Night Shift by Charlaine Harris Series: Midnight Texas #3
Published by Recorded Books on May 3, 2016
Genres: Mystery, Paranormal
Length: 10 hrs 54 mins
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At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves—only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town.
Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place.
And now they must come together to stop the bloodshed in the heart of Midnight. For if all hell breaks loose—which just might happen—it will put the secretive town on the map, where no one wants it to be...
I had this review all written – and lost it. I hate when that happens.
At the beginning of the month, I had finished the audiobook I was listening to, had listened to a couple of short stories, and couldn’t decide what to listen to next. Happily, I noticed that Night Shift was out. I was glad I hadn’t spent the Audible credit on something else first, since I do love this series.
Night Shift is third, and last, of the Midnight, Texas books, and I’ve listened to the three in order. I do think it’s a bit better to start this series at the beginning. The characters are an odd lot, and there are a few things from previous books that impact this one. I guess it also has some cross-overs from Harris’ other series. I’ve read a couple of those books, but it was a while ago and I don’t remember much about them. I don’t feel like that lack made me miss out on anything in this series.
An ancient evil is threatening the town and they all have to work together to defeat it. This time around, the spotlight is on Fiji, the witch, who is just understanding how powerful she truly is. I’m sure it’s not a spoiler to say there’s a happy ending. The way to defeat the evil is a bit odd, though. I’m not sure I entirely approve. The ritual was a bit over the top and rather sexist. Fiji also has a romantic subplot going on that I got a bit annoyed with.
Actually, reading my review of the first, the series has definitely improved for me. In my review of the first book, I wrote “None of [the characters] are terribly compelling, but they’re all kind of interesting. I didn’t really care about them, but passing the time listening to what was going on in their tiny town was a nice enough way to spend an afternoon.” The characters have become the draw for me. I really enjoyed learning more about each of them, secrets, hopes, pasts. I care about them now, which I didn’t during the first. I love how they all stand by each other, no matter how tough things get. Angels, humans, a vampire, were-tigers, etc. all living together and, for the most part, getting along.
I listened to the audio and the narrator does a good job. She fits the book, if that makes sense. I get lost in the story not stuck on her voices or accents. The story moves quickly. There weren’t really any slow spots for me and all the events fit together well.
There weren’t any major plot points left hanging and the relationships between several of the characters were clarified, but I’m still hoping for another visit to the town.
About Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for thirty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children. Though her early work consisted largely of poems about ghosts and, later, teenage angst, she began writing plays when she attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She began to write books a few years later. Her later books have been in the urban fantasy genre.
Her books are too paranormal for me.
Hmm, maybe