Book Review: Midnight Comes at Noon

Prolific author Daniel Easterman starts this novel with a very unusual and intriguing premise of a whole village of people being replaced by a mysterious group of counterparts a short time before the visit of the President of The United States of America. A dramatic and bloody shootout follows in which the President is kidnapped along with his wife and a young girl in their care whose father is the main literary focus while he attempts to rescue the kidnappers victims.

This exciting and original beginning then develops into a typical story of pursuit which takes the protagonists around the world before the concluding scenes. As interesting as the first few chapters are, this take starts to lose its originality by halfway through and becomes rather predictable and unoriginal for its second half.

Thrillers rely on their plot twists and exciting cliffhangers to seduce their readers and this one begins with an extremely mysterious scenario that really makes the reader want to find out what is behind it. Unfortunately, when the mystery is revealed it turns out to be a rather familiar scenario and the thrill of originality dissipates quickly. A typical quick-paced style keeps the reader turning the page but towards the end this is more out of a sense of duty than any real expectation of a thrilling end.

The characters in this novel are quite strong and interesting with a surprising fate for one of the main characters with the President filling an unusual role as the story proceeds and the addition of a young girl in his entourage provides an interesting twist that builds suspense as well as an increased motivation for the main character to succeed in his investigation and rescue which ends up diverging from the official investigation. The characters that the reader can form an emotional bond with are one of this books strengths.

Buy "Midnight Comes at Noon" by Daniel Easterman

Those readers who have enjoyed this author before will be delighted with the beginning of this story but will find most of the plot quite disappointing as it becomes very familiar and formulaic. Having said that it is a readable book and those who enjoy thrillers will find this easy and fairly enjoyable. For readers who have not encountered this author before I would suggest another title to find his best work.

Score: 6/10