Kyle is your typical twelve-year-old growing up in the late 1970s. His best friend is his bicycle, which he’s named Burner, and he enjoys hanging out in his secret place, an old, deserted hermit’s shack in the middle woods in Midnight, North Carolina. On a rainy night, he witnesses the murder of a young girl by the local sheriff in his secret place and his life will never be the same again. All alone with his fears, he doesn’t know who he can turn to. His brother is heading to college on a basketball scholarship. His mom is a raging alcoholic and pickles herself every night since his father was killed in Vietnam. As more violence unfolds as a result of his inaction, Kyle knows that he cannot sit by any longer and be the frightened child. He has to put a stop to this madness before more innocent people are hurt.
Midnight is a Coming-Of-Age story in the vein of Boy’s Life and Newman does a fantastic job at putting us in the frightened mind of 12-year-old Kyle and small town North Carolina, circa late 1970s. While Midnight isn’t quite as good as McCammon’s Boy’s Life, I’d argue that no book is, it is still a damn good story that’s even more amazing when you realize this was his first novel-length story. McCammon didn’t hit his stride until about his fifth novel in. If you haven’t discovered Newman yet, you need to. He’s a heavy hitter in the horror genre and you owe it to yourself see why I feel that Midnight is required reading. Highly recommended.
5 Broken Necks out of 5
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Into The Macabre 