Mars at Midnight

A Detective Ace Sloan Mystery

By: William Graham

Narrated by: Leslie Starr O'Hara

Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Detective Ace Sloan (The Red Planet Murders) returns in this exciting and compelling murder mystery from author William Graham. Set in the Martian colonies in the 22nd century, Detective Sloan must solve the murders of two immigrant women found buried in the Martian dunes and of a famous college professor. What is the connection between the murders? Sloan and his rookie colleague Detective Kate Hammer uncover a secret political conspiracy as they try to solve the crimes. This work is a fast-paced thriller with a political intrigue and edge to it.

©2016 William Graham (P)2016 William Graham

A nice Sci-Fi detective summer read.

Those who know Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington novels may find some kinship with detective Ace Sloan. Though there is not the case for much shooting in the novel the same type of detective vibe runs through this book. William Graham is able to weave the unique personality of detective Sloan and many other characters to create an interesting story which would makes a fantastic quick summer read.

If you looking for a deep read this is not probably not the tale for you, but if you want some character development mixed with intrigue and some action give the book a chance you will probably enjoy it. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A Good Straight Forward Mystery

Detective “Ace” Sloan is investigating a murder in the outlands of Mars. The body of a young woman is found by a tour group. Apparently left to die in frigid red sand. Ace and his new partner, Kate Hammer, work to uncover what becomes a Martian serial killer. A story that has today issues intertwined.
Do not let the Mars title and setting dissuade from a good straight forward mystery.
I found this to be a enjoyable read/listen
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
Note: When selecting books to read or listen to for reviews I try and select authors and stories that interest me. Sometimes I am fortunate and other times not so fortunate. Either way, I try to review the books with integrity

Narration problem continues for the series.

Would you try another book from William Graham and/or Leslie Starr O'Hara?

I also have the fourth book of the series in my library. I will review that next.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Both book 1 and 2 had narration issues and they continue in this book too. The narrator doesn't express any emotion at all and mechanically reading the story line by line. The different characters did get their different voices this time, but all of them are flat and devoid of any emotion. This seriously needs some work.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not. Maybe an one hour long Amazon Prime Video movie release will be better option for this book.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook for free from the author / narrator / publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

A Decent Political Murder Mystery

This book was given to me for free after I requested the first book in the series and I provided this voluntary review.
These short stories are good but this one gets a little heavy handed with the politics. This story emulates some of the immigration policies that are being discussed in the U.S. today, but I’d hope in the future, when we are colonizing Mars, we’d have this all figured out. This book is a murder mystery, but it really comes down to the politics of Hispanic immigrants not being welcomed by the upper elite on Mars. The whodunit part of the book is entertaining but it’s hard to get over a few of the stereotypes.
The narrator is different from the first two books. The new narrator was ok, but it really throws me off when a narrator is switched between books.
Overall this was a decent short mystery story if you can get past the odd politics on Mars.

Different from what I read but good!

Wasn't sure I was going to like this book, but so glad I bought it...It's awesome! . I couldn't stop once I started it. Man, what a ride! I will read any book from this author, Looking forward to reading the next one for SURE.
That being said the narration needs moore infliction telling the story, but overall did great with the different characters..

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Murder at Midnight

William Graham has delivered another enjoyable mystery in his Ace Sloan series (although Sloan himself does not actually occupy a huge amount of time in the story). When an arctic tour group finds a body buried in the sand of Mars the detective is called in to find the killer. But this is just the first of many victims.

The book link with previously books and the events of those books. While it doesn't dwell on it, the politics of previous books do play a part in the story and the background on Mars. Despite all this the book stands on it's own and can be read without any prior knowledge of the politics, characters and history.

While not being overly sci-fi the story makes good use of the particulars of Mars as setting and the earth immigration. The story could be translated to a Earth bound setting, removing some sci-fi elements, without great detriment. It's not reliant on them but they add to the ambiance of the story.

The only thing that really stood out as 'off' to me was the inclusion of a characters running a podcast. For something set in the 22nd century the idea of a podcast just felts extremely anachronistic. That the idea of podcasting, especially in the was it is presented which is no different to how they are now, still being a thing in 100+ years is unlikely. It is in some ways important, as it is the podcast the brings the character into the mix but it just didn't feel realistic to me.

I have listened to previous books with different narrator and while this one is an improvement, there is still a ways to go

Narrator Leslie Starr O'Hara provided voices to separate characters, but then each character was flat and generally unemotional (other than a few angry outbursts). Any inflection other than anger was not shown. There was some dry humour in the narrative that was overlooked by the narration. While she is well paced and easy to follow in terms of characters (generally) but lacking any real spark to lift the characters off the page.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Liking this series

This is the fifth book I’ve read/listened to by this author and I would listen to another.
Sloan gets more of a front seat in this book than a few others. Regardless, there is more to the story than just the mystery. We get more of a glimpse into life on Mars.

This is the first book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Leslie Starr O’Hara ) and I would listen to another. She did well with the character voices of male and female. The story is written as a retelling of events, her narration matches well with this.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

It's a conspiracy... I'm hooked on this series

I'm really enjoying the Detective ACE Sloan books. He's a very interesting character and the setting on Mars makes things even more interesting. I love the writing, it's so vivid that I can picture everything happening in my head.

This is a mystery story that stays a mystery until the end, there's nothing obvious about it which makes it much more fun.

The narration is spot on for the story, the character voices are excellent and the delivery helped me get totally wrapped up in the story.

This book was supplied free by the author/narrator/publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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William Graham is SCYFY GOLD!

First, I have to start off by stating that I got this book free of charge in exchange for a review, but as I always state, this does not in any way impact my review. My reviews are always honest and my own.

I like this book and I see that Mr. Graham has authored others that I intend to read. There is a lot of action packed into its pages and the story was never boring. It does need the attention of a good editor though because there are numerous typos that were a bit annoying but that did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. A great read for everyone who loves the criminal element with a little romance thrown into the mix.

Short story. Hard to identify with the characters

I received this book from the author and agreed to review it. I typically read books that are long and this allows for more time to identify with the characters. This was a lot shorter and it felt rushed....like it was time to reveal stuff just as it could have delved into things a little more. I would have liked to understand more about the social divisions and groups with differing ideals and visions for the future of the Mars colony. The narration was good.