Call After Midnight (MIRA)

Review first published on my blog The Fictional Reader

I bought a copy of this in a secondhand shop in Dublin because a) it was super cheap and b) I love Tess Gerritsen’s mysteries. And it seemed to be about 300-330 pages at first. Until I realized that the last 60 or so pages are previews of two of her other books.

This book only has like 250 pages! For a mystery book, I feel like that’s difficult. In my opinion, a mystery needs time to develop and build the tension, and this book lacked in that department because of the length.

In general though, I quite liked the mystery. It starts with an assassin murdering an assassin. And then Sarah gets a call. Her husband has been found dead in a hotel in Berlin. Only Sarah thought he was in London. She doesn’t believe he died, and wants to find out what happened -which is where Nick O’Hara from the U.S. State Department comes in. I had fun with the mystery -even though I had to suspend my disbelief at times.

The biggest reason I only gave this book 3 stars -aside from the length- is the romance, and how prevalent it was. First of all, Sarah had only married Geoffrey 2 or 3 months ago. She had only known him for 6 months. How do you marry someone you’ve only known for 6 months? That aside, she discovers some things about Geoffrey that make her believe she never really knew him. (I’ll try to hold in my DUH! here). And that’s where the romance with Nick starts. And I feel bad for not liking the romance, because I LOVED Nick’s character. He was an honest, smart and kind person. But you can’t fall out of love with someone in a few days, and fall in love with an entirely new person! Especially when you are a) so dependent on the new person and b) he must be intertwined with your husband’s tragedy in your mind.

Call After Midnight is the third stand-alone novel by popular author, Tess Gerritsen. The action starts with Simon Dance, alias Geoffrey Fontaine, faking his own death in a hotel-room fire in Berlin. When his wife of two months, Sarah, is notified of the death in a late-night call by State Department employee Nick O'Hara, she is convinced it is a mistake. By the time Nick O'Hara has shared with her the facts he has learned, Sarah realises she really did not know her husband at all. A haunting phone call from Geoffrey sends her to London, where the mystery deepens. This is another Gerritsen novel with plenty of plot twists to keep the reader guessing. The action moves from Washington DC to London, Berlin and Amsterdam. Police, CIA, FBI and the State Department are all involved. There are car chases, fights on trains, torture by knife and scrambles across rooftops. The plain but plucky heroine finds herself accused of murder, sleeping in a windmill and on display in an Amsterdam brothel. Romance, action, violence and a few hot sex scenes are all part of the mix. Gerritsen does romantic intrigue well, and this early novel is just a taste of her later work. A page-turner.

Sarah Fontaine wakes to a ringing telephone, and learns that her husband of two months has died in a hotel fire. The problem is that Geoffrey is supposed to be staying in London, on business; but the State Department caller says he died in Berlin. What is going on? Sarah sets out to answer that question, and soon Nick D'Arcy - the man who called her with the news - finds himself on involuntary leave, and following her as she heads for London in search of answers.

This is definitely a romance novel, not a medical thriller. It's one of Tess Gerritsen's Harlequin titles, written before she changed genres; and taken on its own terms, it works fine. It's not a book for the reader who's expecting Gerritsen's more recent work, though.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

Typical romance novel with some stuff thrown in to make it seem like suspence.
I just couln't stomach this book. maybe it's because I'm older and over all the fluff in books.
I was extremely bored and frustrated while listening to the book. The main characters made me roll my eyes and finally I just stopped...
Don't waste your time!

This is a romantic spy and suspense novel. Writing is crisp and clear. Excellent plot but don't expect Rizzoli and Isles. Foreign intrigue provides

background. Love parts are almost overwhelming. Issues of trust play major role and lead to exciting conclusions.

I have read several Tess Gerritsen books - had this been the first one I read, I would never have read another one again. It was terrible, just awful. I had expected a mystery - and I got a junk novel, badly written, and a plot which made no sense. If you want to know how NOT to write a good book, read this one.

This audiobook was published in 2010, so I snapped it up thinking it would be a "typical Tess Gerritsen": intricate, interesting, well-written novel. What a waste. According to her Wikipedia entry, this was her first novel which was published in 1987. So, perhaps if one were interested in how far she's developed as a writer, start with this one. I had to quit it half way through.

I bought this novel expecting a thriller, instead the only value I got from it was a comedy one. The characters are incredibly shallow, the plot denies credibility and the style is Barbara Cartland. If you're looking for a thriller don't look here. Romantic comedy wold be a more accurate classification!

This book is a good romantic adventure originally published as a Harlequin Intrigue. I wish that it had been orginally stated that this book was a Harlequin Intrigue published in 1987, it might stop someone from making a duplicate purchase.