Book Description
Interior decorator Suzanne Barron's new tenant is the most dangerously sexy man she's ever met. Navy Commander John Huntington, a former SEAL (aka 'Midnight Man') works best under cover of darkness. Within hours of meeting him, Suzanne has wild, no-holds barred sex with John, then panics at the depth of her passionate response to such a powerful and dangerous warrior. Suzanne doesn't do sex like that. John is definitely someone she needs to avoid for her own peace of mind. But when killers come for her, Suzanne known she can turn to only one man. John will guard and protect her body. But who will guard and protect her body against John? Midnight Man won the 2004 Sizzler Award for Best Romantic Suspense and was First Runner Up for Best Debut! Review quotes for Midnight Man by Lisa Marie Rice "I absolutely inhaled this book!" ~Tressa Harvey, Courtesy Sensual Romance ...packed with plot and sexual tension. Readers who enjoy fast-paced suspense with their romantica will definitely enjoy MIDNIGHT MAN. Cindy Whitesel, Romantic Times "Absolutely astonishing! Great romantic suspense." Maryellen Kunkel, Courtesy Sensual Romance
Customer Reviews:
Love these books!.......2006-11-04
I recently discovered this author and went out of my way to find the other books in this series. Good book!
Good, but..............2006-05-03
This book was a good read, but I expected more heat. I personally think my Harliquin Blaze books are MUCH hotter than this author's books. Th story was very good, but I would have liked to have seen more passion between the characters.
A hot and sexy read! Recommended!.......2006-04-01
[Note: This review is of the revised digital edition.]
The two people couldn't have been more different. Suzanne Barron was an interior designer - a lovely, elegant woman who lived in a world filled with beautiful objects. She had loving parents, friends, and had never been touched by the dark side of life. John Huntington, on the other hand, was a retired Navy SEAL, an expert sniper, the owner of a fast-growing security company, who saw the world as a dangerous place in which one needed to be alert and ready to fight at all times. In his world, kill or be killed was the operative phrase. But John and Suzanne meet when he leases office space for his company in her converted warehouse building, and their two worlds suddenly merge - and both are blindsided by desire and need for each other!
This book is a revised version of the original edition of Midnight Man. Although in my opinion the original book was one of the best erotic suspense stories I've ever read, author Rice has done a great job of streamlining the text, thus giving the story even more impact. To reassure readers of the original, I can tell you that the plot remains the same, but the writing is tighter and more visceral. The characters of Suzanne and John come alive on the pages, for Ms. Rice has a great talent for characterization and for eliciting emotions from the reader with her skillful words. The erotica is very graphic, yet the obvious emotional content makes them love scenes rather than sex scenes. Moreover, the erotic elements amplify the suspense, giving it a keen edge that will keep the reader on the edge of her seat until the very end!
If you liked the original Midnight Man, you will love this book, just as I did! -- Jean, Fallen Angel Reviews (courtesy of Fallen Angel Reviews)
Worth Every Dollar - Buy This Book.......2006-03-26
I purchased this book after reading another readers review. I can and will say that my pulse too began pounding only a few pages into the book and I knew as well that I had a winner! Enjoyable writers can be hard to come by between favored authors releases.
Just a little Romantic.......2006-03-21
Typical storyline that fell short on romance/erotica. Some parts of the story dragged because of unnecessary descriptive writing. The plot was a bit weak, and I only felt some attachment to the characters.
Customer Reviews:
Finally, a book that I had to read every single page of!.......2000-12-14
This trilogy by Maggie Shayne contained the first of her work I had read. How sorry I am about that! I am ill a lot and to add up my book bill by the end of each month even makes me wince, let alone my husband. :) But I gotta have more of Maggie Shayne.
The first story, Miranda's Viking, was refreshingly new in concept. The fact that Rolf Magnusson's character was portrayed as extremely intelligent is believable to anyone who knows a little of the history of the Vikings at that time. They were great strategists and indeed had settled much of the coastlines of northern Europe.
The second story was a bit more predictable with an amnesia victim, but with surprising suspense twists and turns that made it very riviting. Ms. Shayne's 'people' (it's hard to call them characters they seem so human) have the same doubts, hurts and misunderstandings that happen to us all.
Finally, I loved the third story the most. Janella was alien; from another world similar to Earth. It actually follows what I believe may be true. And her doctor, Thomas Duffy, also exhibited those very human feelings that I spoke of above. Truly believable, and absolutely a fantastic read. I could not speak more highly of an author.
Thank You!.......2000-09-21
I am so glad the they are finally republishing this trilogy! It made me such a fan of this author. The bats of the night trilogy is great! I read all of them over and over. Now that they've been out of print for a while they've been hard to find. But now! I can't wait to get this. For those who love the vampire genre this is an absolute must buy. And for those who love Maggie Shayne this is a great chance to get the books that really jumpstarted her career. ENJOY!!
Great Compilation.......2000-09-20
The three stories in this compilation are fun and different.
In the first story, Miranda's Viking, Miranda O'Shea finds a 500-year-old Viking perfectly preserved in a glacial cave. When Rolf Magnusson comes to life after an accident reanimates him things become complicated for Miranda, and murder and mayhem ensue. This was a fun novel, with a great plot line and likable characters.
<- Great Story
In Kiss of the Shadow Man Caitlin Rossi loses her memory after a near fatal car accident and she and her husband are granted a second chance at love. That is if Caitlin can stay alive long enough. This story was filled with suspense and love.
<- Great story
In Out-of-this World Marriage Thomas Duffy is a doctor who has lost his faith in his vocation after one hopeless case to many w3hen his faith is restored by an alien who loves him.
<- Mediocre story.
This is definitely worth the 6.99 that I paid for it. All of these stories are reprints.
Book Description
"Look for us when the moon is new. Look for us, but keep your distance. We're the Midnight Men, and the prey we're stalking could be you."
In the private eye business, mistakes can be fatal. Just ask Amos Walker.
First, he pulls his gun on a man he thought was a member of a group of potential truck hijackers. Even goes so far as to fire a round at the suspicious driver to make him step from his car. Only trouble is, the guy -- Van Sturtevant -- is a cop.
Then, after Sturtevant is crippled in a shootout with a gang of black militants, Walker -- figuring he owes the cop for letting him off the hook -- offers his investigatory services to the officer's pretty, blond wife, Karen. At no charge.
If Walker had been paying attention, he would have seen the warning signs. But now bodies are going to start piling up, with politicians, private eyes, and members of Detroit's Finest on the giving and receiving ends.
Yes, mistakes can be fatal. And if Walker doesn't watch his back, the next one will definitely be his last....
Customer Reviews:
Someone was standing on my eyelids...........2007-04-15
Amos Walker is back,and Loren Estleman's Detroit PI is nearly killed on a surveillance job, and subsequently drawn into the case of finding the shooters in an ambush that leaves the cop that saved Walker in a wheelchair. It's the early 80's and Walker is chasing holdout 70's violent revolutionaries, aided and obstructed by cops and a giant cowboy bounty hunter, wise-cracking all the way.
Estleman's prose is lean and hard, and his stories move. He has staked out the gritty and unforgivng terrain of the Motor City and this is hardboiled fiction done like it should be done. No one is working this genre any better.
Don't Pass This One Over.......2001-10-25
There are a lot of better known writers today. But, there are none better than Estelman.The Amos Walker series is fun, exciting and challenging. Strong characters and good stories. If you like noir mysteries and the Chandler hardboiled style, you'll love Estelman. This entry is one of his finest. But, whatever Estelman(Amos Walker) book you begin with, you cannot go wrong.
Another excellent entry in the Amos Walker series.......2001-03-17
"The Midnight Man" is a bit darker than usual for an Amos Walker novel. Death hangs omnipresent as the intrepid Walker tries to bring a cop killer to justice before he is killed by the police. Along the way he encounters black militants, a bounty hunter, a sex-starved cop's wife and more dead bodies than he would care to count. Author Loren D. Estleman runs his hero through the wringer in this adventure and it is a great ride indeed. Walker is everything a great P.I. ought to be, tough, sarcastic, somewhat alcoholic and beholden to a his own private code of justice. He is Phillip Marlowe updated for modern times.
This "I-Book" edition features the added bonus of an essay by the author regarding his inspiriations for the novel. Addtionally, it also has an Amos Walker short story, "Redneck" that comes along at the end like the desert to a fine meal. Overall a very worthwhile package.
Customer Reviews:
Classic noir.......2006-08-31
David Goodis was one of the major writers of crime noir in the 1940s and '50s. Many of his best works were filmed to good effect, including DARK PASSAGE, with Bogart playing the lead, Tourneur's NIGHTFALL, Truffaut's SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, Sam Fuller's STREET OF NO RETURN, and THE BURGLAR. Goodis's novels painted bleak, black views of the inner-city life he himself lived, populated by losers and drunks. As Ed Gorman once said, Goodis didn't write novels, he wrote suicide notes. But his power lay in his ability to get down on paper the stark reality of the low-life he witnessed around him, before he too fell victim to the type of decline experienced by the characters he wrote about.
It's a tragedy that, apart from this reissue, few of the eighteen novels Goodis wrote are currently in print. This is the first publication of THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER since it originally appeared in a paperback edition in 1954. The story is set during the depression years of the 1930s, in Goodis's own home town of Philadelphia, and seems to be at least partly autobiographical. Ralph and his buddies are out of work, and jobs are not easy to find. He'd like to be a song-writer, but there's little hope of getting that kind of break. Christmas is coming and he needs some money, and the only other options involve crime and sex. With his usual talent for brilliant prose description and language, Goodis takes you effortlessly into the murky realms of depression America to meet the deadbeat characters who populate the streets and bars.
Serpent's Tail Press are to be congratulated for reissuing this long-lost classic by one of the legendary writers of the hardboiled. It's to be hoped that more by Goodis follows from them soon.
Working Class Fiction.......2005-08-12
Goodis supposedly sold a million copies of this pulp fiction drugstore paperback in the early fifties. Those were the "good old days" when American postwar anti-heros gave meaning to proletatian fiction in a very real way. And the working class actually read books. How so? Working class readers could identify with this kind of literature as a form of entertainment with at least one blow by blow knock-em out fight scene and penultimate gritty sex scene to match the come-on cover. It talked about their condition, hopes and despairs in an unglamorous way, spoke their diction, and didn't pull any phoney punches. We need real literature again on the mass market paperback racks besides the usual thrillers and fem-novels instead of relying on trade paperbacks for the elite.
Penultimate Goodis.......2004-01-15
This novel is Goodis's classic tale of urban desolation. Like a bleak, sparse George Bellows painting, Goodis' world is master strokes of grim description from torn overcoats to bloodied maws to swearing Santas. At the center is Ralph Creel, a lazy bum torn between his romantic soul and his animalistic instincts. Ralph Creel is a fighter, a survivor, a supremely Goodis creation who like us all, eventually gives in to life, to the Fat Blonde on the Street Corner, but not before he allows the reader to witness some moments of Grace./(I am putting this in a second time because amazon did not print my name the first time!)
Penultimate Goodis Classic.......1999-10-25
This novel is Goodis's classic tale of urban desolation. Like a bleak, sparse George Bellows painting, Goodis' world is master strokes of grim description from torn overcoats to bloodied maws to swearing Santas. At the center is Ralph Creel, a lazy bum torn between his romantic soul and his animalistic instincts. Ralph Creel is a fighter, a survivor, a supremely Goodis creation who like us all, eventually gives in to life, to the Fat Blonde on the Street Corner, but not before he allows the reader to witness some moments of Grace./
A small masterpiece of genuine expression........1998-11-28
Forget the title--this book is not about sex. At least, not very much (only a brief reference or two). What it's about is what it's like to live as a young poor person in Philadelphia. The book was written in the 1950's, it's written about the 1930's, but as a former resident of Philadelphia, I can attest to the fact that it is as accurate a depiction of today's world as any other decade. The novel is a small gem that captures the essence of being unemployed and poor in the big city, but without being depressing or moralistic in any way. Doesn't sound like much of a recipe for success, but Goodis is a master at bringing a mood to life. He accomplishes with understatement what most novelists never achieve: genuine, believable characters in real settings. This book has not, to my knowledge, been made into a film as his other works have, which is probably due to the unusual plot structure (basically, not much excitement goes on in the book), but the trueness of his vision soars beyond any limitations. I lived in similar circumstances to the characters in the book, and was astonished at the accuracy that Goodis gives to real life. It's amazing. Worth a read, even if you are only marginally interested. It's a brief page turner that leaves you longing for more, just as the characters in the book feel. This book is a revelation.
Average customer rating:
- Intimacy
- A serious writer
- Revealing and thought provoking
- CLEAR SHARP AND INTROSPECTIVE
- Life begins at 40?
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Intimacy and Midnight All Day: A Novel and Stories
Hanif Kureishi
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
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Kureishi, Hanif | ( K ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The BLACK ALBUM
ASIN: 0743217144
Release Date: 2001-09-25 |
Book Description
Together in one volume -- Hanif Kureishi's highly acclaimed and controversial novel, Intimacy, and, available for the first time, his latest collection of provocative short stories, Midnight All Day.
Jay, the narrator of Intimacy, tells his story on the night he is preparing to leave his lover, Susan, and their two boys. Stripping away all posturing and self-justification, Hanif Kureishi explores the fears and desires that drive a man to leave a woman. Midnight All Day is an astonishing, darkly comic collection of new stories, in which Kureishi confirms his reputation as one of our foremost chroniclers of the loveless, the lost and the dispossessed. The characters are familiar in the cultural landscape of the nineties: frustrated and intoxicated, melancholic and sensitive, yet capable of great cruelty, and if necessary, willing to break the constraints of an old life to make way for the new.
Download Description
Together in one volume -- Hanif Kureishi's highly acclaimed and controversial novel, Intimacy, and, available for the first time, his latest collection of provocative short stories, Midnight All Day. Jay, the narrator of Intimacy, tells his story on the night he is preparing to leave his lover, Susan, and their two boys. Stripping away all posturing and self-justification, Hanif Kureishi explores the fears and desires that drive a man to leave a woman. Midnight All Day is an astonishing, darkly comic collection of new stories, in which Kureishi confirms his reputation as one of our foremost chroniclers of the loveless, the lost and the dispossessed. The characters are familiar in the cultural landscape of the nineties: frustrated and intoxicated, melancholic and sensitive, yet capable of great cruelty, and if necessary, willing to break the constraints of an old life to make way for the new.
Customer Reviews:
Intimacy.......2007-06-01
Excellent!!!!.-It's one of the best book I've read lately.-Kureishi let us enter into a phase of crisis in a man of his generation.-Love, pasion,friendship, sex,are some of the items that permit us to share the turning point in the life of a man that is seeking for more....Fully recomended.
A serious writer.......2004-10-01
This is the only book I have read by Hanif Kureishi and I can say that he writes about serious issues in life, the kind that most people like to avoid because they are considered a taboo in our society. The book is composed of one long story and a couple of other short ones. The main story is about a married couple in which the wife is engaged in an extra marital affair and Kureishi has tried to analyze this problem that what makes married couples look elsewhere for happiness. I won't call it a sizzling story but it was a good timepass.
Revealing and thought provoking.......2004-09-30
I read 'Intimacy' a number of years ago. I'm a slow reader, but I found myself on its last pages a mere two days after picking it up for the first time. I have since read it several more times, and sometimes still pick it up at random to read a page or two in passing. This book (its hardcover edition) inspired me to read more, and I searched for other novels that might touch me as 'Intimacy' did, but it wasn't until recently that I found another.
I like Kureishi's tone, I like this story: depressing and hopeful at the same time. It does feel, as others have said, very autobiographical, but I believe that's what allows the reader to relate so easily.
I admire the protagonist, and I believe that a great many readers will as well. Why? He does something which many of us think about at one point or another, but do not have the courage to do. He refuses to settle, to be trapped by a life devoid of true happiness and fulfillment. He believes that betrayal can be a hopeful act, that life goes on and has a greater than ever potential of being what we've always hoped it could be. He defies convention.
But whether you admire or hate him, your reaction to the main character and his choices in life will surely unveil to you something about yourself, and that is the true beauty of any good book... at least for me.
CLEAR SHARP AND INTROSPECTIVE.......2003-07-10
This is the 2nd book I have read by this author and although it does not entertain to the same extent as BUDDHA the writing is clear sharp, honest and original. The story of INTIMACY is very one dimensional and therefore reads very autobiographical. There is very little characterisation of anyone in the book except the protagonist, which almost confirms the autobiographic theory. I liked the honesty, the weakness, the selfishness, the sheer madness of the thoughts and situation - it all rings very true from what I felt. It was like reading someones diary almost so the voyeurs out there will love it. There is plenty to dislike in the book but I read it in a day and a half and i dont do that often, the ending for example is weak, pathetic and superficial, bit like the author really, I am not saying this in a bad way, the character is just not very likable, no wonder his life is a disaster! Read it and be glad that you are not him.
Life begins at 40?.......2002-11-19
This set of stories from Kureishi is concerned with the onset of middle age. A series of characters all reach a stage in their lives (around 40 years of age) where they hit a crisis: previous certainties disintegrate, whether they are expressed in the form of their marriages (as in "Intimacy") or in their careers (as in "Sucking Stones"). Throughout the stories, Kureishi's characters experience disillusionment, a sense of failure or underachievement and a desperate urge to start anew.
Although the final story, "The Penis", is more light-hearted, this is a deeply introspective collection of stories. I seem to recall when I first read "Intimacy", which was published originally as a novella, that Kureishi had been going through a huge disruption in his personal life. If my memory is correct, then that would explain the confessional feel of "Intimacy", and indeed would go some way to understanding the author's exploration of this particularly difficult time of life in the other stories.
So, if you're searching for something to uplift your spirits, this collection might not be for you. On the other hand, if you've experienced any of the difficulties Kureishi explores, there might be solace in the fact that others go through similar trials. If neither of the above apply, this is still an interesting collection from a skilled writer, perhaps at a key stage in his development.
Of course, the stories are of variable quality. I thought that "Intimacy" was by far the best, as it felt (achingly at times) very personal. Others are somewhat inconclusive, but mood and exploration of emotions seemed to be Kureishi's main aim rather than plot resolution.
G Rodgers
Average customer rating:
- Texas, yesterday and today
- As usual, a superb Kelton book
- An excellent book
- One of Kelton's best.
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The Man Who Rode Midnight (Texas Tradition Series)
Elmer Kelton
Manufacturer: Texas Christian University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
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ASIN: 0875650473 |
Customer Reviews:
Texas, yesterday and today.......2006-11-07
Elmer Kelton knows and loves Texas, its land, and its people. This unsentimental understanding fills every page of "The Man Who Rode Midnight." This novel is a quiet read about Wes Hendrix, an old man who wants to take a stand to preserve the marginal ranch he's worked his whole life to create. At stake is Wes's integrity and identity. Both are jeopardized by his own failing health, the desire of his struggling little Hill Country town to attract tourists, and the alienation of his own kids and grandkids from the land.
It would be nice to say that "The Man Who Rode Midnight" has no easy answers, but unfortunately it does. The plot is telegraphed from the first page, culminating in a rather unconvincing happy ending. Nonetheless, Kelton takes you to the real rural Texas and lets you spend time with its people. This book will be enjoyed by anyone looking for a wholesome modern Western or who wants to gain a little insight into Texas, yesterday and today.
As usual, a superb Kelton book.......2000-02-28
What makes Elmer Kelton stand out is not only his style of writing, and his subject matter (the value of which, I admit, is subjective), but the admirable qualities of his characters. In so many other books, main characters are filled with angst and cynicism, and a reader won't care if they live or die. Kelton's, though, a reader cheers on and wishes success. I've read and re-read "The Man Who Rode Midnight." The hero opposes not progress, in whatever guise, but greed, especially greed with him as the victim. He is a man who loves his life and feels pride in how he has lived, pitting his best against the best. Great.
An excellent book.......1998-11-21
What makes Elmer Kelton stand out is not only his style of writing, and his subject matter (the value of which, I admit, is subjective), but the admirable qualities of his characters. In so many other books, main characters are filled with angst, and a reader may wish they would all take gas. Kelton's, though, a reader cheers on and wishes success. I've read and re-read this one. Great.
One of Kelton's best........1998-10-31
For me, it was hard to choose between The Time It Never Rained and The Man Who Rode Midnight as Kelton's best. Kelton is a great novelist that brings issues concerning Texas and the west to life. This book is definitely a page turner that will keep any reader interested.
Average customer rating:
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The man who loved the midnight lady: A collection
Barry N Malzberg
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
ASIN: 0385150202 |
Customer Reviews:
"Okay" is a pretty good word to describe the book.......2005-08-05
"Midnight Justice" is not a graphic novel, but a paperback novel featuring Venom and Spider-man. Like the other reviewer that read it, I find it neither fantastic nor horrible, just...okay.
The plot is a pretty accurate description of the Spider-man and Venom relationship. Venom hunts Spider-man in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Venom knows that Peter Parker is the actual alter ego of Spider-man.
Venom believes Spider-man to be a ruthless manipulator that destroyed his media career. Eddie Brock, the man who merged with an alien symbiote, vowed vengeance upon Spider-man. Unlike Carnage, a ruthless serial killer also a symbiote-merged villain in the Spider-man universe, Eddie truly believes that he serves justice and protects innocent life.
Can Spider-man outmaneuver the deadly Venom and escape from harm? If you want to know, read the book!
Okay; this book was Okay.......1998-02-10
When I picked up this book and started reading it, I was riveted. Then my parents drug me away so I never read the end until now, a year later. Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed with it. The action and vocabulary has a little too childish of feel to it, and to a Venom fan, Eddie just doesn't have the same ruthless character Diane Duane and Marvel built him up to have.
Average customer rating:
- Reads like a tv soap opera
- Wow!
- Again and again and again!
- Totally Captivating
- The first, the best
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The Other Side of Midnight
Sidney Sheldon , and
Steven Pacey
Manufacturer: Phoenix Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Sheldon, Sidney | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1597770108 |
Customer Reviews:
Reads like a tv soap opera.......2007-08-22
What can one say about authors like Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins and the like? Their novels, while difficult to classify in a specific genre, would make fantastic made-for-tv movies. The Other Side of Midnight is no exception.
The story of Noelle Page, a humble fisherman's daughter who became one of the most famous, powerful women in the world. A short affair with Larry Douglas leaves her pregnant and desperately in love, waiting for him to return to marry her. Larry, however, has completely forgotten his promise and moved on. Noelle vows then and there to spend the rest of her life seeking revenge against Larry.
This long, sometimes confusing story entwines the lives of Noelle, Larry, and his wife Catherine. The opening scene reveals that Noelle and Larry are on trial for Catherine's murder.... the rest of the book deals with how they got there, starting with Noelle's childhood. It's a gripping read, definitely difficult to put down for more than a few minutes. The worst part, I think, is never being entirely sure who to feel sorry for. None of the characters are entirely evil or without some redeeming qualities, except maybe Larry.
Ironically, this was made into a movie by 20th Century Fox. They expected it to be a hit, while Star Wars (made and released at the same time) was expected to be a dud, so they marketed the films as a package deal (theatres that wanted to book The Other Side of Midnight had to contract to book Star Wars first). Well.... it sort of backfired. Star Wars, as everyone knows, took off like a shot, and The Other Side of Midnight floundered and has long been lost to obscurity. The book was definitely much more poignant than the film. I'd recommend it highly as a distraction-read, but literature it ain't.
Wow!.......2007-05-30
Excellent, excellent book. This came out when I still a kid, but I remember mom and aunts discussing it. Nearly thirty years later, I finally had a chance to read it, and it really stands the test of time.
Right from the get-go it sucks you in with an interesting cast of characters flying into Greece for a trial of a famous actress. Turns out she's the "whore," and the otherside of midnight for her is, Catherine, the "virgin." How these two end up in each other's lives and what they do to each other...well that's to read and find out. The ending is a zinger as well.
Truly there is nothing bad about this about this book. It's a bit "larger-than-life", but that's just what makes it so fun.
Again and again and again!.......2007-04-15
I don't why they bother giving the Nobel Prize for literature to the bleak plays of Harold Pinter (2005) or the dreary novels of Kanzaburo Oe (1994), when we've had such a great writer as Sidney Sheldon around for the past four or five decades. This is one writer who deserved the ultimate prize, although now it is - alas - too late.
"The Other Side of Midnight" is perhaps his masterpiece. It is the story of Noelle, a naive young French girl who falls for a handsome American aviator during World War II. But when the war ends, Noelle waits in vain for her handsome flyer to return. Alone and abandoned, the young lady finds that she has to make her way by selling her body. She quickly discovers that she can make her sex appeal pay off and sleeps her way into movie stardom. All this time she keeps tabs on her aviator, who has returned to the US and started a family.
Several years later, when he loses his job, Noelle, now wife of a Greek millionaire, arranges to hire her former lover as her private pilot. Not recognizing his wealthy boss as the fragile young mistress he knew during the war, he is bewildered by Noelle's cruel treatment of him. This game of deception leads them both into very deadly territory.
A great book makes you want to read it. At the end of the day, that's the only prize worth struggling for: the prize of being read again and again and, in Sydney Sheldon's case, again and again and again and again...
Totally Captivating.......2007-03-15
This is definitely a Sidney Sheldon masterpiece. I got so totally hooked by this story that I had to go buy the DVD and can't wait to watch the movie. Sheldon takes us through the time span of 1919 to 1947 and the lives of two women, Noelle Page and Catherine Alexander. We recognize how their characters were formed as children and the subsequent actions and reactions of their life experiences resulting in the amazing tale of money, power, intelligence and revenge. The focal point of their lives is summed up in the character of Larry Douglas, American WWII pilot, honored for his heroic efforts in the war. Prior to the War, he met Noelle and she fell head over heals in love with him. He promised to marry her, encouraged her to go buy a wedding gown and then never returned, initiating in Noelle, a lifelong desire of revenge. Larry moves on to become a hero as a fighter pilot, attaining the status of Captain and loving and leaving practically every woman he makes contact with. He meets Catherine Alexander in Hollywood, posing as an actor in an Army recruiting film. So enthralled by his charm, Catherine ends up marrying him very quickly. She is lured by his man-of-the world charisma and Larry uses her naiveté as the tool of conquest to take Catherine away from Bill Fraser, the man she is seriously involved with and a true friend to her as well. Larry has always enjoyed the hunt more than the kill and Catherine, in this case, became the "hunt." Once the war is over, Larry is bored with his wife and his many routine piloting jobs which he cannot hold onto mainly because he can't deal with taking orders and following rules. Noelle has been following his every move through a private detective agency over the course of seven years, and decides this lull in Larry's career is the perfect time to seek her revenge. Sheldon is an amazing author taking the reader to France to tell Noelle's story, and then Chicago, Washington and Hollywood for Catherine's. Their lives merge in Athens, Greece where they all become connected to the Aristotle Onassis of the tale, Constantin Demiris. The climax and conclusion of this story takes so many twists and turns and of course hits the reader hard with the finale. I am on my way to order the sequel, "Memories of Midnight." My cousin read this book 30 years ago and remembered what a masterpiece it is to this day; she recommended it to me. The fact that a story can stick with a person for so long, explains the greatness of its content and the magnitude of its author.
The first, the best.......2006-06-27
The master of insipid novels wrote his ultimate masterpiece (if we can call it by this name) in 1973. THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT is a real page-turner, you will read it in two days maximum... Of course, the usual Sheldon's flaws are all there for everyone interested to see (read) them, but I think this book is the benchmark for the expression "guilty pleasure..."
Books:
- Minx
- My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
- Night Embrace (A Dark-Hunter Novel, Book 3)
- Night Fever (Mira Hardbacks)
- On a Wild Night (Cynster Novels)
- On the Way to the Wedding (Avon Historical Romance)
- Once a King, Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King
- One Night of Sin: A Novel
- Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Animal Instincts
- Philosophical Naturalists: Themes in Early Nineteenth-Century British Biology
- Superconductivity: Part 2
- The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood: The Contributions of St. Thomas Aquinas
- America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System
- Whiskey on the Rocks: A Whiskey Mattimoe Mystery
- The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Unity, Page Architecture, and Type
- Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero
- The Ecopress Complete Guide to Native Conifers of the Pacific Northwest
Midnight Run (Midnight Series, Book 2)
Against the Wall
Woman on the Run
Midnight Angel (Midnight Series, Book 3)
Port Of Paradise
