardo, a secondary (but interesting) character in her Harper Connolly/Grave Sight series and puts him in a small, dusty Texas town that already has a vampire, a witch, shapeshifters, were creatures, and a very talented cat. And that's just to start as mysterious backstories are hinted at for other town residents. There's also a murderer, but the murder mystery itself is handled rather off-handedly, and without spoiling it I did not care for the resolution of that plot-line at all.

I think part of the problem is that the story is told from 3 different viewpoints - Manfred, Fiji the witch, and Bobo the pawnshop owner - and you don't get invested in any of them as none of them are very interesting. Fiji in particular, who I guess you could consider the main character, is frightfully boring, and I don't want to know anything more about her. That's not a good start for a series. Ms Harris has even made Manfred boring, and I didn't think that was possible.

Susan Bennett as the narrator is adequate if uninspiring. I much prefer Alyssa Bresnahan who did the Harper Connolly mysteries.

I'm always willing to give Charlaine Harris a listen because she can tell a darn good story, but this book is a miss for me, and not worth a credit. I got it on sale and I recommend you wait to pick it up if it's ever on sale again

love hate relationship

I really enjoy these books but the stories are so slow to the plot. That once you get there it's hard to remember all the other fine details. I am however sucked into the characters now.

Not bad, but I wanted to like it more than I did.

I feel like this book could have used one more draft to really nail it. It has all the makings of an interesting mystery, but it felt unfinished. The formula was a little too obvious, and the weirdness of the setting was a little too quickly acceped and underexplained. I guess part of me wanted the small town to be described more like Louise Penny's Three Pines, or the supernatural/reality blend to gradually and clearly develop a la Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I would consider checking out the other books in this series if they showed up in a sale.

Engaging mystery and paranormal

I listened to this on my daily walks and loved the fact that I couldn't wait till my next walk. Great characters, great setting, and totally engaging story. Added bonus? I lost weight. I'd recommend this to anyone!

Great new series by Charlaine Harris

I have read many of Charlaine
Harris' book series and enjoyed them all. I think the midnight, Texas series is going to be one of my favorites. If you have read the other series like I have,you will meet some old friends again in this book. I won't spoil the surprise for you by telling you exactly who is in this book, but there are characters from the Harper Conley series the Aurora Teagarden series, and the Lily Bard series. I loved reading about those characters again in a brand-new setting. The characters in this book are interesting to say the least.like most of Charlaine's books, the story is A fast and fun read. The old characters that we know match nicely with the new characters in the series. I have already purchased the next book and I'm looking forward to starting to read it tomorrow.

Another great book!

loved it and out of all that characters the cat is my favorite! Entertaining as always with charlaine Harris titles. I've read and listened to all the Sookie Stackhouse books as well, and I'm hoping this series continues past the next 2 books that I'm about to start on. I can't wait to find out what happens in Midnight, Texas next!

Slow in the beginning...

however the story and the performance keeps me listening. I am not disappointed. The mystery develops well and there are no plot holes. The emotions of the characters transfers well from the story and through the narration. Mr. Snuggles is a hoot.

Darn good narration

I think the story would be a tad slow and simple if it weren't for the delightful narrator. I enjoyed every moment.