Midnight is the darkest hour : a novel / Ashley Winstead.

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Title:

Midnight is the darkest hour : a novel / Ashley Winstead.

Author:

Winstead, Ashley, author.

ISBN:

9781728269962

Physical Description:

385 pages ; 24 cm

General Note:

Includes a reading group guide with discussion questions and a conversation with the author.

Includes an excerpt from In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by the author.

Abstract:

"In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar--and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil. A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we've come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Librarians -- Fiction.

Legends -- Fiction.

Outcasts -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Bibliothécaires -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Légendes -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Marginaux -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Meurtre -- Enquêtes -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Legends

Librarians

Murder -- Investigation

Homicide -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Louisiana -- Fiction.

Louisiane -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Genre:

Fiction

Novels

Thrillers (Fiction)

Detective and mystery fiction.

Novels.

Romans.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Adult Fiction Book Hardback	120791003081247	F WIN	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From the critically acclaimed author of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and The Last Housewife comes Midnight is the Darkest Hour, a gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts--the preacher's daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks--hold the key to uncovering the truth.

For fans of Verity and A Flicker in the Dark, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all...even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar--and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.

A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we've come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world.

"Where The Crawdads Sing meets Twilight meets Thelma and Louise in this brilliantly realized, totally original thriller. Absolutely sensational--I couldn't put it down." --Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Winstead (The Last Housewife) serves up a sharp meditation on feminism and religious oppression in this atmospheric Louisiana-set thriller. Ruth Cornier, the independent-minded daughter of Pastor James Cornier, is the sole librarian in the small town of Bottom Springs, who takes particular pleasure in works of heretical fiction, including the Twilight novels. One afternoon, Ruth is devastated to learn that a human skull has been found in the swamp next to the library. When Ruth was 17, she was almost raped in the same swamp by itinerant worker Renard Michaels. Ruth's friend Everett, a local outcast, intervened, and Michaels was killed in the ensuing fight and his body left to sink into the swamp. When the remains are identified as those of another man, Ruth's worst fears are momentarily averted, but then a bigger problem emerges: might Bottom Springs have a killer on its hands? Alternating between past and present, Winstead movingly fleshes out Ruth and Everett's friendship without sacrificing pace or surprise as the body count rises. Evocative prose (the setting sun is described as "fighting death, reaching out with grasping fingers of orange and rose against the falling twilight") is a major plus. Fans of Michael Koryta's Southern gothic novels, including The Cypress House, will be enchanted. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong. (Oct.)

Booklist Review

Bottom Springs is a deeply religious town with a history of superstition and witchcraft, controlled through a mix of intimidation and fear by the town's fire-and-brimstone pastor, James Cornier. When a human skull is found in the swamp, and dark magic is suspected, the town is thrown into panic and terror over a possible killer living among them. Ruth, the preacher's daughter, and Everett, Ruth's best friend and the town outcast, find themselves unwittingly at the center of the investigation. Everyone has secrets in Bottom Springs, and figuring out the truth isn't easy. With the narrative jumping back and forth through time, readers discover that not all is as it seems. Blending gothic horror and mystery, this is a dark, twisted, and disturbing story, with enough suspense to keep readers guessing. Some of the characters are a bit over the top, and Ruth's naivete can be too much, but the story is unique and unsettling, with an ending that readers will be thinking about long after the final page.

Library Journal Review

Timid Ruth Cornier grew up in the shadow of her overzealous evangelist father in middle-of-nowhere Bottom Springs, LA, where congregants and nonbelievers alike are controlled by preacher Cornier's decrees, including what books can be held in the library and school. Ruth learns to pilfer from donation boxes at the library before forbidden books can be disposed of. She rescues a copy of Twilight and keeps it close. With a teenager's naive desire for romance, she finds herself in a dangerous situation with a drifter. Beautiful Everett, son of the town drunk, rescues her, and they become inseparable. Six years later, when a skull is found in the swamp, Ruth worries. Then a second skull is found. Preacher Cornier proclaims that Everett is responsible, that he's the evil reincarnation of the Low Man, a beautiful demon based on an old superstition popular in the town. Ruth wants to clear Everett, who just wants to escape the witch hunt. VERDICT This excellent twisty thriller by Winstead (In My Dreams I Hold a Knife) is for anyone who enjoys underdog or misfit mysteries or tales of abused children seeking revenge on their abusers.--Elizabeth Masterson