Customer Reviews

Walk Me to Midnight

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I loved the people in this book - everyone from the gutsy psychologist heroine to her cowboy boyfriend to even the villainous doctor. They are drawn realistically and vividly and really drive the action. The locations are atypical of murder mysteries too - the mystic Sedona desert and mountains, and slow-moving Tucson, Arizona. Plus, it's really fascinating to read a murder mystery on a highly emotionally charged topic - if you read this with a friend it result in an excellent discussion.

"Walk Me To Midnight" is a really entertaining story about a dismal subject -- assisted suicide. Nobody really wants to think about ending one's own life, and one would think that a book that deals with this issue would be unrelievedly depressing. Far from it. This book starts with the apparent assisted suicide of a very wealthy woman whose friend, a radio psychologist living in Tucson Arizona immediately suspects as a murder. Unfortunately for her and the acquantances/allies that she gathers along the way, the perpetrators are on to these suspicions. Thus a large number of the characters become themselves targets. Who will make it, who will end up like the rich lady? The suspense builds throughout this work and one never knows where the hideous Dr. Hedeon will strike next.

And a good word about the characters. They are thinly disguised people that anyone from literature or familiar with popular culture will recognize. Billy Carolina is clearly Truman Capote, Susan Rutledge just happens to replicate a rather famous radio personality. The perpetrator of course can only be one Doctor of death who we have all come to "love and respect." There is also the stand up Texas sheriff and a Mexican police chief who find themselves faced with a murderer so adept that there is simply no physical evidence to connect him to the crimes that they clearly know he committed. Finally, the Arizona rancher with whom Susan falls in love and who tries desperately to protect her. The pace is fast, the characters (none of whom might be expected to get along in real life) coincide to make for an terrific read that will keep you on the edge of your seat (if not up too late wanting to finish -- as I did).

I was reluctant to read this book when a friend suggested it to me, especially after I read about the subject matter: MMMMM! I love books about euthanasia! Nevertheless, I promised to read it and, I have to admit that I was glad that I did.
Instead of a heavy hand, St Clair weaves an engaging tale from the outset. Instantly I pegged Truman Capote, although I am sorry for women who cannot choose stylish clothing automatically like her heroine Susan Rutledge, but it is funny nonetheless. This was a delightful introduction and it pulled me into the middle of the book before I even recalled the subject matter again.
It is difficult to understand when I began to understand the ideological grounds on which assisted suicide was based, but it became overwhelmingly clear that all the cocktail party discussions were left behind. The book treats us to the stark concern of vested interests without stooping to scare tactics and government intervention. It is a clever mystery in which, I confess, the characters on occasion did things I wouldn't have expected. In all candor, I enjoyed the scenes from the Southwest more than I did the NY settings, mostly because the former were so vibrant and rich. I could feel the sun on my face riding around in the car and the mystery of the desert. Although not a great believer in the spiritual nature of places, it still made me want to visit and perhaps sneak off to a mountain to sit and watch the world for an afternoon or so, maybe even risking a sunset. St Claire clearly depicts the geography wherein her heart resides and, I may add, very beautifully too.
As always the book has a few flaws and I would be remiss if I didn't point them out. I found that the villain was a bit too characteristically evil, somewhat like the devil incarnate. In all fairness, St Clair goes the extra mile in establishing his background from the old country, but he comes out a bit like a cross between Sweeney Todd and Dracula. Thus I found the entire conspiracy of evil something akin to the IRS trying to get to my next paycheck ahead of me, but to be fair, it was certainly no less scary than government intervention either.
On the other hand, I was impressed by the fact that Susan Rutledge finds her own flaws, her own alienation from much of life as a radio talk show psychologist. Even though she is cognizant of knowing that she is more realistic about life than other people around her, she is open about recognizing that she is stuck in a kind of a rut herself. It is a brave and competent writer indeed who can make her heroine less than perfect but still focused on completing what she starts.
When we are introduced to Susan's patient who is dying of AIDS, we immediately think about how ugly this might become. Still it was deeply moving experience and perhaps the central theme of the book, mostly because it comes in at a vulnerable time for not only Susan but the reader who is cautiously looking around for the villain. It is difficult to be able to raise the importance of the principle of suffering without becoming sanctimonious or pedantic. Because the scene was a background for the greater plot, it became all that much more effective. I was impressed.
All in all, this is a very good thriller and one with a few twists and turns which you wouldn't expect, the feel of what it's like to be a mother for teenagers and for blasé ex-husbands too. As others have pointed out, this is not about the heavy-handedness of belief systems or opinions, something like what I first expected. Whether there are strongly held beliefs involved or not, St Clair only leaves us with an understanding of the preciousness of life rather than where everyone should be on the absolute scale of being and consciousness. It's a clever and scintillating book about the value of living in the guise of a good mystery.

A searing indictment of the American way of death and a society so medically and spiritually confused that it condones Kevorkian's solutions. An author who observes and thinks with detachment and yet writes with a rare gift of passionate poetic expression.

Dr. Susan Rutledge, a radio call-in psychologist is suddenly shocked by the 'assisted suicide' of her best friend. But IS it a suicide, or is it murder? And then again, is ANY assisted suicide what it purports to be, or is it more correctly labeled, murder? These are some of the questions author, Jane St. Clair, explores in her fast-paced novel, "Walk Me to Midnight". I read "Walk Me to Midnight" in two days and found it unputdownable.

The title of the novel refers to the expression hospice workers use when describing a human being's final hours on this earth, a visual metaphor and an apropos title.

While the book explores many of the issues surrounding the complexities of death and dying, organ donations, comas, final wishes, wills, etc., it is a novel first, last and in between; it is never dull nor depressing, despite the subject matter. Still, readers need to realise it presents all the messiness of people, their fears, confusions, sins, mistakes, and gradual learning--or not--as the case may be.

The strength of Ms. St. Clair's story is that while she admittedly believes the assisted suicide movement is misdirected as she states in her blog, she doesn't bash her readers over their proverbial heads with her beliefs. As a mother of questing and questioning teens, I see the wisdom of the more subtle approach; present the truth but do so in a realistic setting with flawed characters and an intense action-filled plot. I must confess, I could have done without the violence myself, and yet, at the same time it is integral to the story. Death is often violent, and even more so when it meets head on with the stubborn selfishness existant in the human heart bent on its own will.

Besides the main story line--the mystery involving Dr. Rutledge--there is also another side plot concerning one of her patients which I found personally very moving. In fact, Ms. St. Clair drops many quiet hints and clues for discerning readers.

Christians reading this looking for a Biblical manifesto that assisted suicide is wrong will be disappointed, as will Catholics seeking answers they already have and know from their own Church. This book isn't really for them, although I freely admit I learned a lot.* It's for all the rest of humanity which, for whatever reason, is afraid to trust Bible, Church or any authority other than its own conscience. And yet while these same individuals are afraid to trust authority on one hand, they are still looking to authority (the state) on the other; they want their governments to pass laws which say it's okay for them to kill themselves when they want to. How ironic!

Excellent book! READ it!

*For example, the author includes a short but fascinating history of the personal tragedy of Stalin which may well have been what tipped the scales in favor of madness and the massacre of over forty million Russian souls.

In "Walk Me to Midnight", author Jane St. Clair shows a unique and refreshing literary style. At times, this full-length novel reads like a short story, applying pace and depth of detail like paint to an artist's canvas. Then, the book resembles the story behind a movie script, filling in pieces about the characters and their underlying motivations. The author has extensive experience writing in both formats. Other than the obligatory love interest, the novel avoids most of the trite, formulaic devices so common to this genre; even the poetic justice meted out at the end is unexpected and creative. "Walk Me to Midnight" is definitely worth picking up.

This is one of the two or three best novels I have read this year. It's now November so I don't think I will find better ones before the year's out. The old cliche about not being able to put it down certainly applies to this book. This is rather surprising since this book deals with a controversial subject: euthanasia and assisted-suicide. However, unlike other works on such subjects, this author manages to present colorful characters, interesting situations, and an all-around great read.