Synopsis
From number one bestselling author Caroline Mitchell comes the first chilling Slayton thriller for fans of C. J. Tudor and Stephen King.
If you open your door to the Midnight Man, hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near because one of you won’t be leaving here…
On Halloween night in Slayton, five girls go to Blackhall Manor to play the Midnight Game. They write their names on a piece of paper and prick their fingers to soak it in blood. At exactly midnight they knock on the door twenty-two times – they have invited the Midnight Man in.
It was supposed to be a game, but only four girls come home.
Detective Sarah Noble has just returned to the force, and no one knows more about Blackhall Manor than her. It’s a case that will take Sarah back to everything she’s been running from, and shake her to the core.
Will she be ready to meet the Midnight Man?
Review
The Midnight Man is one of those stories that make you feel everything. The intensity of the story, the victims whose fear is so palpable that it’s jumping from the pages, a book that makes you feel so intensely you feel like you’ve gone three rounds with Mike Tyson.
The town of Slayton has been rocked to its core once again when 5 girls play the midnight game in notorious Blackhall Manor. I say again because over twenty years ago the community was in mourning after the murder/suicide of the Middleton family. Grandparents, two children, and mother were murdered before the father finally turned the gun on himself after the bloody rampage. The game has been around since then, but this group of girls decides that Halloween is a great time to play the game. Unfortunately, one girl doesn’t make it home, Angelica, who is the daughter of a local property developer and a community hero.
Sarah Noble is taking a tentative step back to work after a period of poor mental health. She had previously worked under her husband, David but some scandal had broken out (you find out later what kind of scandal and you can then piece together the awkward working conditions). She doesn’t get fanfare when she returns, and her Sergeant has more than a few words for Sarah to digest. I enjoyed getting to know Sarah and Noble in all her problems and difficulties. She’s not perfect, the aftermath of her illness is a struggling woman. Making her way back to the police is like treading through muddy water. She doesn’t have it easy, but I admire her strength to regain her sense of self back.
When it is reported that Angelica is missing, Sarah knows this case will blow up considering her father’s standing in the community. Sarah gets reacquainted with her old friend, Maggie, and discovers that her son, Elliot seems to have some psychic ability. She’s dubious at first but as she learns more about Elliot, she begins to trust his sensitive abilities.
Reminded me of The Candyman by Clive Barker in its sinister depravity. The spiral of events sucks the characters into a whirlpool of fear and emotive anguish. The cast is explosive and team that with a murder case that is both complex and personal and you have an instant winner.
“If you open your door to the Midnight Man,
Hide with a candle wherever you can.
Try not to scream as he draws near,
Because one of you won’t leave here.”
The rules of the games are simple:
–Rule one: Stain some paper with a drop of your blood
–Rule two: Turn off the lights at midnight, leave the paper at the front door, and knock twenty-two times. Open the door. You have invited the Midnight Man in.
–Rule three: Relight the candle. You must avoid the Midnight Man until 3.33 a.m. If your candle extinguishes, it means the Midnight man is near. If he finds you, you will die.
The Midnight Man is bristling with tension and accomplishes what it set out to do an account of survival. Caroline Mitchell knows how to lead you down an abandoned track only to jump out at you and stop your heart with her twists and turns.
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