My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this new series after finishing Book 1, Midnight Crossroad—my review of Book 1 (see here) was in a bit of flux. But no longer. I’m hooked. Where I liked Book 1, or at least was intrigued by the characters, enough so to start Book 2, Book 2 cemented my addiction to Midnight, Texas. With the introductions of our town residents out of the way, Book 2, Day Shift, starts off strong with murder and doesn’t stop.
This book gives us much more character development, as well as some backstories (although a few are still relative unknowns, the stories are starting to emerge). Ms. Harris deftly weaves these backstories into the main story giving us just enough to sate us, but at the same time, keep us wanting more (and clearly, there is more). And on top of that, we get to see some familiar faces, albeit rather briefly. (More on that below.)
In Book 1, I noted a pacing oddity. But I didn’t find that to be the same in this one. Maybe I was just in the Midnight mindset. Maybe the newness of Midnight in Book 1 just threw it off a bit whereas Book 2 I started right in with no confusion. Maybe it’s a combination. Whatever the answer, I dove right in and didn’t come up for air until the last page. (And now am anxiously waiting my paperback copy of Book 3 to arrive!)
The POV continues to shift characters again, although this time mainly between Manfred and Olivia. This worked better for me this time around because it seem to fit better with the plot. Or again, I’ve just assimilated to the Midnight way.
Lastly, and thanks to some of the aforementioned familiar faces, we get clue as to the world in which Midnight, Texas exists. Clearly with the mention of Sookie and the presence of Barry & Quinn, we know a lot about this world. (I mean c’mon, there were *only* 13 Sookie Books as well as multiple short stories.) So we know the basics even if there are new paranorm dynamics in Midnight (view spoiler)
I admit, I want to visit Midnight, Texas. This is my new fave series. And bonus that it’s going to be adapted to TV. (Although is anyone else concerned that a network, NBC, is doing this series instead of a cable channel or Netflix? Even though I love Arielle Kebbel (cast as Olivia). I mean, HBO did a fantastic job with True Blood—maintaining the feel of the books while giving the series a life of its own. And it seems the cable channels are killing it in the TV adaptations lately. (And have I mentioned my great love of all things Neil Gaiman and the forthcoming American Gods AND Good Omens adaptations? <squee!!!>)) But I digress.
Even though there’s only the 3 Midnight, Texas books listed on her website, I hope Ms. Harris has many more stories to tell us about Midnight, Texas.
wanderinglynn.com 
One thought on “Midnight, Texas—A New Fave Series”