Midnight: A Gangster Love Story [Hardcover]

Sister Souljah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2008

Sister Souljah, the hip-hop generation's number one author and most compelling storyteller, delivers a powerful story about love and loyalty, strength and family. In her bestselling novel, The Coldest Winter Ever, Sister Souljah introduced the world to Midnight, a brave but humble lieutenant to a prominent underworld businessman. Now, in a highly anticipated follow-up to her million-selling masterpiece, she brings readers into the life and dangerously close to the heart of this silent, fearless young man.

Raised in a wealthy, influential, Islamic African family, Midnight enjoys a life of comfort, confidence, and protection. Midnight's father provides him with a veil of privilege and deep, devoted love, but he never hides the truth about the fierce challenges of the world outside of his estate. So when Midnight's father's empire is attacked, he sends Midnight with his mother to the United States.

In the streets of Brooklyn, a young Midnight uses his Islamic mind-set and African intelligence to protect the ones he loves, build a business, reclaim his wealth and status, and remain true to his beliefs.

Midnight, a handsome and passionate young man, attracts many women. How he interacts and deals with them is a unique adventure. This is a highly sensual and tremendous love story about what a man is willing to risk and give to the women he loves most. Midnight will remain in your mind and beat in your heart for a lifetime.

Her "raw and true voice" (Publishers Weekly) will both soothe and arouse you. In a beautifully written and masterfully woven story, Sister Souljah has given us Midnight, and solidified her presence as the mother of all contemporary urban literature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Souljah's follow-up to her bestselling novel, TheColdest Winter Ever, is another gritty coming-of-age tale, picking up the story of Midnight (a character in Coldest Winter) as he tries desperately to navigate American culture, Brooklyn streets and the dicey business of growing up. The novel begins as seven-year-old Midnight and his pregnant mother, Umma, are forced to leave their privileged life in Sudan for a hardscrabble American existence. Midnight spends his formative years in Brooklyn guiding and translating for his loyal, loving and talented mother, helping her get a factory job while encouraging her to start a clothing line. Eventually, Midnight starts working at a Chinatown fish shop, finds love, joins a dangerous hustler's basketball league and tries to disentangle his ambivalent feelings toward romance, family and personal honor. Souljah's sensitive treatment of her protagonist is honest and affecting, with some realistic moments of crisis. Unfortunately, a slack plot and slow pacing cause serious bloat, and Souljah's distinctive prose is woefully unpolished. Frustrations aside, Souljah has obvious talent and sincere motives, making her a street-lit sophomore worth watching. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Sister Souljah is best known for her work as a political activist and educator of underclass urban youth. A graduate of Rutgers University, she is a beloved personality in her own community. She lives in New Jersey City with her husband and son.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416545182
• ISBN-13: 978-1416545187
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (385 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sister Souljah is a successful political activist and educator of underclass youth. Her national bestseller The Coldest Winter Ever, considered the definitive novel of the hip-hop generation, marked her fiction debut; she is also the author of a memoir entitled No Disrespect. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars mixed emotions about this, November 10, 2008

By 

Urban Fiction Journalist - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight: A Gangster Love Story (Hardcover)

Like others have said, it is a prequel, it does get boring at times, and does appear unbelievable at others. However, it is a very ambitious and provacative novel. It's literature. It will make you think, it will make you question yourself. It may even have you considering changing the way you operate. It does calls American born blacks out about their behavior and beliefs - hell, all Americans for that matter. Midnight is vicious. Was it worth the wait? No. Is it worth $26.95? No. However, it is worth the read. It can generate some serious dialogue in our community. It's a very intellectual read that can and should be appreciated. It provides plenty to talk about if you can manage to finish it.
My biggest problem is it left me with too many questions, more questions than I had going into it. And, I'm just hoping it doesn't take another ten years get the answers.
Also, I don't think it should be referred to as a gangster's love story becasue nothing about Midnight, in this story, is gangster. Yes, he is a killer - solely for the protection of himself and loved ones - but NOT a gangster.
So, if you're looking to reunite with Winter and her family and will be highly disappointed if they are not there, don't waste your money. If your don't mind be taken on a journey that's overly informative yet sometimes dull along they way, then gear up. Midnight aint for everybody.

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midnight, November 5, 2008

By 

jacobys girl (BRIDGETON, N.J.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Midnight: A Gangster Love Story (Hardcover)

First off if you are looking for a sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever, this aint it, you will be very disappointed. Though the story is about the charachter Midnight from the Coldest Winter Ever, this book is about his life before the Santiagos. As a matter of fact the oldest he gets in this book is the age of fourteen. But let me tell you he happens to be a very mature fourteen yr. old, who lives the life of a well bred man who instead if giving into temptation resist it. I found him so captivating the way he lives his life, the culture, the religion, though I do not agree with everything of muslim faith i do believe that if we all could just live by this one law, no fornication!!! we would be much better off as a people, Dont You Think? My favorite charachter in this book after Midnight of course, is Bangs I found her as he did funny but also bold. As much as I respected Midnight for staying true to hiself and his beliefs I found myself a little upset that things could'nt and would'nt come together for Midnight and Bangs i really believe he would have made a big difference in her life a positive difference. so even though I was a little disappointed that this had nothing to do with the Coldest Winter Ever. I was not disapointed with this book not at all. All ive got to say is Sister Souljah you better be working on part2 Because you can not leave me hangin like this!!!!!!!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars IS THAT ALL?!!!, December 9, 2008

By 

A. Marks "Avid Black Fiction Reader" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight: A Gangster Love Story (Hardcover)

"The Coldest Winter Ever" is one of the best books I have ever read. Having said that, I was extremely disappointed with "Midnight". First off, the book was entirely too long to only have gotten to where it went. It does not take almost 500 pages to describe a mere 7 years in someone's life. Further, the story left far too many gaps, loopholes and contradictions for me. Midnight was selling drugs in TCWE. How does such an "intelligent", "disciplined" boy who "always makes the right choices" end up such a way? In addition, the first chapter talks about how women love him because of how they feel with his weight on top of them, yet he's a virgin who only sleeps with one woman the entire book through! That would be fine if "women" wasn't a plural word!

The entire wedding saga baffled me. What did that have to do with Midnight? And if his father was so rich, why were they so poor? Why couldn't they contact him? He wasn't dead? What happened to Umma (his mother) and Naja (his sister)? Did they move into the house? They weren't mentioned in TCWE. As a matter of fact, Santiaga treated him like his own son because he had no family! This was unreal!

If you are thinking this book will give you insight into Midnight's existence, you are sadly mistaken! If you are looking for some cultural understanding of the Sudanese culture, you may find it here. However, it is definitely not worth reading close to 500 pages to end up with a 14-year-old boy illegally married to a non-English-speaking, Japanese girl who's taken away from him without resolution!

Take my advice. It's not worth your money or your time! I am thoroughly surprised at Sister Souljah. While it was obvious she has a good writing style, she obviously didn't have a lot to say. As a result she led people on throughout the entire book, enduring a plethora of boring details, believing they would get somewhere in the book that simply doesn't exist. This book was so bad I am not even excited about a sequel. I am almost certain I would not buy it. With E. Lynn Harris, Zane, Eric Jerome Dickey, Sheila Dansby Harvey and other up and coming authors, she's going to have to do a lot better if she wants to stay in the game.