The Midnight Hour
Grade : C-

The Midnight Hour is infinitely better than Karen Robards last book, The Senator's Wife. That's the good news. The bad news is that as a romantic suspense novel, it is noticably short on romance and the suspense is not very suspenseful.

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Grace Hart is a Domestic Court judge. She is divorced with a teenage daughter named Jessica. Jessica is basically a good girl, but she has recently been diagnosed with diabetes and is not handling it well. Jessica has been sneaking out, smoking, drinking - even smoking pot. Grace is at her wit's end. To further compoung their problems, someone begins to stalk them - writing threatening messages on the mirror, taking personal items and finally killing Jessica's pet hamster.

Tony Marino is a police officer who first picks up Jessica for possession of pot, then ends up taking her to the hospital when she passes out due to insulin insufficency. Tony also is the policeman who investigates the stalker who is harrassing Grace and Jessica and an attraction grows between him and Grace. The sexual tension between Tony and Grace is very lukewarm compared to the attraction between other Robards characters most notably Steve Calhoun and Summer McAfee in Walking After Midnight. Grace and Tony are quite likable characters, but there is just no sizzle between them.

The identity of the stalker is quite clear from the first chapter and it involves a secret from Grace's past. Although we know who the stalker is, we are kept guessing what he's going to do next and just why he's doing it. The ending is supposed to be a big surprise, but I guessed it very early on and I'm usually clueless when it comes to solving mysteries.

The Midnight Hour is a pleasant enough way to pass a few hours, but I would not pay hard cover price for it. My advice is to check it out at the library, wait for the paperback, or better still - get one of Robards' good books - Walking After Midnight, One Summer, or Hunter's Moon, all of them have more sizzle and suspense than this one.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : C-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 17, 1999

Publication Date: 1999

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Ellen Micheletti

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