strange and random happenstance

Midnight, Texas is one of those shows that qualify as cheesy fun. Based on the trilogy of the same name by Charlaine Harris it's halfway between True Blood and Grimm, so don't go in expecting Emmy worthy acting, it's pure summer fun in the spirit of the first few seasons of Under the Dome. With David Solomon, veteran of the Whedonverse producing and directing you know that at least it will handle the more supernatural elements correctly, am I sensing a hellmouth? Centering on a small town in Texas where the veil protecting the earth from hell is fraying, aka a hellmouth, the denizens are every kind of "other" from witches to angels to vampires to bounty hunters to talking cats. The show is seen through the eyes of Manfred Bernardo, a psychic and a character Charlaine Harris first introduced in her wonderful Harper Connelly series. While some may complain that Manfred isn't what they pictured or that Creek should just go and die already or that all three books are happening simultaneously, I say so what? No adaptation is perfect but within the first episode I just felt it, they had gotten it right. There may be little things I'd fix, mainly there not being nearly enough Mr. Snuggly because every show needs more talking cats, but even if this isn't how I pictured things when Fiji first spoke, I knew I was going to like it. This was a show for me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, And the Emmy Goes To, Cats, Charlaine Harris, David Solomon, Fiji, Grimm, Harper Connelly, Joss Whedon, Manfred, Midnight Texas, Mr. Snuggly, Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood, Under the Dome

Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 5th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Manfred has settled into Midnight, Texas quite well. He feels like it's home. He's still furiously working away telling fortunes and giving advice psychically, but he's one with his life. The small community has welcomed him with open arms and they are his friends. The biggest gossip around town is that the old hotel is going to be refurbished and reopened as a short term residence for older people waiting for a place at a nursing home and for employees of the Internet company Magic Portal. Now that Manfred has settled in he has decided that he will once again do in-person readings for select clients. He has a weekend booked in Dallas to do just that when one of his favorite clients, Rachel, unexpectedly dies on him during the reading. She had recently been ill, so it wasn't that shocking she died, but when Rachel's unhinged son Lewis accuses Manfred of stealing his mother's jewels as well as being a false psychic, things start heating up for Manfred. But what really worries him is that this unpleasant incident has brought unwelcome light on his small town and all the people living their with their secrets. Manfred's problem is now the town's problem, and they have the ruthless Olivia to help. But can they resolve this fiasco before their secrets are revealed? At least Manfred knows why he's been so determined in his work lately; it's to pay for his high priced lawyer.

Charlaine Harris is an author I love flaws and all. When she is on, her books are delightful fun. Though she's not always on. She is an uneven writer who I am always ready to give a second chance to. Was the entirety of the Sookie Stackhouse series amazing? No. Seeing as it lasted thirteen books that would have been a miracle. I was very excited to see her going back to her mystery style epitomized by the amazing Harper Connelly series with the Midnight, Texas series that started last year. I felt disappointed in the first installment, Midnight Crossroad, which I felt was using the supernatural elements more as a crutch to bridge the worlds of Sookie and Harper. But upon picking up Day Shift all the failings of Midnight Crossroads are now forgiven. While there are similarities to the two known worlds she has built, I see now that Midnight Crossroads was needed in order to set up this new world. It took awhile to settle in and get to know these outcasts, and now that we do? Oh my, the action starts almost on the first page and doesn't let up till the last moment creating a fun escapist read that I actually didn't want to end.

The key to Day Shift's success lies in the mystery. Yes, you could say that most of the town and it's inhabitants are a mystery, but the disappearance of Bobo's girlfriend was laughably pedestrian in scope in the first book. But again, the first book isn't about the mystery, it's about the people. Now that we know the people, well, to a certain extent, they do like to keep their secrets, the "mystery" can take a front row seat. The death of Manfred's wealthy client Rachel isn't a shock. If you'd read the book's blurb you knew she'd be down for the count. It's the way she died coupled with the familial complications that make the mystery intriguing. It is also the way in which Manfred experiences her death, with her dead husband's spirit literally spiriting her away through their connection that adds a spine tingling frisson of spookiness. It was a rare moment in Charlaine's writing that felt so real and so deliciously "other" that I smiled to myself knowing that I was going to enjoy the ride. The fact that in trying to solve Rachel's murder we get light shed on that most mysterious of Midnight's inhabitants, Olivia, that the book develops some real depth. Olivia's story also helps to take the edge off my hatred of her vampire lover.

It's this slow reveal of all these characters having hidden depths that is what makes this book work. They are all there for a reason, and slowly, we're going to learn those reasons. With Charlaine's Sookie Stackhouse books, despite how much they tried to book them as "Southern Vampire" or even as an ensemble like with True Blood, the truth is there was one heroine and it was her series. In Midnight Crossroad it seemed very much like Manfred was going to step up and take on the mantle of "star" but as I read this book I realized that he's not the star, he was just our avatar to enter this little community. Now that the town is established, he's just one of the denizens and each and every one of them is a star. I was OK with this shift, in fact it lends itself to the series's longevity going forward. We won't see the world just from Manfred's POV. Here we got quite a lot of Olivia, but who knows who will be next? Personally, I want to know all the stories hidden in this town so I don't care who takes center stage in the next installment. It really is becoming a great ensemble in this wacky little southern Twin Peaksy town.  

I do want to know though why Charlaine feels it necessary to keep having these Sookie cross-overs. Yes, I can see that her publishers might have foisted this on her in order to lure in the readers from her most successful series, but how much longer will it go on? I can see it as useful in the beginning, to an extent. But the truth is that there wasn't really any connection in the first book other then vampires and werewolves. Did the first book do so badly that she was ordered to put someone, anyone, from the Sookie-verse into Day Shift to pump up the sales? Thankfully she minimally used Barry the telepath and Quinn the were-tiger. But I don't want this to continue. Yes, the supernatural community is small and they probably do all know each other, but perhaps I want something new? The small town of Midnight is very closed and secretive so I wonder how realistic it is that they would let these strangers show up and not run them out of town? Or do they have some special sensor that makes them know if the people are "one of us"? Only time will tell, but I do hope that this series is given a chance to stand on it's own versus being some sort of spin-off of Sookie Stackhouse. This book was great and it deserves to grow beyond the obvious comparisons.

Though I did find one aspect of these cameos interesting. And that's that it appears there has been a shift of some kind in the supernatural world. Something has changed and it appears that the supes are going underground. Texas no longer as a thriving vampire population, it seems that all vampires are congregated now in Louisiana. So what happened? Was there a big backlash from the were reveal? Did the non-supernatural world say enough is enough? Olivia references vampire hunters, which makes it seem that perhaps they are more common than they once were. I find it interesting that with just a few little mentions here and there that Charlaine was able to permeate her book with a sense of unease for the supernatural community. This also makes me wonder what future refugees might turn up in Midnight. Who will take over the gas station? Why was the Midnight Hotel really rebuilt at all that cost for almost no return? There's a shift coming to this world, and I can't wait to read what happens next.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlaine Harris, Day Shift, Harper Connelly, Louisiana, Manfred, Midnight Crossroad, Midnight Texas, Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampire Series, True Blood

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace Hardcover
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Manfred Bernardo is continuing his grandmother's calling, eking out a living with his psychic powers. Though eking isn't quite what he's doing, he's actually doing pretty darn well. He just needed the perfect place to work where no one would ask too many questions and he could be left alone to do his job. Manfred thought he had found that place in Midnight, Texas. In fairness to the town, everyone does kept their secrets to themselves, but there's also a camaraderie among these outcasts. Shared meals at the diner, sitting back and enjoying a drink in the shade, together yet separate. While they strive to keep the outside world at bay a murder just might bring about the wrong kind of attention to this sleepy dried-up western town. Though it's nothing the inhabitants can't handle.

Despite coming to Charlaine Harris through her Sookie Stackhouse books, thank you Buffy the Vampire Slayer Magazine, it's her mysteries that I love above all others. They seem fresher and more vibrant instead of re-hashing the same old vampire tropes in new and slightly entertaining fashion. The Harper Connelly books in particular are quite possibly one of my favorite mystery quartet out there. This all led me to be excited about Charlaine's new "Midnight, Texas" series. Not only was she going back to her mystery roots, but one of my favorite characters from Harper's world, Manfred Bernardo, would be our conduit into this sleepy town. The book had theoretically everything going for it. Or at least everything going for it to appease me... but the execution left something to be desired.

My main gripe is what I will call paranormal versus supernatural. Yes, technically these words are interchangeable, but to me they aren't. Paranormal to me is phenomena like extrasensory perception, psychic powers, and ghosts, in other words, things that I believe might actually have happened in our world today. Paranormal is out of the ordinary, but still, well, plausible. As for supernatural, I view this as more creature based, ie, aliens, werewolves, and vampires. Supernatural is far less likely to be real. I will point out I'm not discounting it either as possible, just that it's less likely then paranormal. I know people will disagree with my classifications, but this is how I see it. The world Charlaine created with Sookie was supernatural, the world she created with Harper was paranormal, and now the twain shall meet. Sigh.

See I liked that Harper's worldbuilding was plausible to me. I believe in ghosts and weird psychic powers so Harper's ability to see the last minutes of the deceased, call it possible in my world. A little out of the ordinary, but it could happen. Sookie's world, well, now that's all about all the different creatures that either want to kill you or sleep with you, sometimes both. By having Manfred cross over to this new book series I was hoping to have a more grounded urban fantasy book along the lines of Harper with the mystery and intrigue and then in walks a vampire. No! By bringing in the vampire Charlaine just merged all her books into one big fat world which means that Harper's world now has vampires too and to that I strongly object. Yes I like the fantastical, but sometimes I need plausibility. So me and that vampire... well, he just took away all hopes I had for this book.

And maybe I should be grateful to that vampire because, well, he lowered my expectations, besides pissing me off. Oh how he pisses me off. Yep, two months later and that vampire is still the bane of this book. The truth at the heart of Midnight Crossroad is that not much happens and what does happen is so predictable you wonder why you're still reading the book after a while. I mean seriously, if you didn't catch who the the killer was within two seconds and just spent the rest of the book waiting for the reveal to come with a whimper not a bang, then we have some issues you and I. Yet I don't know if this lack of forward momentum and predictability was on purpose or not. Charlaine had a lot of new characters to introduce to us and we had to familiarize ourselves to this new world.

So perhaps the lack of plot was a way to ease us into this bizarre little town, the Texas version of Cicely, Alaska, where everyone knows your name but will keep quiet about your past and never ask any questions. Or Haven, because seriously, it's very Haven like. Sometimes you just need to have the author waiting for you in the corner of your room there to answer questions when you finish. Charlaine, did you plot it this slowly on purpose? Just nod yes or no so I don't need to remove the gag. Yet, despite it all, or in spite of it all I'm still kind of looking forward to the next volume. I know more what to expect. That vampire's appearance won't throw me, and as for the few werewolves and other creatures in town, well, I'm ready for them too. It might not have been what I thought it was or what I was even looking for but there's a part of me still looking forward to returning to this town. I don't know if this makes me a masochist, we'll just have to see what the next volume brings.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlaine Harris, Harper Connelly, Haven, Manfred, Midnight Crossroad, Midnight Texas, Northern Exposure, Paranormal, Sookie Stackhouse, Supernatural, Vampires

Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 27, 2009
Format: Kindle, 306 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Order

Harper Connelly and Tolliver Wells have barely recovered from their horrific experiences in North Carolina (read An Ice Cold Grave) when they decide to head to Texas to see their two little half siblings, Mariella and Gracie. They figure that it's going to be tough enough telling the girls that the two of them have gone from step siblings to being a couple, let alone the girls religious adaptive parents, Iona and Hank. On the way they stop off near where they grew up in Texarkana, to do a reading for a Lizzie Joyce who read about Harper and decided she couldn't rest until she thought of a reason to invite her to Clear Creek. Harper decides to throw out a few freebies for the Joyce's and Chip Moseley, the manager of their ranch and Lizzie's beau, before she get's to their grandfather, who is the reason for her visit. Harper unwittingly uncovers that not only had the Joyce's grandfather died of a heart attack induced by someone throwing a snake at him, but his caretaker had died after childbirth. Unconcerned with this bombshell they've dropped on the family, Harper and Tolliver head onto Dallas, and their own family. The reaction to Harper and Tolliver becoming a couple, and in fact becoming engaged, really shocks their family, even Tolliver's brother Mark is taken aback. This reaction on top of a multitude of other reasons, including Iona finally becoming pregnant, leads Harper to consider that perhaps her and Tolliver's dream of moving to Dallas and becoming more involved in their sister's lives is in fact unwise.

But everything takes a back seat when Tolliver's dad, Matthew, shows back up. The man who shared Harper's mother's slide into depravity. The drug addict who would willingly sell his own step-daughter to eager men. The drug addict who ruined their lives and wasn't their for them when Cameron went missing. He's been released "clean and sober" from prison, but more importantly he wants to "reconnect" with his family, surprising them on their day out skating. They desire to have nothing to do with him, making him resort to tailing them. But something worse happens...Tolliver is shot and it appears he might not have been the target. Bodies start piling up but the one body Harper hopes to find more than any other remains elusive. Will Harper even find Cameron? Also why where they attacked? Could the Joyce's case, whose missing baby is being looked into by Harper and Tolliver's old PI friend Victoria Flores, have a connection to Cameron? Was the answer to Cameron's disappearance closer than Harper even knew? And can Matthew really not be involved in all this? Thankfully Manfred shows up to land an ever eager hand.

While I will freely admit this was not my favorite in the series, which given the quality of the series is so not a slam, it was the most satisfying. Answers have been given and it all makes nice sense. Answers which you won't be hearing from these lips...or these nimbly typing fingers as the case would be. This book was far more personal then the other three, dealing with how bad their life was in the little trailer in Texarkana. Instead of an outside murder mystery plot driving the story, here the plot is driven by discovering the mysteries within these character's lives. We see more clearly then ever before the horrors of their past and how Cameron affected their lives. After the total disclosure and revelation of this book you feel like you can understand the characters better than before and that until now they were never truly formed, like something was missing. I also have to say, I loved the Joyce's. They were quite literally the Ewings of Dallas. This was like one long season of the most wonderful of shows with missing babies, hidden heirs, a murder or two and then, BAM, a kick to the gut with the fistful of answers you were waiting for. Also, I like Tolliver and all... but Harper and Manfred... hmmm... it has a certain kind of interesting allure... Also if you take issue with Harper and Tolliver, then you take issue with Clueless... it's the same resulting hookup!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An Ice Cold Grave, Book Review, Charlaine Harris, Dallas, Ewings, Grave Secret, Harper Connelly, Manfred, Tolliver