Midnight Reflections (Giveaway Points Post)

Midnight Reflections
by Katrina Michaels
pub: April 2009
288 pages

Giveaway ALERT! If you've already entered the contest, a comment on this post (within 5 days of post date) gets you 2 extra entries in our MegaBook Giveaway. If you haven't entered yet, go to the contest post (or click on the contest link on the upper right sidebar) to learn about the giveaway and enter! Good luck!

All Tara Daston Wanted was a fun night out clubbing. But fun nights don’t normally include dying and waking three days later as one of the undead. Her best efforts to adapt to the new and bizarre life are complicated when a friend is killed by a creature neither vampire nor lycan. As more killings happen, Tara is drawn into the investigation where she meets Tom Duncan, the lead agent of the Preternatural Investigation Agency (PIA). Despite his resistance to her input, Tara refuses to back off, partly because she’s involved but also because he treats like a five year old and she enjoys riling him, and because they are both vampires. Once the killer takes a personal interest in her, Tara is forced to work with Tom and the entire agency to catch this cunning and brutal killer before he claims another victim, possibly her.

Midnight Reflections takes place in our current world…sort of. Everything is pretty much the same except for the fact that supernatural beings are an accepted norm. So when Tara is near death’s door after a violent moment with her boyfriend outside a bar full of vampires, it’s not unheard of for her to be turned into the living dead. Alexander becomes her ‘sire’ and she becomes his ‘childe.’ (That’s the spelling due to Alexander’s ancient age.)

She’s an orphan and he becomes a father figure who shows her the ropes of learning how to live her new undead life. We go through this transition time which slows things down but then the story picks up as the killings start. More action equals more interesting to me. I could have done without so much background of her acclimating to her new life.

While Midnight Reflections has plenty of supernatural creatures, it is first and foremost a murder mystery. Think of it as a preternatural CSI. The PIA team that investigates the serial murders (by some sort of shifter) is made up of ‘special’ members. The leader, Tom, is a former police detective who started PIA after he was turned into a vampire. The rest of the group includes an empath, a werewolf, a pyrokinetic (she set fire to a guy who was trying to assault her) and a warlock for that magical touch.

The characters have their unique personalities and use a combination of their special skills as well as the usual science to analyze evidence and solve cases. Tara gets forced into the group when she sticks her nose into the case and the killer takes an unhealthy interest in her. The group is believable and the network of clues follows a logical path. Enough red herrings keep the reader guessing until the end.

The relationships within the team work well and Tara integrates nicely. She and Tom have a bit of a spark but no real romance is developed between them. They’re too busy trying to catch the bad guy but we are left with the impression that their relationship will bloom in the future.

The supernatural elements aren’t the primary aspect of the story. The plot definitely focuses its attention on being a who-dun-it murder-mystery-suspense-crime novel with supernatural elements, which spices it up and gives it an unusual twist.

Midnight Reflections is adult fiction but appropriate for older YA’s who want a creepy urban fantasy thriller. I've heard others say that it is very gorey but as an avid reader of this genre, I disagree. There’s no sex and very little cursing (and in comparison to some of the YA out there, this is easily a G-rating.) If you like CSI, you’ll enjoy this urban fantasy vampire version.

The Cover: I like the font, colors and eerie sky but as you know I'm not a big fan of seeing the character's face on the cover, so can't say I love it. However, it does get points for the creepy factor.

We have a copy of Midnight Reflections, signed by Katrina Michaels, offered in the MegaBook Giveaway that will have 23 winners so far. Go to the contest post if you'd like to enter!