Midnight Eyes [Kindle Edition]

Sidney Williams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Men are being lured to agonizing deaths in the small Louisiana city of Aimsley. Brutalized bodies are displayed on the riverbank and in little-travelled bayou country, and a mysterious dark-eyed beauty may be connected. It’s a case with tremendous human suffering and a challenging political labyrinth for Sheriff Ty Hood. It means calling on the last person he wants to for help—his son.

Former FBI agent Wayland Hood is a brilliant criminologist and writer. He’s immersed in a project to unravel the mysteries inside the minds of four of America’s most heinous serial killers. Only unresolved issues with his father can draw him into the dark quest for buried secrets that fuel modern bloodshed. As father and son clash with each other and with television reporter Jemy Reardon who has her own goals and theories, the body count increases. Only a terrifying excursion into the darkest heart of midnight can bring the nightmare to an end.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 741 KB
• Publisher: Crossroad Press & Macabre Ink Digital; Crossroad Press Digital Edition edition (April 22, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004XQVSQW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,686 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I'm the author of eight novels all of which are becoming available as e-books from Crossroad Press. I've also written comic books, audio drama and much more.

I worked as a newspaper reporter for eleven years. In my early days as a general assignment reporter, my shift was 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., so I wrote fiction in the early morning hours, completing most of my work from midnight until 2 a.m., ironically an appropriate time for dark fiction.

I completed the book that would become my first published novel when I was 26.

My books writing as Michael August are for younger readers, though adults can certainly enjoy them as well.

I recently earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Goddard College.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Creepy Bayou Thrill Ride, December 6, 2011

By 

Ryne D. Pearson (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Eyes (Kindle Edition)

Williams again brings a riveting tale set in a moody and often malevolent Louisiana, as he did in Blood Hunter. But where Blood Hunter has us witness the horror of an inhuman beast, here Williams lays bare the beastly acts man is capable of.

Filled with energy and dread, this smartly crafted thriller pulls the reader along in the investigation, never letting them get ahead, and never freeing them from the tense narrative. Reporters are not easy to put on the page as real people, but here Williams excels at this, giving all his characters life that brings a deeper sense of realism to events.

Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Dark Thriller!, July 21, 2011

By 

Renee E. Pawlish "Renee Pawlish" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Eyes (Kindle Edition)

Midnight Eyes is a dark serial-killer thriller set in Louisiana. Riverland Parish Sheriff Tyson Hood must find a brutal serial killer that terrorizes his small town. Pressured by politicians and reporters to find the killer before he strikes again, Hood resorts to calling in his estranged son, a former FBI profiler.

Author Williams has written a tense tale that weaves past and present together, taking the reader into the minds of serial killers, and into the damaged relationship between Hood and his son. Williams is adept at creating fully realized characters and scenery, fully immersing the reader in the tale. The multi-layered plot, filled with twists and turns, will keep you turning the pages right to the electrifying ending. I look forward to more from Sidney Williams.

4.0 out of 5 stars Humans as the true monster, July 15, 2011

By 

J.A. Beard - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Eyes (Kindle Edition)

A Good Book Alert Review (Reviewer was provided with free e-book copy prior to review)

Midnight Eyes

Author: Sidney Williams

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Interesting, albeit disturbing, psychological exploration into the dark depths of the human psyche help compensate for a slow middle act in Midnight Eyes.

Summary:

Aging Louisiana Sheriff Ty Hood never expected to have to deal with a brutal serial killer. With reporters, politicians, and glory-hungry private detectives all breathing down his neck, he reaches out to his estranged son Wayland, a former FBI profiler who specializes in serial killers.

Review:

Serial killers represent true horror. They are humans that have abandoned humanity; beasts with the intelligence of a men.

Midnight Eyes explores these dark relatives of mainstream humanity in often disturbing detail. Accordingly, this novel is not for the faint of heart. Although the book doesn't revel in gore, a victim-mutilating serial killer is a key aspect of the book. More disturbing, and a testament to the author's characterization skills, is the mental insight and depth provided into serial killers (both the primary antagonist and already imprisoned killer near the start of the book). They are monsters, yes, but monsters with depth.

The non-killers in the book are also, for the most part, well-developed. The strained interaction between the father and son provides a nice bit of character tension. Ty and Wayland have distinct personalities. Watching the investigation unfold from the different perspectives makes it a bit more engaging. In addition, seeing the two different styles of police work the men represent was also interesting.

Most of the other side-characters are given sufficient development. They all come off as distinct individuals even if they are not presented with as nearly much depth as Ty and Wayland. The author even takes a little time to use a journalist character to explore the tension between keeping the public informed and withholding information to protect the public.

Unfortunately, although that theme is somewhat interesting and well-informed by the author's journalism background, the journalist character does feel slightly superfluous to the narrative. Overall, her presence tends to slightly slow the narrative by spreading out the plot a bit too much at certain key points.

This is particularly an issue in the middle acts of the story. The identity of the killer is made clear relatively early on though there the author still manages to keep some surprises for the reader. Although knowing the identity of the killer doesn't necessarily inherently damage tension, the dramatic value of the presente police investigation (with realistic, though potentially frustrating-dead ends) isn't strong enough to fully compensate. A thriller thrives on constant tension, and I didn't always feel the tension or urgency. I will note that watching the other side of the investigation, from the killer's POV provided more than a few genuinely creepy moments.

The closing act managed great tension and a few final twists. It took full advantage of the time spent earlier with character development to add some emotional depth to the final chapters.

3.5 Stars