Read This F@%!ing Book 44

Welcome to a feature we're going to post on Mondays called:

 

Read This F@!%ing Book!

This is a feature for us to push our favorite reads that just aren't getting enough attention! 

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  This week's post comes from our very own: 
Gretl!

Read This F@!%ing Book Post 44: The Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris

 

 

Quirky Small Towns FTW

I had already planned out this post a few weeks ago when I spotted this article on the B&N blog called "The 8 Creepiest Small Towns in Speculative Fiction." Right at the top, there's a picture of Midnight, Texas. And I asked the article, because you're only crazy if it talks back, "Really, you think it's creepy? I always call them 'quirky small towns.'" This is how it described Midnight, Texas:

This place seems nice. It’s your usual sleepy Texas town. Except for all the boarded-up windows. And the fact that much of the town appears to be empty. And the new guy who just moved into the basement of the pawn shop only comes out at night. And that New Age guru lady who openly claims to be a witch, never mind that she seems to talk exclusively to her cat. Hmmm. You know what, it’s a one-stoplight town. Maybe you should just drive on through.

And I said to the article, "Okay, when you put it that way, it's a little bit creepy." It just gave me a smug look, but still didn't talk back. I've mentioned before in this very feature how much I love my quirky small towns and the creep factor really only made me love it more.

 

We usually think of those towns as places where everyone knows everyone else's business, but Midnight, Texas seems to have a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. And everyone in town has a secret they're not telling. In the second book, Day Shift, more of those secrets start to come out and we find out what some of the characters really are. It turns out there are a lot more paranormals than I originally thought. But the fascinating characters had me hooked long before I knew any of their secrets.

 

For everyone who gave up on Sookie

I know a lot of fans felt like the Sookie Stackhouse series jumped the shark around book nine and didn't make it all the way to the end. If you're one of those people, give this series a try. It hits some of the same notes as the early Sookie books. Obviously, the small town, Southern Gothic feel is similar. The mystery plot in the first book also felt like vintage Sookie to me. The vampires and weres and everything elses are there too, but in much smaller doses.

 

Where the Midnight series differs, though, is that it's multi-POV. Each of the town's odd ball residents gets to tell their own piece of the story, whereas everything in Sookie's series was seen through her eyes. So if you're one of those people who gave up even earlier because you just hated Sookie (I don't get it, but I've seen some of those reviews too) you still might want to give this series a try. The characters are incredibly diverse so there's something for everyone.

 

Cameos!

I didn't realize until I read Midnight Crossroad that all of Harris's series are set in the same world. Bobo, who owns the pawn shop in Midnight, is originally from Shakespeare, Arkansas and went to high school with Lily Bard, the title character of another series. Lily's boyfriend Jack Leeds appeared in the Sookie books as well as in Midnight Crossroad.

 

In Day Shift, two characters from the Sookie series make appearances. One isn't identified until the very end, but fans will know right away. They'll also know a secret about one of Midnight's residents that the neighbors don't find out until the end of the book. The other character is actually a pretty big part of the plot. If I could have picked which characters I wanted to see in another series, these two would have been on the short list. I'm excited to see who else shows up as the series progresses.

 

Are you interested in starting this series?

Did we persuade you to add it to your TBR mountain?

Or have you read it and love it as much as I do?

 Let us know in the comments below!