Midnight Voices [Mass Market Paperback]

John Saul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2003

The sudden, tragic death of her husband leaves Caroline Evans alone in New York City to raise her children with little money and even less hope. When she meets and marries handsome, successful Anthony Fleming, the charismatic man of her dreams, she believes her life is destined for happiness. She and her children move into her new husband’s spacious apartment in the legendary Rockwell on Central Park West. Despite her son’s instinctive misgivings about the building and its residents, Caroline dismisses the odd behavior of her neighbors as pleasant eccentricities. But after her daughter begins to experience horrifying nightmares and a startling secret emerges, Caroline realizes that the magnificence of her new home masks a secret of unimaginable horror. . . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In a Rosemary's Baby meets Hansel and Gretel thriller, John Saul's Midnight Voices is packed with bump-in-the-night chills that will frighten and delight readers with its nostalgic nod to urban legends and campfire tales. With short, edgy chapters and all-too-vivid imagery, Midnight Voices begs to be enjoyed in one sitting, in the dark, huddled on the corner of your couch. As usual in Saul's world, strange things are afoot in the city, and the Evans family is the target.

At the heart of this spooky tale are the children, Laurie and Ryan Evans, who are unwittingly exposed to danger when their recently widowed mother marries widower Anthony Fleming. The too-good-to-be-anything-but-evil Fleming lives in the Rockwell, a building rumored to be inhabited by witches and vampires, that has the children in the neighborhood terrified:

"Amber's eyes were still fixed on the building. They were just stories, she told herself once again. They weren't true. But even as she silently spoke the words to herself, a strange chill of apprehension ran through her and she turned away ... I'll die, she thought. If I go in there, I'll die."

Of course, the newly married Caroline does not share the anxiety of her children, despite Fleming's Bluebeard-like determination to keep everyone out of his study, not to mention the horrible whispers and strange sounds coming from empty rooms in the middle of the night. It is this tension, and Caroline's dawning realization of her new husband's shortcomings, that drives the novel to its startling conclusion.

Saul uses familiar horror images--an ancient building with even older residents, creepy neighbors that are not quite right, whispers in your room after midnight--to spin a new tale of evil that will remind readers why one should always leave the closet light on. --Daphne Durham --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Saul knows how to dish out thrills, and with a sly tribute to Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, as well as other horror classics, this latest pulp shocker should have fans lining up. Mother of two and widow of a murdered Central Park jogger, Caroline evans thinks she has found the answer to her prayers in her new husband, Anthony Fleming. The family moves into his apartment in the Rockwell, a storied old Upper West Side building. Ryan and Laurie, the children, quickly begin to have nightmares in which they are haunted by menacing voices, while Ryan realizes that he doesn't like his creepy stepfather. Elderly, eccentric neighbors bring them strangely flavored food. Laurie befriends ailing Rebecca, the foster child of a neighbor couple, who is mysteriously wasting away. Tension mounts when Rebecca's social worker, a close friend of Caroline's, can get no information from Rebecca's doctor - yet another elderly resident of the Rockwell - despite her threat to obtain a subpoena. Soon the social worker disappears, Rebecca follows on her heels and Laurie herself becomes ill with whatever Rebecca had. Meanwhile, the "niece" of an elderly neighbor, who looks suspiciously like a younger replica of the old woman, replaces her aunt in the Rockwell. Readers who appreciate Saul's homage to undead fiction will probably see the plot twists coming, but die-hard devotees should enjoy the chilling, sometimes gruesome goings-on at the Rockwell nonetheless.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449006530
• ISBN-13: 978-0449006535
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Authors, A-Z

More About the Author

House of Reckoning is John Saul's thirty-sixth novel. His first novel, Suffer the Children, published in 1977, was an immediate million-copy bestseller. His other bestselling suspense novels include Faces of Fear, In the Dark of the Night, Perfect Nightmare, Black Creek Crossing, Midnight Voices, The Manhattan Hunt Club, Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil, The Presence, Black Lightning, The Homing, and Guardian. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling serial thriller The Blackstone Chronicles, initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Saul divides his time between Seattle, Washington, and Hawaii.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eerie Suspense, May 28, 2002

By 

Sheri Melnick (Enola, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Voices (Hardcover)

Suspense and murder set against the façade of an eerie New York apartment building form the backdrop for this latest novel from veteran author John Saul. When Caroline Evans' husband is murdered while jogging, her world is turned upside down. Trying to raise ten-year-old Ryan and twelve-year-old Laurie on the meager salary of an antique store employee, Caroline barely has enough money to survive. When she meets Tony Fleming, her circumstances seem to improve.

Upon their marriage, Caroline and her children move into Tony's apartment in The Rockwell, an ancient apartment building abounding with rumors of dead bodies and ghouls. Though many of the residents other than Tony are elderly, they seem unusually friendly towards the children even as Caroline begins to redecorate Tony's apartment. But Ryan's outspoken aversion to his kindly step-father and Laurie's nightmares put a damper on Caroline's newfound happiness. And when Laurie's sickness comes on the heels of the illness of their young neighbor Rebecca, Caroline begins investigating Tony's sacred study. The secrets she discovers there give Caroline a chilling sense of foreboding as Laurie's evil dreams intensify and she weakens further.

Mr. Saul has craftily executed the quintessential suspense/horror novel with the normality of the book's beginning being marred by the introduction of terrorizing elements. The mystery is a gradual evolution captivating the reader's attention. The only drawback is the somewhat abrupt ending after such a spellbinding build-up.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A really polished formula novel, June 17, 2002

By 

Harold W Miller (Springfield, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Voices (Hardcover)

Normally, I'm not a great John Saul fan. I don't think he has the breadth of Stephen King. However, he does spin a good tale now and then. This is one of his better ones.

Saul does rely on a well worn formula: small family facing a hideous, supernatural foe. Unlike King, whose protagonists can come from any place in society, Saul seems to like all his characters to be graduates of Ivy League institutions and be upper middle class. I would like him to tackle a high-school dropout hero.

Nevertheless, Saul does introduce several plot developments that make this a decidedly above average book. I particularly liked then ending. He does capture the feeling of Manhatten. Other touches shows that Saul has really grown in his genre. A book worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Story, Excellent Narration, August 4, 2004

By 

Serene (Marina, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Voices (Unabridged - 7 Cassettes / 11 Hours) (Audio Cassette)

When Caroline Evans's husband is murdered in Central Park, she thinks her life is over until she meets Tony Fleming a resident of a posh New York apartment building. Although her children are uneasy living in the Rockwell, Caroline hopes they will adjust with time. Although initially happy, her son and daughter are plagued by nightmares, and the building inhabitants are both cloying and creepy...Is the Rockwell more than it seems or are Caroline and the children just imagining things?

I picked up Midnight Voices only because it is narrated by my favorite narrator Aasne Vigesaa, and I was not disappointed. Aasne manages to capture the voices of Caroline Evans, her new husband Tony, and the creepy residents of the Rockwell apartment building to a T.

This book is not for the faint of heart, however. The residents of the Rockwell are truly terrible. Without giving details away, at times I was forced to fast forward certain scenes where torture was murder were described in detail. Fortunately these scenes were few. I had only a couple of peeves with this book. 1. Its never really clear what the ghoulish people in the Rockwell are doing with their victims. Also. Its never clear how they themselves got to be the way they are. 2. The key ring which Caroline has from the antique store is just a little too handy. Especially at the end. 3. Social Services never followed up with the Albions about Rebecca Mahew. 4. Finally, the residents of the Rockwell weren't too smart in their choice of victims.

Other than that, this was a compelling and gripping audiobook. I truly hope there is a sequel.