MIDNIGHT
KIRKUS REVIEWS NAMES MIDNIGHT
A BEST BOOK OF 2013
The story begins with a simple premise: when a judge dies, the judge’s law clerk and personal secretary keep their jobs until the end of that calendar year. So, when Judge Alvin Canter quietly expires in his chambers on the morning of December 31, his clerk and secretary find themselves in a difficult predicament. They will lose their jobs at closing time – unless they can conceal the judge’s death until after midnight. Neither Tom Carroway nor Carol Scilingo can afford sudden unemployment. Tom is deeply in debt to a violent loan shark, while Carol is a struggling single mom. And both have secrets they’re desperate to keep hidden.
The plan seems simple enough: make it look like the judge died at home on New Year’s Day. But that’s before a crooked union boss gets involved, and a brutal mob enforcer, and Carol’s suspicious ex-boyfriend …
Soon, Tom and Carol find themselves embroiled in an increasingly dangerous conspiracy. And if they’re not careful, more than one body may be discovered in the new year.
“Slowly, methodically, excruciatingly … Egan shows his heroes’ plan spinning out of control in a classic illustration of the law of unintended consequences. … A crystalline noir nightmare built on the premise that yes, things can always, always, always get worse”
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“MIDNIGHT is a wonderful, high-end caper novel … a tale of desperation borne out of circumstance that implicitly asks, “What would YOU do?” You may not like the answer, but you will enjoy this book.”
-Bookreporter.com
“In Kevin Egan’s Midnight, what initially seemed a farce quickly became a serious mystery with more twists and turns than I anticipated. It’s a great plot, with one twist in particular at the finale that I really didn’t expect … a new and refreshing slant on mystery.”
-Bookloons.com
“In this strong legal thriller … Egan deftly parlays a simple administrative rule and the desperation of regular people into a thrilling read.”
-Publisher’s Weekly
‘Midnight is absolutely riveting. All the characters, be they good or evil, are fully drawn. … That authenticity … makes this a book not to be missed.”
-Terrie Farley Moran, Criminal Element