The Midnight Call

By: Jode Millman

Narrated by: Janel Valentine

Attorney Jessie Martin couldn’t - at least not until she answers the midnight call.

Late one August night, her mentor/confidante and popular high school teacher Terrence Butterfield calls, admits he’s killed someone and pleads for Jessie’s help. Out of loyalty, she rushes to his aid, unaware that she’s risking her love, her career, her life, and that of her unborn child.

When the police arrive, her presence raises questions as to her role in the gruesome slaughter of the teenage boy found in Terrence’s basement. Did Terrence call her as a lawyer or a friend? Was she somehow responsible for the murder?

To dismiss the murder charges Terrence betrays Jessie, making her wonder whether he’d been a monster in disguise all along.

To prove her innocence, Jessie must untangle the web of betrayals and the shocking truths behind the homicide. This quest turns out to be the fight of her life.

©2019 Jode Millman (P)2020 Immortal Works

Definitely makes you ponder who to fully trust.

This is a debut true crime novel. The book picks up right from the beginning and although I find some if the characters choices suspect (as do the police) I can see how trusting friends could inadvertently be pulled into this scenario.

Overall the book is not badly written and I did enjoy it. I believe in future novels (if more are written) this author can do well in this genre.

Scary because it's true

This story was disconcerting. Because it's based on a true story. Because the end result sucked. Because so many lives were ruined. I hated it and I loved it.

a twisted story

The story is suspenseful but gets mired in a few places. There are several twists to keep you guessing.

A great story

This was an interesting story. The characters were easy to relate to. I was not really sure what to think of the terrible tragedy that Terrence experienced in the beginning.  I was instantly mad at her for going.  The turmoil that followed after that was enough to keep me listening.  Jess sure had a close call bur then she found Lily.  I loved it.

okay

This book was okay, but unfortunately not much more.
I was left with the notion that I still don't fully understand the reasoning behind the murder.
There are storylines and events that have nothing to do with the story, so I'm not sure why the author chose to add them.
This is not a thriller or an investigation of "who's the murderer", but more of a search for the reasons - I don't feel like this was answered fully.
The narration was okay.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great Story

This was a well done story based loosely on fact.

The characters were well developed.

Honestly a better narrator would have made it more realistic.

This narrator has long unnecessary breaks between chapters, it felt like she was reading rather than performing, her voices were not good, and had some repeated lines.

A good read

I liked the idea of the story. The pacing of the story did drag a little. Some things did not seem like they would happen in real life. Other than that the characters were good. The twist at the end I did see coming but it worked for the story.

Great narrator

Jodé Millman’s Midnight Call had the potential to be a gripping legal thriller, and it certainly started out that way, but its grip loosened considerably chapter by chapter. Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of a legal thriller in the book, but it’s few and far between a whole mess of domestic drama. There is a gruesome murder, and several of the scenes involving Terrence Butterfield are rather chilling, but many of those are cut short only to go right back to Jessie and an unsettling love triangle. And that brings me to Jessie. Most of the story revolves around her, and she is a lawyer, but she’s not THE lawyer on either side of this murder trial. Like the love triangle, she’s somewhere in the middle. And people on both sides of this thing either are in love with Jessie, or they have been in the past. She’s an okay character, but she seemed like more victim than anything else, which didn’t make her all that likable in my opinion. What I mean by that is she came across as a damsel in distress way too often. One minute, she would stand up for herself, and the next, she would fall into someone’s arms. I realize she was pregnant, and there were complications, but if Jessie was supposed to be a strong woman, she fell short.
The rest of the characters didn’t endear themselves to me any better than Jessie, unfortunately. I’m not sure if it was the author’s intention or not, but I didn’t like a single character in this book except for Jessie’s dad. He’s the only one who seemed to have his head on straight. The rest were too caught up in the wrong things or thinking about the grass being greener on the other side.
I did listen to the audiobook of this story, and for me, Janel Valentine was the saving grace of this book. She gives a very good performance, and that performance, along with an excellent audio quality, is what kept me listening to the end.
The more I listened to this book, the more I felt like it didn’t really know exactly what it wanted to be. It’s a little bit legal thriller and a lot domestic drama with a love triangle thrown in. Any of those things could have made for an interesting book, but in this case, it’s too convoluted, and it just didn’t work for me. So, what it all boiled down to is I didn’t care for the story, but I will be looking for this narrator in future audiobooks.