Customer Reviews

After Midnight

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The English language editions of this book (published by Leisure in the US and Headline in the UK) contain a secret message which is refered to in the body of the book. To discover the secret message, you simply need to read the first letter from each chapter (including the introduction chapter) to unearth 'Alice's message. So, to get the ball rolling from the Intro, the first letter is H, the 1st chapter = I, 2nd = M, 3rd = Y, 4th = N, 5th = A, 6th = M, 7th = E.... etc

so from the intro chapter and chapters 1-7 it reads HI MY NAME .... the rest of the message... I guess you'll have to read the book, but its a nice little extra that Laymon incorporated into this book, and this book alone! Its not his best novel, Alice, acts in a way which very few people would but its a fair read and definitely worthy of any Laymonite's attention. Grab a copy today!

Her name's not really Alice, of course; and naturally, all people and place names in her tale have been changed. To protect the innocent...and the guilty.

It begins with a midnight prowler, a man skinny-dipping in a pool. Alice is scared, yes, but not overly-so; she's had a hard, tumultuous life, one that's left her paranoid. She knows how to defend herself. That Civil War sabre hanging above the fireplace is a great self-defense weapon. Until she accidently kills someone with it...

From there it's a bloody ride, action piled upon action. While "After Midnight" is not the best Laymon novel of all time, it is certainly one of the better novels published since his death. Alice is not the most user-friendly protagonist; she's hard to sympathize with, at times, and yet you find yourself rooting for her and her psychotic ways. "After Midnight" is overly violent, bloody, and all-together disgusting...but that's Richard Laymon's mass appeal. With all the blood, it's easy to overlook Laymon's knack for character development and suspense; however, dig beneath the blood and gore of his novels, and what you'll find is one of the greatest suspense writers of the twentieth century. "After Midnight" is a superb horror/thriller that will keep you up...yes, here it comes: well after midnight.

Alice is a woman on the edge. After experiencing self-defense gone wrong, she must find a way to free her binds from her mistake, while violent consequences ensue. Richard Laymon's AFTER MIDNIGHT is undoubtedly candy for the eye. Readers will have a field day following the misadventures of a protagonist not only tough but set with a mind as sharp as any pointed object. Again, the author doesn't just slowly but surely build up momentum, but throws it in a handful of action, suspense and gore that hold interest up until the edge-of-your-seat denouement that has to be read to be believed. Yes, Laymon is infatuated with the female form, and yes, his plot tends to be over the top, but his wicked pen sure compensates for these little "flaws". His sense of timing and deliverance make AFTER MIDNIGHT a fun grade-B treat that deserves its big following.-----Martin Boucher

Laymon's stories are a bit over-the-top, and always filled with gratuitous sex and violence - but his work is really what horror is all about. In this book, we are introduced to "Alice", a protagonist whom we have a hard time relating to, or even accepting, but Laymon's storytelling makes it work. As usual, Laymon wastes no time in getting right to the action and suspense, and it never lets up in this book. While the story is completely unbelievable, Laymon's writing kept me turning the pages. I hated the first book that I read by Laymon, but I gave him another try, and now I am addicted!

"After Midnight" is not one of Laymon's best books. But, it is probably one of his most complex storylines, and it does stand out from his other books in certain ways.

I felt that the usual "gore factor" so typical of his books was a bit tamer here in this one, despite the many deaths and murders and assaults.

My main problem with this book was the lack of elaboration. Alice informs the reader that she cannot call the police, because they will then investigate her history; implying that she has a sordid and violent past. The reader only gets a few vague references here and there to these past events, all of them in reference to her being a victim (not really cause to avoid calling police)... also the presence of Marilyn in Milo's tent. I would have liked a bit more backstory there. Alice mentions cannibalism and stuff, she suspects Steve and Milo have been up to "no good", but we don't learn too much of them. I suppose that because Alice is telling the story, technically she wouldn't know much about the two "thrill-killers" in the forest, but I was left wanting to know more.

I liked this story because it was interesting watching Alice dig herself deeper and deeper into more mess as she tries to cover up one murder. I enjoyed the detail she went into, trying to cover her tracks and cut all the "wires", as she describes them, that connect the events and people she encounters. Her constant wiping down of everything she touches to erase her fingerprints is pretty entertaining. Poor Alice. She sorta just wanted to go home and have a nice bath and sleep, and things just get worse and worse.

Again, though, not his best book. Nor his goriest. But still a pretty entertaining read. And, in the climactic scene of the book, there is a pretty gross and hideous death. Hehehe.

I can't say that I've read all of Laymon's books, but out of the 10 that I have had the priviledge to read, this one is the my second favorite. The best of his reads, I would have to say, is the albeit very slow but definitely captivating "Traveling Vampire Show." This is much faster-paced and exciting. Some of Laymon's dialog feels a bit wooden at times, but in this book I felt some of it was better than usual. Very natural reactions to some insanely unbelievable situations. Alice is awesome. It's a shame she won't be joining us for a sequel. Not for you if you are not an extreme horror fan, but if you are... Cheers!

This was an intense, fast paced novel. Part horror, part erotic - my first Richard Laymon book. It was just one event after the next, with the main charater getting into a deeper and deeper mess with every move she made. Keeps you strung right along with her tale, I didn't want it to end. I loved the narrated thought process of the main character, Alice. Even though I may or may not have agreed with each action she took, it added to the story to go along with her logic of her every move. Can't wait to read my next Richard Laymon book - I'm a fan now!

It's hard to explain exactly how horrible I think the female heroine was written in this book. I can not believe any female would ever act as she had in her position. This heroine had no brain in her head. She got turned on by a trespasser rubbing himself up against a window naked yet thinking about how he was such a disgusting pervert. Understanding that this girl only has a quarter of a brain in her head but to not call the police even though she thought about it was idiotic and that includes her thinking she was safer with her carrying the sword and then blaming someone else for her killing a person. This heroine had a mentality of a 12 year old. I'm normally a fan of Richard Laymon's books but this is one I definitely could have done with out. The two books I have read where he has female heroines have just been horrible.

Twenty-six years old Alice is staying at the exclusive house by the woods of her friend Serena as a favor while her pal is away. Alice looks forward to the luxurious lifestyle with the sunken tub, swimming pool and big screen TV. However, she also cautions herself never forget that danger lurks everywhere even in deluxe quarters like Serena owns.

As if she jinxed her good fortune, a wrong number call enables her to notice a stranger dive naked into the pool. Alice expects the nude male to attack her like all men do, but this time she is prepared as she holds a Civil War saber that she took off the wall waiting for his assault. When the opportunity arises she uses the blade to split open a man's head. Thus a night of mayhem, sex, and death begins with Alice's gory adventures in wonderland.

Though Alice is an intriguing protagonist, her story seems so outrageous that it goes beyond the realm of unbelievable perhaps exceeding Munchausen. Still she is a fascinating protagonist as she lives her motto of never again to be a victim, sort of like the Bride in Kill Bill. Fans who appreciate a somewhat deranged female swimming in a sea of blood will want to read Alice's adventures AFTER MIDNIGHT in a not so wonderland.

Harriet Klausner

I first discovered Richard Laymon books a couple of years ago and I have tried hard to get my hands on everything I could of his. After Midnight is one of the best of I read. The story is about Alice who is house sitting for her friends, she's a gritty character who has obviously been burned before as we learn b/c the book is told from her point of view. I don't want to give too much away, but there's murder and kidnapping and accidental deaths and even a death by sword! There are so many twists and turns I found myself practically slapping myself on the forehead everytime she manages to get herself in deeper and deeper into trouble. A must read for a Laymon fan. Other books of his I loved are The Travelling Vampire Show, Ressurection Dreams, and Body Rides.