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Settings & Atmosphere - Fiction, Horror, Thrillers
Midnight Voices by John Saul β€” book cover

Midnight Voices

by John Saul, Joe Blades
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Overview

Caroline Evans, a recently widowed mother of two, thinks things have finally fallen into place when she meets the charismatic Anthony Fleming. They are quickly married and she and her two children move into his luxury apartment in the legendary Rockwell on Central Park West. Despite her son's misgivings about the building and the people who dwell there, Caroline dismisses the oddities of their new neighbors as pleasant eccentricities. Until things begin to change. And behind the luxury and beauty of The Rockwell lurks a secret that Caroline can't possibly imagine.

Synopsis

What if insidious evil flourished in the one place where you feel most safe: your very own home? The chilling answer comes from New York Times bestselling master of suspense John Saul in a new novel that makes terror a household word.

Publishers Weekly

Saul knows how to dish out thrills, and with a sly tribute to Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, as well as other horror classics, this latest pulp shocker should have fans lining up. Mother of two and widow of a murdered Central Park jogger, Caroline evans thinks she has found the answer to her prayers in her new husband, Anthony Fleming. The family moves into his apartment in the Rockwell, a storied old Upper West Side building. Ryan and Laurie, the children, quickly begin to have nightmares in which they are haunted by menacing voices, while Ryan realizes that he doesn't like his creepy stepfather. Elderly, eccentric neighbors bring them strangely flavored food. Laurie befriends ailing Rebecca, the foster child of a neighbor couple, who is mysteriously wasting away. Tension mounts when Rebecca's social worker, a close friend of Caroline's, can get no information from Rebecca's doctor - yet another elderly resident of the Rockwell - despite her threat to obtain a subpoena. Soon the social worker disappears, Rebecca follows on her heels and Laurie herself becomes ill with whatever Rebecca had. Meanwhile, the "niece" of an elderly neighbor, who looks suspiciously like a younger replica of the old woman, replaces her aunt in the Rockwell. Readers who appreciate Saul's homage to undead fiction will probably see the plot twists coming, but die-hard devotees should enjoy the chilling, sometimes gruesome goings-on at the Rockwell nonetheless. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, John Saul

JOHN SAUL’s first novel, Suffer the Children, published in 1977, was an immediate million-copy bestseller. He has since written twenty-three successive bestselling novels of suspense, including The Manhattan Hunt Club, Nightshade, The Right Hand of Evil, The Presence, Black Lightning, Guardian, and The Homing. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling serial thriller The Blackstone Chronicles, initially published in six installments but now available in one complete volume. Mr. Saul divides his time between Seattle, Washington, and Maui, Hawaii.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Saul knows how to dish out thrills, and with a sly tribute to Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, as well as other horror classics, this latest pulp shocker should have fans lining up. Mother of two and widow of a murdered Central Park jogger, Caroline evans thinks she has found the answer to her prayers in her new husband, Anthony Fleming. The family moves into his apartment in the Rockwell, a storied old Upper West Side building. Ryan and Laurie, the children, quickly begin to have nightmares in which they are haunted by menacing voices, while Ryan realizes that he doesn't like his creepy stepfather. Elderly, eccentric neighbors bring them strangely flavored food. Laurie befriends ailing Rebecca, the foster child of a neighbor couple, who is mysteriously wasting away. Tension mounts when Rebecca's social worker, a close friend of Caroline's, can get no information from Rebecca's doctor - yet another elderly resident of the Rockwell - despite her threat to obtain a subpoena. Soon the social worker disappears, Rebecca follows on her heels and Laurie herself becomes ill with whatever Rebecca had. Meanwhile, the "niece" of an elderly neighbor, who looks suspiciously like a younger replica of the old woman, replaces her aunt in the Rockwell. Readers who appreciate Saul's homage to undead fiction will probably see the plot twists coming, but die-hard devotees should enjoy the chilling, sometimes gruesome goings-on at the Rockwell nonetheless. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Carolyn Evans's life as a new widow and single parent of two takes a frightening turn when she meets then marries the seemingly ideal widower, Anthony Fleming. Shortly after Carolyn, her children, Laurie and Ryan, and Tony return from their family honeymoon and move into Tony's Central Park apartment, both children begin hearing strange noises at night. Then Laurie becomes weak and tired while Ryan develops a fear of Tony and their neighbors, who, it seems, have discovered eternal youth by feeding on children's blood. Employing a range of voices, Aasne Vigesaa does an admirable job of losing her listeners in the world of modern-day vampires with her smooth, expressive, and well-paced delivery. Background music at the beginning and end of each side adds to the spooky atmosphere. Highly recommended.-Laurie Selwyn, Law Lib., Grayson Cty., Sherman, TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Saul (The Manhattan Hunt Club, 2001, etc.) rings some changes on a classic horror storyline. Gosh, Rosemary, you're back in the Dakota, or rather the Rockwell, just up the street on Central Park West from where you married that actor minion of the Devil and had Satan's baby. But now you're a widow named Caroline Evans with two kids, 12-year-old Laurie and 11-year-old Ryan, and the money's run out, the kids have to leave private school for public education, and the rent crunch is on. So it's pretty wonderful when you meet supercharming Anthony Fleming, himself a widower of six months standing, and Tony adores kids, and before long you've moved into the Rockwell with a ring on your finger and Tony in your pocket. Or are you in Tony's pocket? It's all been engineered by elderly neighbor Irene Delamond, who is way older than Ruth Gordon, and Irene and Tony are in the same, uh, well, isn't the Rockwell known as the witches coven? Ryan thinks his new bedroom smells bad. Laurie falls into tears seeing her few clothes in her big new closet. The two kids have a friend, Rebecca, living with Rockwell neighbors the Albions, and she looks awfully bloodless though being treated by beastly Dr. Humphries. Social worker Andrea thinks Max may be a pervert, and he did give Ryan a new baseball mitt . . . . With fading famed-actress Virgie Estherbrook in the building, it's all, hmm, homey as hell. After lovemaking, Caroline wakes to gloomy nightmares and hears midnight voices. With happy ghouls smiling everywhichway, why is this all so familiar, Rosemary? Well, talk about deja vu, you'll never guess what happens: Laurie hears midnight voices through the walls-and finds the same secret door you found! And doesher blood-level dive? Whoo! But let's not give everything away. Rosemary's Remake, with a richly entertaining demonic payoff.

Book Details

Published
March 1, 2003
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Pages
384
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780449006535

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