The Midnight Club

First published in 1989, I somehow missed reading The Midnight Club by James Patterson, not to be confused with his series the Women's Murder Club.

The protagonist in The Midnight Club is John Stefanovitch, a New York cop confined to a wheelchair after being shot and left for dead by the Grave Dancer. Despite losing his wife to the Grave Dancer on the same chilling night, and undergoing years of rehabilitation, John is still on the force and as determined as ever to get his man.

While John was fighting and clawing back his life, the Grave Dancer was climbing the ladder of success, and is now part of an elite and secretive international unit of organised crime lords, otherwise known as the Midnight Club.

I thoroughly enjoyed having a male show more protagonist in a wheelchair who was attractive, strong, protective and driven without feeling sorry for himself or drinking himself into oblivion. Patterson steers clear of all the possible traps and cliches here, which makes The Midnight Club feel like a fresh piece of writing, despite it being 23 years old.

There are references to the twin towers and a few other things that remind the reader of the passage of time however on the whole, this was an enjoyable crime novel with a very likeable good guy in New York cop John Stefanovitch and an equally well written bad guy. show less

For the author’s self-assessment that this was one of his best books by that time, I found it especially lackluster. The characters were solid, but the plot resolved through relatively minor action by the protagonist. It was also overwritten in a few places, as if to fill the target word count.

For years, I have heard of James Patterson's wonderful books and have watched a couple of the movies based on his books - Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls were amazing. However I wanted to start off with one of his stand-alone books rather than get involved with yet another series at the moment. (The Alex Cross books are on my TBR list, perhaps after I finish the Bosch Universe).

This manuscript started off with a bang, literally, the main character gets shot by the antagonist.

The protagonist is John Stefanovitch and he is an NYPD Lieutenant, and the opening chapter starts with John being part of a task force tasked with taking down "The Grave Dancer".

This story has twists and turns, some believable if you are one of those who show more believe it is possible for a Criminal Cabal that has their fingers in the underworld around the globe.

One thing I had a problem with was that after Stefanovitch is shot, he does not take disability, he continues to be a police detective. Suspending belief in this took a little work on my part. But while the Detective is physically impaired he is still able to investigate and use his mind and connections. This plot device was years ahead of its time as it showed the physically disabled are still able to contribute to society.

I did love that while this is not a romance or a subgenre of romance, there is a romantic element to the storyline.

Recommend?
If you like your police procedurals hard, your characters fully fleshed out and your criminals truly evil, this book is for you!

This review appeared on my website.

Disclaimer
I received via the OverDrive/Libby app from the Harris County Library system. It was read as a Libby epub. show less

This was a great mystery from Patterson's early days. I loved the detail he put into this intricate thriller about a secret club where the leaders are well renowned and hard to prove.

I think the suspense and twists of this particular story are not something we find very often in Patterson's stories. I kept guessing what may happen next but that's what made it such a great story.

When a detective, crippled by a killer years ago, finds himself fighting against the same man who killed his wife and left him helpless, he begins the journey once again to fight for his own life as well as those around him. The only one allowed to take down organized crime, is the cops - not other members of organized crime.

Enjoyed this one, but it didn’t flow as smoothly…

There are two types of law the street law and the the law enforced by cops like John Stefanovitch this book is all about the battle of the these two laws. Just when you think one or the other is getting a head in the game something happens that turns it all around. Even though this is not one of James Patterson's best novels it is still a good solid read with a good feeling ending. I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes crime dramas.

There are two types of law the street law and the the law enforced by cops like John Stefanovitch this book is all about the battle of the these two laws. Just when you think one or the other is getting a head in the game something happens that turns it all around. Even though this is not one of James Patterson's best novels it is still a good solid read with a good feeling ending. I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes crime dramas.