Review: Midnight Reflections by Katrina Michaels

Midnight Reflections
Author: Katrina Michaels
Publication: StoneGarden.net Publishing (April 25, 2009)

Product Information (from the book jacket): All Tara Daston wanted was a fun night out clubbing. But fun nights don't normally include dying and waking up three nights later as one of the undead. Her best efforts to adapt to the new and bizarre life are complicated when a friend is killed by a creature neither vampire or lycan. As more killings happen, Tara is drawn into the investigation where she meets Tom Duncan, the lead agent of the Preternatural Investigation Agency. Despite his resistance to her input, Tara refuses to back off, partly because she's involved but partly because he treats her like a five-year-old and she enjoys riling him, and because they are both vampires. Once the killer takes a personal interest in her, Tara is forced to work with Tom and the entire agency to catch this cunning and brutal killer before he claims another victim, possibly her.

My Thoughts: This book started out slowly. The writing seemed a little "clunky" and the editing wasn't very good. There were a lot of "As you know, Bob" scenes where the author told us about her world rather than showed us the world. Some of them made sense as they were between Tara, a new vampire, and Alexander, her sire, as he introduced her to her new world.

My basic problem with the beginning of the book was the idea that vampires, lycans, and other preternatural creatures were just so commonplace. There didn't seem to be any prejudice or sense of wonder. Tara didn't want to be a vampire because she would miss sunshine and butterflies. When she became a vampire, she quickly got over it and adapted with no hesitation.

Later, there was some indication that the world was not as tolerant as it seemed. Tara lost her job as a web designer when she couldn't work days in a building with lots of lovely windows. The PIA had conflicts with some prejudiced police officers. Tara's former roommate and uncle wrote her out of their lives. But most people seemed perfectly happy with living and working with a variety of preternatural creatures.

The book did get much better when the mystery plot took center stage. This was a good thriller and would have been a good thriller even without the paranormal aspects. The serial killer was suitably creepy and the crimes were described in a way to send chills down the spine.

I liked the relationships between Tara and the members of the Preternatural Investigation Agency each of whom was a different sort of preternatural character. I would recommend this book to people who like thrillers and mysteries and don't mind a bit of the paranormal. I would read more books by this author.

Challenges: RYOB Challenge