Customer Reviews

Fade to Midnight (Mccloud Brothers)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At last readers are given the story of Kevin McCloud the missing brother.Fade to Midnight by Shannon Mckenna starts with a punch. The book is 475 pages and I was riveted for every inch of it. I dont want to give away to many spoilers but an accident jogs Kevin's memory about his identity. Its been 18 years since his disappearance and readers learn that he has amnesia from Dr. Osterman's experiments. Fans will remember Dr.O from Sean and Liv's story. In fact this is taking place not to long after the last book. The brothers are all married and happy but Sean is plagued with worry and doubt as to whether his twin brother might be alive since he thinks he had a vision of his brother when he was struggling with being with Liv after all the horror of Dr.O's downfall. New readers can actually enjoy this since McKenna does an excellent job with flashes of Kev's past and brief conversations with the MCCloud brothers as they try to move on with their lives. There is just the right touches of these scenes where you dont feel the need to skim over rehashed information.

Meanwhile Kev stumbles across a graphic novel pseudo comic book that features a character with a strong resemblance to his own features right down to the scars. He meets the author hoping that seeing her will job his memory even more. The author of the books is Edie Parrish who has had psychic flashes about Kev's life though she thinks its all her imagination and not the actions of an actual person. *big sigh* This book was soooo good and had it all. It was angsty in places when you read about Kev's struggle and emotional when you read about the connection he and Edie share. The story has the suspense and anxious feeling of expectation as the poop hits the fan and Kev and Edie must make a run for it. Nobody builds up the hype like Shannon McKenna and I am so glad Kev's story was what I wanted and more. Watching these two as their relationship developed at super speed was thoroughly enjoyable. I wish the ending after the resolution could have been longer but after 400 pages I was drained and had a huge smile on my face.

The McCloud brothers are all here as well as scenes with their wives. Readers will get a snip of life with all the kids that have come along and even Tam plays a pivotal role in helping Kev and Edie.

I've been waiting so long for Kevin's story and for him to get back with his brothers and author Shannon Mckenna sort of failed in parts of this story. Kevin's story would have been better if him and his twin Sean would have come together earlier. I mean throughtout the series Sean has been thinking and talking about Kevin and Kevin story only gives Sean a gun-fight and a couple of rescue attempts. I would have liked it better if the twins could have had a conversation that could have brought them closer. There was nowhere in the story that Kevin told his brothers about why he has been missing all these years. The author could have at least gave the readers that. It just assumed that everything is now known. There wasn't even an epilogue about the brothers getting together. It seemed as if Kevin was still alone, especially when he was talking about how he was allowed to stay in jail without word of the woman he loves fate. No brothers would do that. I mean all this anticipation for Kevin's story and how his brothers will finally find him and Kevin's story is written as if the brothers don't matter. Only that their there for the fight. There should have been more to the brothers finally being back together and Sean finally getting his twin Kevin back. Maybe it's just be this story left emotionally unfufilled.

I have read the entire series and have enjoyed them. However, as I read this one, all I could think was "haven't I read this before??" The plot is basically the same as all the others. Alpha male meets girl in trouble who he fiercely tries to protect with the help of his brothers. Ok, I get that, but couldn't it have somehow followed a slightly different path? It was like reading the same thing over again.

If this was your first Shannon McKenna purchase, I am sure you would enjoy it. It is action packed and suspenseful (if you didn't already have a clue at the ending from the past books).

I was just majorly disappointed with the interaction of the brothers when they were all finally reunited. This could have been a great read if the author had followed a slightly different storyline.

There was a lot of action in this book. That's good, but what I really wanted was for Kev to finally find his brothers. So I have to say I'm very desapointed that after finding eachother there is no moment when they come together and have a heart to heart. I felt that Sean especially needed that.
Basically there was no closure. No emotional get together. That's why I'm giving this book three stars. And the romance between Eddie and Kev, it was just all right, not nearly as unforgetable as the romance in the previous books.
I wanted so much for the brothers to at least give eachother a hug, I can't believe in 500 pages I never got it.

Fade to Midnight had me eagerly awaiting Kevin McCloud's spectacular return after eighteen years and I was expecting an emotional and intense reunion between the four brothers; however, but that moment never came to fruition for me.

After a near two-decade absence, Kevin felt like a McCloud in name only. There was a disconnect between him and his brothers that couldn't completely be bridged...they were relatives but not siblings.

The pulse-pounding action was classic McKenna, excitng and fast-paced. The plot was intense and sexy; excellent writing overall. The appearance of all the McCloud brothers, wives, kids and friends - Seth, Raine, Miles, and the extraordinary Tam - was wonderful, these characters seem so very real.

I adore the devoted, brainy, brave-hearted Miles, he feels more like a McCloud brother than Kevin. I'd love for Miles to get his own story, with a woman who loved and appreciated his wonderful characteristics. Bruno is an interesting character and since it will be a while before Sveti is old enough for her own story, Bruno's story would be a nice continuaton of the series. Sigh, I wish Eamon was still alive, his story would have made for a edgy, complex, angsty book.

Shannon McKenna is one of my favorite suspense authors and the McClouds feel like family. With Fade to Midnight, even following the reunion with the missing fourth brother, there was not a feeling of wrap up within the story arc...I still feel a sense of anticipation and waiting. Hopefully, with at least three other stories in waiting, true closure can be satisfactorily achieved with another book.

I am a big Shannon McKenna fan. I love the way she writes and the usual intensity of her books. I was looking forward to reading Kev's story for a while. Maybe my high expectations made this book a little disappointing... There was just something missing... It wasn't as exciting, or intense, or passionate. I loved her earlier books much better, especially about Davy and Connor....

I love this author. I eagerly pounce on every new book she writes. I've given 5 stars to many of her books, but this book gave me problems. Put an outline on the blackboard showing all the conflicts and how and why they occurred, and you get the following. Bad decisions by good people. People being told the truth and not believing it. Good guys knowing they are in danger but going off alone. Bad guys repeatedly lucky. Bad guys' lies repeatedly believed by everyone. Edie's truths repeatedly not believed by almost everyone, and their responses to Edie were abusive. I've read other books which used some of these conflict devices, and I was fine with it. Limited use is ok. My problem here is this particular "mix" and the "quantity" - way too much of it.

There are multiple conflicts where the bad guys get the good guys, the good guys get away, and then the bad guys get them again later. Getting out of conflicts was done well. But WHY the characters were put in danger was my problem.

A couple of times, the author used a "temporary cliffhanger" which I didn't like. For example, Kev enters a room, sees bad guys coming in, Kev takes the first shot, and then the author switches to another scene with other characters for several pages before returning to Kev. I prefer logical endings to scenes. There is plenty of suspense due to content. I don't need this "artificial suspense." I'll accept occasional use if it's helpful to show other things going on, but that was not the case here.

Kev and Edie have some arguments along the way which I didn't care for. They were based on each one thinking they were not good enough for the other.

Something important was missing. I needed a scene or two with all the brothers finally being together and having a heart to heart about the missing 18 years.

On the positive side, McKenna is great at pulling me in emotionally to the characters. In the first part of the book I hurt for Kev, and I was scared to death of Ava. When I read another book "Ecstasy Unveiled," I did NOT hurt for the tortured hero, and I was NOT afraid of the bad guy. In my review of that book, I used "Fade to Midnight" as an example of how to pull readers in emotionally (to the characters). McKenna is great at doing that. She also writes excellent action scenes and events. She shows not tells.

As with several other McKenna books, this was a scary roller coaster ride. It was hard to put down. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen. The suspense kept me awake at night. I enjoyed it a lot, even though I had the problems mentioned above.

DATA:
Story length: 490 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong, including rape. Number of sex scenes: 12. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 22. Setting: current day Oregon and Washington state. Copyright: 2010. Genre: romantic suspense thriller.

OTHER BOOKS:
Of her full length novels, I gave 5 stars to: Behind Closed Doors, Standing in the Shadows, Return to Me, Out of Control, Hot Night, Edge of Midnight, Extreme Danger, and Ultimate Weapon. I gave 4 stars to Tasting Fear and 3 stars to Fade to Midnight. She's done some short stories in anthologies which I rated 3 stars and 5 stars. The 5 star short stories are in the following anthologies: All Through the Night and Bad Boys Next Exit.

Kevin McCloud is a man with no past. A crazed scientist stripped him of his memories, tortured him, and left him for dead. Eighteen years later, Kev is alive, but not living. He's always searching for the past he can't remember, until he sees his face in Edie Parrish's graphic novels. Edie is unknowingly wrapped up in the pain of Kev's past. She's been his salvation during his lowest moments. Together, they uncover a plot that threatens to destroy the very foundation of their lives. But as Kev and Edie get closer to each other, the villains are getting closer to them.

The magnitude of what happened to Kevin McCloud is revealed with vivid and often disturbing clarity as the intricate and twisted plot of Fade to Midnight unfolds. The villains, the sex, and the romance are hard-core. Along with Kev's long awaited story, fans of the McCloud brothers are treated to small glimpses of his brothers, giving us a bit of what we love most about them; a little sex and lot of intensity. As the layers of Fade to Midnight are peeled back, a thrilling storyline emerges. Kev's story - his past and present, the villain's psychotic motives, Edie's life, her connection to Kev, and her psychic ability, along with the McCloud men's search for their long lost brother - creates an engaging and often erotic plot. I now know the true meaning of the phrase; `breathless with anticipation'. I couldn't read fast enough. While the brothers' reunion is disappointingly anti-climactic, Kev and Edie's meeting is full of profound and poignant moments. Fade to Midnight is satisfying, but left me craving more.

Nanette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

So Kev McCloud finally got his book. What a ride this one was. In many ways a fitting end to the series and in some ways this story showcased how long in the tooth the series was becoming. This was totally Kev's book, thankfuly, the author did not clog it up with too many cut aways to the grieving brothers, but I felt she used Sean and his long suffering stance of "I know he's alive, I feel it in me bones" well and heck Liv was a total hoot. I was a bit sorry to not have seen more of the wives of the other brothers but trust me that when Liv (Sean's wife) make her appearance she holds it up for the rest of the estrogen troop.

The thing with this series and this author is that it's all sort of a one trick pony by saying that I mean there is a lot of isolation, on the run and filthy grubbiness (for once why can't we escape from the evil-doers in style for pete's sake) big guns, slapping, drooling and horrible, horrible bad guys. However with this story the 2 bad guys were more Abbott & Costello that bad guys with any real teeth. By 1/2 way through the book their plans for world domination was silly and filled with ineptitudes and the trail of bodies left along the roadsides, forest lanes, driveways, buildings and the freezer was too unrealistic. The poor po-dunk cops are gonna take a big hit in this town when it becomes clear that so much was going on under their noses that good old fashioned police work coulda solved.

But the focal point as ever is the McCloud man and men. Kevin was actually very likeable and I sorta really loved the way he approached Edie for the first time. However he then went from shy, uncertain, scarred semi-amnesiac to a freakin millionaire, Rambo, Dirk Diggler... I couldn't upshift so fast.

Then when it becomes clear that the other McCloud boys have found their lost brother, the fur and bullets fly. At certain points it was soooo yahooo, giddyap, soildier up, ride-or die I just could not stop envisioning those old Dukes of Hazard episodes where they blow up Boss Hog's latest contraption and get away by sliding across the hood of the General Lee hollering loudly in the night and whizzing past bullets with Boss Hog waving his fists in the air and screaming "I'll git them Duke boys"!!

Maybe I have O-D'd on too much x-cog myself but I am really happy this series is ended, I enjoyed the book but I am waiting to see what next adventure Ms. McKenna can create and hope there is a bit more versatility in her bag of tricks.

I have to admit that I agree with some of the other reviews. I really could not wait to read this book. I wanted the McCloud brothers to finally get Kev back. As I read Davy's, Conners and Sean's book, I always enjoyed reading about the brothers relationships and how much they cared about each other and how they had this big hole in their lives from losing Kev. And then they find him and its like kind of Blah! Come on.. especially between Sean and Kev there should have been a lot more emotion in them being reunited after 18 years. I was soo disappointed!! :( I just expected soo much more. And I didn't like Edie as much as I did Liv, Erin and Margot. She just didn't interest me as much as the others I actually thought she was kind of silly. I liked the action in this book though I think there was more in this book then the others I read. And those scene's helped to make up for a lot of the other parts that I felt let down in.