10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as previous novels, but still ok, February 3, 2010
This review is from: Dead By Midnight (Paperback)
I waited a long time for this novel to come out. This is once again, the Powell Agency. I love Ms. Barton and I am from Alabama, so that in itself is worth 3 stars. However, I did not think this one was as good as her previous novels. She did tie up some loose ends from her last novel and left some untied(?) The book did keep my interest, however,it seemed to get "Bogged Down" somewhat with so many characters. I would recommend reading her previous Powell Agency books first, but if you don't this one can stand alone. I know Ms. Barton will finish this series with a bang. I have faith in her and am looking forward to her next novel. This one was just not as good as I had anticipated. As I have said before, she has set the bar so high with her previous novels, it is going to be interesting to see what she comes up with next.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Dead BY Midnight", February 23, 2010
This review is from: Dead By Midnight (Paperback)
Lorie Hammonds and Mike Birkett were a High School
loving couple. Lorie decided she wanted to be an
actress. She tried to encourage Mike to go to
Hollywood with her. Mike had his own plans he
wanted to go into law enforcement.
Lorie left Dunmore, Alabama to California and tried
to make it into show business. To her astonishment,
she was unsuccessful after six years of trying to
get a big break. Lorie played a small role in a Porno
movie.
Lorie moved back home to Dunmore as a failure.
She made a mistake making one porno movie.
Most of the town's people had seen the porno
movie Midnight Masquerade. Nine years later,
Lorie received two death threats. She hired
Maleah Perdue from the Powell Agency. The FBI
believes there is a serial killer that's murdering
the cast in Midnight Masquerade. State, local
enforcement, and the FBI are working with Powell
Agency.
Dead By Midnight could stand alone. Although, I
recommend also reading The Murder Game. This is
the book where Nicole was an FBI agent and met
Griffin Powell. I would recommend reading the
Silent Killer. Most of the characters in The Murder
Game and Silent Killer are in Dead By Midnight.
Dead By Midnight has too many characters; too
many story lines going at once with two serial
killers. One serial killer, murdering the cast in
Midnight Masquerade. Then, the other serial killer,
killed two Griffin Powell Agency employees. Ms.
Barton left the Powell Agency for another series.
I like Maleah who works for Powell Agency as a
detective. She is intelligent and sassy. Derek
Lawrence is a retired FBI Agent who works for
Powell Agency as a consultant. Beverly Barton
will be writing a book about these two characters.
I am looking forward to their story.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't Like the Hero, April 7, 2010
This review is from: Dead By Midnight (Paperback)
DEAD BY MIDNIGHT is a beautifully written story with a compelling mystery. It's too bad the hero of DEAD BY MIDNIGHT is so unlikeable. If he wasn't, I would have loved the story more and bought into the romance between the hero and heroine.
Quick overview: Mike and Lorie were high school sweethearts. After high school, like many kids who live in a small town (and many who don't) the heroine wanted to break free, go to Hollywood, and become an actress. Naive perhaps but then so is pretty much every teenager who has those dreams of fame and fortune. She goes off to Hollywood and like nearly every other high school romance she and Mike drift apart.
Hollywood is not all it's cracked up to be, she ends up doing a Playboy spread and taking a bit part in a x-rated movie. Dissatisfied with the way her life is going Lorie returns to her small town and is treated worse than the heroine in the Scarlett Letter. Mike is now married and treats the heroine horribly.
Fast forward ten years. Mike still treats Lorie like crap, but now he's widowed. Heroine starts getting death threats. So she naturally reports the letters to the police. Unfortunately for her the police chief is Mike and he thinks she's lying to get close to him. Though nothing she's done in the last ten years has shown that she was trying to get back with him. Luckily, she has friends who work for a private security agency and gets them to look into the case.
Mike still acts like a jerk when people from the movie she had a bit part in start dying. Because apparently the heroine is a prostitute (in his mind) even though nothing she's done in all the years she's been back home suggests anything of the kind.
Sorry, I could go on and on and on about all the things Mike did in DEAD BY MIDNIGHT. I probably would've put the book down but it was so well written and the mystery was good. Although . . . despite the author's attempts to disguise it, I knew who the killer was from the moment they appeared on the page. But, I usually can, it's a talent I have. LOL.
I never warmed up to Mike, even when he sort of tried to make amends. It was too little to late for me and I felt annoyed with the heroine for feeling like she deserved to be treated like total crap. Despite the awesome writing, I can't recommend this book.
COURTESY OF LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS REVIEWS BLOGSPOT
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