Still Midnight
Summary:
A brutal attack. A mysterious demand for money. An unexpected kidnap…
It’s a peaceful Sunday evening in suburban Glasgow until a battered van pulls up to one home and disgorges a group of armed men in balaclavas.
They smash into the house and hold the family at gunpoint and demand millions of pounds. Baffled, the assembled people protest that they don’t have access to that sort of money. The attackers kidnap the elderly grandfather and storm off into the night.
Now senior policewoman Alex Morrow has been summoned to investigate the case. But there are so many mysteries.
Who were the men? And why did they think a normal household concealed untold riches? The family is certainly not talking.
But as she starts to delve deeper, she realizes that there are dark secrets all around…[from http://www.denisemina.com/still-midnight/]
Group Review/Comments:
3 thumbs up
9 thumbs down
One of the best comments I’ve heard during group discussions came from talking about this book. As we went around the circle sharing our opinions someone said, “Well, I thought I liked it!” and then changed her vote from thumbs up to thumbs down.
Many people commented how all the characters were unlikeable, but most were particularly vocal about not liking Alex. As a main character she was extremely hard to relate to, and when we were finally given her back story it was “too little, too late.” The most positive thing someone said about her was that perhaps future books in the series better develop this female cop. A number of people said they liked the criminals better than the “good” people and that the Pat/Eddy relationship was interesting.
The only character that was somewhat sympathetic was the father. But the strength in this area made it feel like one was reading a different novel when there were scenes with him.
The group felt that the novel lacked a sense of place and the book could have been set in any metropolis.
As for the plot, there were too many plot devices and the motive was really bad–very confusing.
Finally, the ending engendered comments such as, “I was SO mad,” and “it was stupid…terrible!”
I always enjoy Denise Mina’s writing. This book introduces Scottish Detective Inspector Alex Morrow. Very character driven with multi-layered kidnapping story. While some of the story lines may seem initially disjointed, they come together in the end. Fast paced and a good read.