Customer Reviews

Private Midnight

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Told in the voice of the crime noir classics, with intense erotica and unsettling psychological horror in abundance, Detective Birch Ritter's story is one I can guarantee you've never heard. Over the course of his unhappy and unfaithful life, he has seen much of the surface darkness of humanity--the crimes we commit against each other, the lies we sell--but with the introduction to what he at first assumes to be a high class hooker, he is exposed to an inner darkness that even he could never have imagined. A darkness that both seduces and repels, and in the end--reveals and transforms.

There is so much to see in this book, so much to hear and feel, and so much to learn. It is an assault on the senses, a stinging whip and a tickling feather, and a lesson in division that vividly illustrates the tenuous nature of borders. Good or evil, torment or salvation, pleasure or pain, fear or hope, submission or dominance...male or female--where do the distinctions lie?

Others may say Private Midnight is not for the squeamish, but I say it is exactly what the squeamish need--to shake 'em up and wake 'em up.

This is a startling and disturbing psychological thriller with heady doses of both the erotic and the surreal. Saknussemms' first person is totally believable and compelling. The atmosphere is intense and so fully realized that you feel you have stepped into this strange dream and can't get out. Even as the mysteries unfold, a deeper darkness sets in. Crime readers will enjoy this as a genre work, but the real mysteries are of the psyche. This is a book of revelation.

Under the cloak of a mystical crime story,Saknussemm offers up a disturbing and provocative shadow play about
illicit erotic desire and the battle of the sexes--more importantly--the nature of power inside any relationship.
Sure, there are mysteries, switchbacks and more than a few misdeeds in Private Midnight to keep
crime fiction and horror fans perversely happy. But, for me, the real
story hinges on a contest of wills and the irrepressible mental rigor, more complex
than simple competition, always at play between the sexes. Saknussemm winningly
frames his narrative within several larger questions of what distinguishes men
from women: Is it fashion armor and a few hormones--or something purely psychic and
qunitessential? I'd be very surprised if this book doesn't spark a lot of discussion around
the water cooler, in bedrooms and maybe even out back of the barn, for those
readers embarked on their own inner search for fulfillment [and connection]
will find much to admire in the novel. WARNING: Prone to prickle flesh?
Some scenes are guaranteed to raise hairs. Ultimately, however, some
meaty issues and Saknussemm's tony writing are on offer as age old dramas get
enacted in [dare I say] a fresh way, issues, perhaps, that none of us can ignore.

PRIVATE MIDNIGHT BY KRIS SAKNUSSEMM: From the author of the quirky and outright bizarre Zanesville comes a new novel that takes the classic noir detective story and boils it down . . . then bakes it . . . then deep fries it; and throws in a bunch of sex and kinky stuff. The resulting recipe is Saknussemm's Private Midnight.

Saknussemm harnesses the voice and feel of a classic, noir detective novel from the very first page. Detective Birch Ritter has everything a detective of his type needs: a crummy, tough job that takes up all his time, he seems to never sleep, and has a sordid and dark past filled with tragedy and bad choices that constantly come back to haunt him and the reader. Private Midnight has two stories going on: one is the case that Ritter needs to solve, and the horrifically mangled bodies keep turning up; the other is a strange introduction to a type of therapist who uses elaborate mind-games combined with dominatrix-style sex acts, all with the apparent goal of getting Ritter to pour out his heart and his past, and move on with his used up life.

Whether you're looking for a gritty detective story or something with some sexual spiciness to it (or perhaps both), you'll thoroughly enjoy Private Midnight, with its unique voice and complex story that will leave you turning the page just to find out what's going to happen next.

Kris Saknussemm made a splash with his first novel, Zanesville, and Private Midnight, his second novel, solidifies his reputation as an edgy, creative and blackly comic writer. Private Midnight's themes and styles morph from noir to supernatural thriller to philosophical treatise on gender politics, and while not each incarnation is equally successful, the writing is at all times a joy. This man loves language. He loves words. I couldn't stop myself from reading some lines out loud, and that alone puts this book on my recommended list.

The story opens in fine noir style, with world weary battered police detective Birch Ritter trying to connect the dots on a couple of murders no one else sees as murders, while struggling with the temptation to visit an address his former, now estranged, partner gave him without explanation. Ritter suspects the address will lead him to a woman of pleasure, but he has no idea what shadow lands she occupies. Naturally, he can't help but find out.

Ritter is a man with secrets himself. The first part of the novel deals with self-sabotage, and the line between light and shadows, particularly our own shadows we'd rather not illuminate. The mysterious Genevieve says her business is shadows and from his first visit to her, Ritter is on a journey to his past, reclaiming bits of himself he's buried over the years. At the same time, he appears to be losing other parts of himself, and this blurring of boundaries between apparently oppositional definitions of identity is a continuing thread of the novel and its most successful theme.

The language in this part of the book is delicious. Waking up after a stormy night, the detective says, "The storm had cleared the air but not my mind or the inside of my apartment." Ritter's voice is so lushly noir it's almost a parody of itself and it is often funny, no matter how dark or twisted the subject. And the subject matter is dark and twisted, dipping into unconventional sexual practices that both fascinate with their ability to redefine and repel with their violence. It's a tribute to the author's power with words I was often laughing even when I was horrified by what I was reading, which, as a cat lover, I often was. Make of that what you will and be warned.

The criminal case is far from the focus of the story. It really is just a frame on which to hang an exploration of gender politics. The more Ritter peers into the darkness, trying to figure out who or what Genevieve is, the less sure he is of his own identity. The more he tries to decide whether she's a force for good or evil, the less sure he is he can tell the difference. As the story progresses, the language changes from darkly noir to more supernatural thriller, though the ghosts are more memories than spirits. Genevieve, though, is hard to define, which is very much the point.

The final chapters lean toward a discussion of the gender issues raised throughout the story. The narrative is gripping enough that I enjoyed the debate, though I didn't necessarily agree with all of it. I never had as much difficulty deciding if something felt wrong or evil as the author hopes, and I found one scene to have disturbingly racist overtones . But I think the point of Saknussemm's argument is to engage with it, rather than swallow it whole. Agree with him or not, there's still provocative gems to be mined, such as Ritter's contention that most marriages fail because they're not conspiratorial enough.

Private Midnight succeeds because even if we draw lines at different places than the author, the engagement in the discussion is a useful challenge to our reliance on "natural" constructions of identity, especially sexual identity. Saknussemm's way with words entices us to peer through a warped looking glass to see ourselves with ambiguously blurred outlines. It's worth the look.

Wow! I tried to put the book down many times but I was intrigued with what Ritter was going to experience next. It made me reflect on what dark memories we all have in the corners of our minds...and what healing processes would be necessary....a must read and I agree with J Bube - it would make a great feature film. I must add I loved the CD that compliments the book!

Private Midnight is so darkly erotic, so deeply disturbing and so smart that for days after I read it, I couldn't think about anything else. Kris Saknusseum leads us into the blackest corners of our collective unconscious and brutally shines his light on nightmares that most of us don't even dare think about. He turns gender roles upside-down and inside-out and leaves you with mind-twisting questions about the true nature of good and evil. This is a book I will never forget.

This is hands-down the weirdest book I have ever read. Crime fiction thick with the gristle and slime of the streets--moments of bizarre supernatural horror--and sex that is simultaneously really creepy and somehow beautiful too. All held together with the chilling logic of a dream. Way out but way cool.

I ordered this book because it sounded so intriguing. I don't feel now like I picked it up and started reading--it picked me up in its slimy trembling hands and didn't let go. Definitely not for the squeamish--but for people who like to see the boundaries of storytelling pushed, this will be a major rush. There are scenes in this book that will truly haunt you.

Detective Birch Ritter. Man, cop, Noir-protagonist of Private Midnight.
Once started, this novel feels like a police-procedural, but it's so much more than that. Multi-layered to begin with, it quickly takes on a dreamlike quality. Loaded with psychosexual tension and noir-metaphors, it's very easy to read, and even easier to get lost in. Then, towards the end, it takes an even darker turn (if that's possible); a turn no-one can see coming, yet seems a natural direction when it arrives.
The writing is very fluid, with a unique style that is pure Saknussemm. It's filled with darkness and light, but the darkness seems darker than it ever is in real life... or is it? That's for the reader to decide. More like a waking nightmare than anything else, it explores the darkness inherent in everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I recommend it highly.

Synopsis:
Detective Birch Ritter is a man on the edge of himself. His past is filled with secrets, shadows, guilt, and ghosts. Then a dubious police buddy he hasn't seen in a year introduces him to a mysterious woman who says her business is shadows. What she knows about what lies between the darkness and the light inside men is more than Ritter may want to find out, and much more than he can resist learning. It's said that to try to forget is to try to conceal, and concealing evidence is a crime. But maybe revelation is another kind of crime-against nature.
Kris Saknussemm, the widely acclaimed author of the sci-fi smash Zanesville, now delves into another genre, and another world-a world where even the sunlight is shadowy and where deviancy is the norm. Private Midnight is a journey into the seedy, sexy, underbelly of life-crime noir for a new generation.