7 Steps to Midnight (Paperback)

by Richard Matheson (Author) "Most of them were wearing digit costumes..." (more)
Key Phrases: reality slippage, turbulence problem, East Indian, Chris Barton, Jesus God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
A legend of horror returns to the field after 15 years--and stumbles. Matheson's first occult novel since What Dreams May Come (1978) finds the author of I Am Legend and The Incredible Shrinking Man mining the same vein of altered reality that inspired his classic Twilight Zone and Star Trek scripts--but this new story, about a mathematician who gets enmeshed in a surreal spy scenario, offers mostly fool's gold. Government math-man Chris Barton leaves his office to find his blue Mustang missing--though the parking attendant swears that no such car has left the lot. Driving home in a borrowed car, Chris picks up a hitchhiker who ventures a wager: ``the security of your existence against your assumption that you know what's real and what's unreal in your life.'' Chris accepts--and finds in his house a stranger who claims to be Chris Barton and who calls in a threatening cop when Chris objects. Seriously confused, Chris hides in a motel and is accosted by the two men from his house--and, in self-defense, kills one. Desperate, the fugitive calls an old friend who sends him a ticket to London. But there awaits even greater mystery, involving attempts on Chris's life; spys galore; a woman who may be the ghost of a Roman aristocrat; a mystical, street-smart Indian; a mysterious microdot; and much talk of ``reality slippage''--with all this nearly arbitrary mayhem explained away in an absurdly far-fetched premise relating to Chris's top-secret math work. The model for this kind of fantastic suspense is G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday--but where Chesterton rent reality toward an inexorable climax, Matheson piles on the weirdness willy-nilly, albeit quickly and slickly. (Believe-it-or- not fans should note that, in what may be a dad-and-son first, the author's offspring, Richard Christian Matheson, is also publishing a September thriller, Created By, p. 808.) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson."-Stephen King

"Matheson is the master of paranoia-pitting a single man against unknown horrors and examining his every slow twist in the wind. 7 Steps is a book to be devoured in one long swallow."-San Jose Mercury News

"Richard Matheson is one of the great names in American terror fiction. 7 Steps to Midnight commands attention. . . . The pace is as frantic as anything since the days of Sax Rohmer-but the writing is fortunately up to Matheson's high standards. This is a novel that flies across the page."-The Philadelphia Inquirer
-- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (July 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765308371
• ISBN-13: 978-0765308375
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #403,965 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good! It reads like a Hitchcock movie, May 18, 2000

By	"ploid" (Salt Lake City, Utah USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 7 Steps to Midnight (Hardcover)

I found this at my local library I since I am a Matheson fan I gave it a try. It is very reminescint of Hitchcock's falsey accused man on the run theme. It has some very good twists and will keep you guessing until the very end. I was pleasently suprised by this book so if you can find it give it a try.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite the page turner, March 14, 2007

By	Kevin Dobbertien (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book had me hooked in no time. I couldn't put it down. At the end of every chapter you're left with a strong desire...a strong need to continue with the next chapter. You're constantely surprised and stunned as the events of Chris Barton's adventure unfold. I've never read a book as quickly as I read this one. I simply could not put it down. If you have ever liked a Richard Matheson book then you have to read 7 Steps to Midnight.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting plot and suspense, but ironically, poor writing, October 14, 2005

By	Patrick "lotta books, little time" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I am a fan of Matheson's work: his Twilight Zone scripts and short stories have great texture and suspense and his plots are wonderful. This book has trademark Matheson touches: supernatural elements, brisk pace, and good characterization. However, much of his language is tedious and overused. For example, the protagonist has numerous interior monologues to which he says "Oh, shut up" to himself at least a half a dozen times. I lost count at 10 where the main character "mutters" or "mumbles" to himself. And he makes an exclamation of "Jesus God", "Oh my God", "God", or "Jesus Christ", no lie, at least 30 times throughout the book. For a writer of Matheson's distinction, history, and skill, this type of writing seems incredibly amateurish. I give it three stars because of the plot and pace, but I ding it two stars because of the quality of the writing.