I've been a fan of John Saul's books for several years; honestly, I turn to his stories when I'm in the mood for Stephen King, but may not have the time to read a longer, more involved story. Midnight Voices was one of his more interesting novels. I've seen it compared to Rosemary's Baby, which is one of my all time favorite horror movies. I could see the comparison, but it didn't scare me as much as Mia Farrow finding out that she had been impregnated with the Devil's Spawn.Midnight Voices is an easy read, which would strike fear in the heart of any single mother returning to the dating world. Caroline Evans' husband was killed during a mugging, she is left with two young children and a demanding job. Struggling to make ends meet as a decorator, please her demanding boss, and help her children heal from the loss of her father, she meets a friendly older lady in the park one day. The lady shares that she lives in The Rockwell, an old building near Central Park, which is rumored to be haunted. When the lady shows up at the antique shop where Carolyn works and purchases a hideous vase, Caroline assumes she just has bad taste in art. Little does she know that this meeting was no accident. When Caroline delivers the vase to the Rockwell, she meets Tony Fleming, a handsome and charismatic man who sweeps her off her feet.After a whirlwind courtship, she marries the handsome, wealthy Anthony Fleming and her life seems perfect. Until they move into the Rockwell. There she meets the rest of the residents of the building, an eccentric and strange bunch, who seem strangely interested in her children. Shortly after moving in, her daughter Laurie starts having unsettling nightmares and her son Ryan exhibits animosity toward Caroline's new husband. Excusing her children's behavior as difficulty getting used to the changes in their lives, she does everything to please her husband, including visit with the neighbors who begin to show an unhealthy interest in her children.Before long, Caroline realizes she has made a huge mistake. Nothing is as it seems...and there might be no one she can trust. Except maybe the voices in her head--the ones that tell her that her new home hides a terrible secret.This is a creepy and interesting tale that held my interest from beginning to end.
Caroline Evans and her two children are suddenly left alone when their father Brad's neck is broken while he is jogging in the park. But Caroline meets and then proceeds to marry a seemingly wonderful man that seems to go out of his way to please the kids as well as her. The only problem with this man, Anthony Fleming, is that she can't seem to find out anything about his family life or any other facts about him. These problems don't really bother her all that much, but they do bother her best friend, Andrea Castanza greatly. For some reason, Andrea thinks that there has to be something wrong with Tony, but Caroline ignores her best friend's concerns and marries him anyway. Caroline and her two children, Ryan and Laurie, go to live with their stepfather Tony in the Rockwell, a big spooky apartment building that the kids always heard ghost stories about from the other children at school. Caroline's daughter has trouble sleeping the very first night thiinking she heard voices and people were in her room. Her son hears these voices also. It takes some time before Caroline herself starts to question her husband and the creepy neighbors that seem just a little to nice to her children. When Caroline goes to Laurie's room one night she discovers she is not there and looks for her. She finds her in a hidden room behind her husbands study surrounded by the neighbors whom are prodding at her and sucking the youth out of her. They medicate Caroline with something and put her in some little known mental institute. Now it's up to Ryan to rescue his mother and his sister.
What do You think about Midnight Voices (2003)?
‘Midnight Voices’ is another fine yarn of the horror variety featuring a cast of creepy characters most of whom are dead (we’re not supposed to know this but it is pretty obvious early on). How the dead folks keep on going year after year, decade after decade, century after century is by draining the life out of teenagers selected according to a quite exclusive set of qualities (we’re not supposed to know this either but again it’s not hard to figure out). What’s different about our heroes in this one is that the dead folks have messed with the wrong mom even though she’s terribly slow to catch on to what’s happening with her children at the hands of the evil stepdad. Lots of fun to read. Uncomplicated story. Great pace. I enjoyed this one too
—Bob
I've read John Saul before and this book was very disappointing. I had a real hard time finding any characters to cheer for and the story line was both weak and uninspiring. The book also kicks off with seventy-three pages of character set up. Which almost made me put the book down. I soldiered on to find little pay-off. While the residents of the Rockwell were stereotypes, the only character developed was young Ryan, which made this read a coming-of-age story with a mild horror novel background. You will read this book to the end just to find out what exactly is happening in the Rockwell. But in the end you will be disappointed. Recommended only to John Saul fans. Save your time and try another horror novel.
—Daniel Rudge
I read somewhere that John Saul was one of the best horror writers in line after Stephen King and Dean Koontz. So I decided to give him a try. But even before (yeah! 'but even before' - you will know what I mean if you read this book) I was half way through it, I realized I was doing a mistake. Though the basic idea of dead people feeding on children to prolong their life (maybe existence - I don't call it a life) is kind of interesting, the way the story moved was way too pathetic. I was waitin
—Uppili Vijay Sriraman
