Midnight Cab (CBC Series) [Audio CD]

James Nichol (Producer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003 | Series: CBC Series

A terrified three-year-old boy is found clinging to a wire fence at the side of a country road. The only clue found by authorities as to the child’s identity is a photograph of two little girls and a letter.

Sixteen years later, Walker Devereaux is in Toronto to discover the truth about his biological mother. Working as an after-hours cabdriver, Walker befriends Krista, a smart-alecky, wheelchair-bound night dispatcher. Together, they search for a key to Walker’s past. But their after-hours sleuthing veers them ever closer to another who has become the embodiment of desperate, violent, and sinister pathologies.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adapted from a popular Canadian radio drama, this light, engaging first novel by playwright Nichol is a coming-of-age story steeped in mystery. Abandoned by the roadside at the age of three, 19-year-old Walker Devereaux sets off to find his birth parents with the aid of only two clues: a photo of his mother as a child and a cryptic letter to her from her best friend. In pursuit of his past, he leaves his adoptive family and girlfriend in Big River and moves to Toronto, where he finds work on the graveyard shift at a cab company. He falls in with his dispatcher, the attractive, wheelchair-bound Krista Papadopoulos. Together, they follow the trail of Walker's parents as it leads from Toronto's chic Forest Hill neighborhood to the shores of Lake Erie and finally to Kingston, Jamaica. Nichol weaves in the story of Bobby, an animal-torturing, Hannibal Lechter–like character who Walker must confront if he is to learn his family's dark past. In an attempt to dissuade them from probing further, Bobby sets Krista's car on fire and kills Walker's cat, Kerouac. Undeterred, Walker soldiers on. Nichol's instincts as a playwright serve him well. The dialogue between Walker and Krista is quick and playful, and though the suspense rarely builds to Hitchcockian heights, the novel is well paced and the pages turn quickly.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Basing his first novel on his radio drama of the same name, Canadian playwright Nichol generates a fair amount of suspense in an archetypal story of the search for home. Walker Devereaux was three years old when he last saw his mother, who left him clinging to a wire fence alongside a highway. Now 19, he leaves his adoptive family in Big River to track down his birth parents in Toronto. He has only a letter and a photograph, left in his pocket, as clues. After landing a job driving a cab, he becomes involved with his wheelchair-bound dispatcher, Krista Papadopoulos. The two make great headway until they realize someone is sabotaging their search. Meanwhile, flashbacks also tell the story of wealthy but emotionally damaged Bobby Nuremborski, whose every malfeasance is covered up by his status-conscious, demanding father. The way the two story lines converge is telegraphed from the get-go, but suspense remains high because Nichol has a genuine gift for both language and plotting. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Audio) (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0660189593
• ISBN-13: 978-0660189598
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,087,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We want a sequel!, April 20, 2005

By 

Dave Schwinghammer "Dave Schwinghammer" (Little Falls, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Cab (Hardcover)

The title of this mystery/thriller is a bit misleading, probably because it was based on a popular radio drama of the same name. Certainly, the main character, Walter Devereaux drives a cab, but that's not the focus of the story.

MIDNIGHT CAB is set in Toronto, Canada, and it starts with a three-year-old boy clinging to a wire fence at the side of a country road. This is Walter Devereaux; he's found and placed in a number of foster homes before he goes to live with the Devereauxs in Big River, Canada. They're an ideal family and he loves them dearly, but he feels he must go to Toronto to find his real parents. He has a letter and a picture of two little girls that he hopes will help him in his quest.

Walter has trouble finding a job but ultimately he finds work at the A.P. Cabs owned by Alphonso Piatelli, who tries to hire him off the books. His night dispatcher, Krista Papadopoulos, soon puts an end to that and a romance ensues. Oh, yeah, Krista just happens to be in a wheel chair.

A parallel story has to do with Bobby Nuremborski, a young boy who hungers for the attention of his father. Bobby will remind you of the killer in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. He's gay but he won't admit it; his father would never tolerate a homosexual son. Eventually the two stories intersect leading to some gripping action.

The setting of the story shifts from Toronto to Jamaica, and that's when the novel loses some of its credibility. Like Tony Hillerman, when he moves the story off the Navajo reservation, the author, James W. Nichol, needs to focus on what he knows best. The Canada sequences are believable and compelling, Jamaica not so much.

Despite these quibbles I enjoyed MIDNIGHT CAB immensely and would like to see a sequel. Krista and Walter are likeable characters and the cab company is an ideal setting for a mystery series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT book!! Read it!!, November 12, 2005

By 

jaycide "Jill" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Cab (Hardcover)

I travel a lot in my car, so audio books are a must for me. I picked this one up at the library - and it was hard for me to turn my car off when I got to where I was going!

As you read in the summary, the book is about a 19-year-old who is trying to find out who his real parents are. He was found left by the side of the road when he was three, with only a photograph and a cryptic letter.

His hunt takes him to Toronto, where he and his new girlfriend do some detective work...and when they seem to have it all figured out, the author throws in another twist.

There is another side story in the book that takes place around the life of another teenager, but this scene is set many years beforehand.

Once the two stories meet up, everything falls into place.

This is a must-read for anyone who likes thrillers!

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, August 10, 2002

By 

M. Polachok "Ready Reader" (canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Cab (Hardcover)

Really good! Different for any mystery recently read. Quirky, engaging characterizations with and original plot.
Can't wait for the next one!