Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine HarrisMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Charlaine Harris is best known for her Sookie Stackhouse series, made all the more popular through the True Blood television show. I started the Sookie Stackhouse series, but I never finished them. They’re certainly on my to-read list, but I’m not sure when I will get around to them. They’re books I need to be in the mood for if I want to really enjoy them.
Midnight Crossroad is the first book in the Midnight, Texas series. It is set in the same world as the Sookie Stackhouse series, but you do not need to have read one to understand the other. References are made throughout the series, but nothing so dire that you’ll be left in the dark about what is happening. Therefore, if the Sookie Stackhouse series does not grab you but this one does, you can jump solely into Midnight, Texas.
I went into Midnight Crossroads with surprisingly high expectations. Despite the line-up of characters sounding like the start of a bad joke – imagine “a witch, a vampire, and a psychic walk into a bar…” – I was intrigued to see how the story would come together. It was advertised as a dark story, it had the supernatural suspense, and there was the promise of mystery. All in all, it seemed right up my street.
Alas, by the time I finished this book I was extremely disappointed. I kept holding out and holding out, hoping the book would amaze me, but it never quite got there. In fact, a large part of me feels I have been overly nice with my three star rating. There were many moments where I considered giving two stars. In the end, I’d say it was a two-point-five star read. Due to the promise of where the rest of the series will head, I opted to round up to three stars. As I said, though, I feel overly generous with this three star rating.
Rather than being the dark story I had been hoping for, this felt like a collection of moments from a very small town. In fact, you could have done away with the supernatural elements. If you change the supernatural elements to any unusual idiosyncrasy, it could be any tale of small town life. It wasn’t the supernatural tale I had hoped for, it was merely moments in a town that isn’t quite normal.
There was potential, I cannot deny that. Sadly, we were too caught up in the boring everyday moment details to be engaged by the possibilities. Rather than being given spooky moments, we’re given mundane routines. Rather than being given a mysterious air, we’re given a predictable collection of events.
Overall, I’d hoped for more from this one. Had I not brought all three books when seeing them on offer, I doubt I would have carried on with the series.
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