Midnight Come Again

By: Dana Stabenow

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kate, a former investigator for the Anchorage D.A. and now a P.I. for hire, is missing after a winter spent in mourning. Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin, Kate's best friend, needs her to help him work a new case. He discovers her hiding out in Bering, a small fishing village on Alaska's western coast, living and working under an assumed name, working hard, as 18-hour workdays seem to be her only justification for getting up in the morning. But before they can even discuss Kate's last several months, or what Jim is doing looking for her in Bering, they're up to their eyes in Jim's case, which is suddenly more complicated, and more dangerous, than they suspect.

©2000 Dana Stabenow (P)2000 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Stabenow's evocation of the Kuskokwim delta and its inhabitants is as artful as her portrayal of the Alaskan bush country." (Publishers Weekly)
"Every time I think Dana Stabenow has gotten as good as she can get, she comes up with something better." (Washington Times)

Kate, lost in grief, is found by Jim Chopin

"Midnight Come Again" opens like a Tom Clancy novel with a rogue Russian military unit killing people in an armed robbery in Moscow.

It was well written and intriguing but it left me with one big question: where is Kate Shugak?

I'm fairly sure this is the reaction that Dana Stabenow expected me to have as this is the question the whole novel sets out to answer.

The events in most of this novel are not seen from Kate's point of view but from Jim Chopin's. Jim has been asking around the Park to see if anyone knows where Kate is. No-one has any information for him but they all expect him to bring her back. Jim's search is cut short when he is sent undercover, working with the FBI to try and find a high-profile Russian crime boss who is thought to be in port. By chance, his assignment brings him face to face with Kate.

The Kate he meets is not the Kate Shugak I knew in the first nine books. She has literally vanished. Kate cannot or will not face that she is alive and Jack Morgan is dead. She has left her home, her friends and even her name behind. She is lost in guilt and grief and anger. Yet she does not curl up in a corner or dive into a bottle. She works, hard and long, mastering new tasks running an air-taxi/freight service. Kate shapes how the world she works in is organized because she doesn't know how NOT to do that. She works because work is better than having time to think and much, much better than having time to feel. Kate has a job but she doesn't really have a life. This seems to have been her goal: to be "the working dead".

Her meeting with Jim Chopin begins events that will force her out of the Hide she has built for herself. She becomes embroiled in the case and she becomes angry at Jim. It seemed to me that she rages at him because he is full of life and he will not let her deny her own life.

The plot in "Midnight Come Again" is strong, relatively complex and darker than some of the other books. I was struck by the contrast between Kate's drinking session with Russian seamen in this book and her session with the Russian sailors in "Dead In The Water." In "Dead In The Water" the session was lightly flirtatious, Kate was in control and there was nothing more sinister in the room than an exuberant excess of testosterone. In "Midnight Come Again" the drinking session has an undercurrent of threat, Kate is damaged and vulnerable, and there is serious cause to worry about her.

Kate is dragged back to herself, not just by Jim Chopin but through contact with an old school friend and her family. Kate is given a context for how she is seen by others, learns new things about her grandmother and incurs a moral debt towards a young girl.

The emerging dynamic between Kate and Jim injects fresh emotional conflict while also dealing realistically with reactions to grief. Not just Kate's grief for Jack Morgan, but Jim's grief for seeming to lose the woman Kate used to be.

This book is a good stand-alone thriller. It is also a very skillful bridge between the Kate we knew before the events of "Hunter's Moon" and the Kate who is finding her way after it. The emotional tone is perfect and made "Midnight Come Again" a very satisfying read.

The title sounded like a quote but I wasn't familiar with the source. An Internet search suggested that it might be from Theodore Roethke's poem "A Dark Time." The tone seems right. It's a good poem. Go HERE to read it for yourself

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

not sure about Marguerite

I have trouble believing it's Marguerite Gavin reading this one. She is SO amazingly talented and has performed all the others beautifully. Maybe this one was the first she recorded before she 'found' the voices of the characters? The story is wonderful and even not at her best, Marguerite is a stellar performer.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Jim Chopin, rather than Kate, is star of the show.

Book #9 was my favorite to that point, and it still is. This book finds Kate missing from her home, out-of-touch with friends and family, hiding from her grief and anger. Jim is hoping to find her but first is sent on a one month under-cover assignment. Of course, he finds Kate, as well as a whole mess of trouble. Of course Kate gets involved in the story and in the end they both return to their homes safe and on the road to healing. It is a good story and a good book. But, Bonny has been MIA for three books. Jack is out of the story now. And Kate wasn't the Kate I have grown to love. Even Alaska has less of a role here.

I hope that book 11 brings back many of these because they are what I love about the series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Really good.

I have to admit I read the reviews of the one before this and because I couldn't face losing Jack Morgan I didn't read it. I'll go back at the end and get to it then.

That said, this is very good. I like Chopper Jim and it's nice to see Kate come out of the haze of pain.

Thank goodness for Mutt.

As usual Marguerite Gavin did a wonderful job. I love the audio of these books so much.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What happened to Marguerite Gavin

Would you be willing to try another one of Marguerite Gavin’s performances?

I have listened to several series narrated by Maguerite Gavin which I have loved and I find it really hard to believe this is her.... This is not the voice of Kate.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

lost but not dead...

I have to admit, it took me a long time to get around to listening to this book after the devastating end of the last book. I am glad I finally did because the story was very good, although a little bit of a slower start than Stabenow's usual. What got me was the narrator. I actually had to stop and check to make sure it was Marguerite Gavin. The voices had lost a lot of the magic that pulls you in as a listener. I read another review with a similar feeling and wonder if this was recorded before some of the earlier books. I will continue the series and hope that she gets back into her groove!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Best

This was one of if not the best Kate Shugak book I have read yet. The last few chapters, specifically the ending brought this man to tears.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another Fine Stabenow Work

It was difficult to read this book, in that it was difficult to grieve so fully with someone like Kate. Stabenow handled that emotional challenge deftly, as well as the intricate plot and characterizations. I will say the narration seemed a bit lackluster. Either this was the first book Gavin narrated in the series (which would be odd and out of order, since she narrated the 10 before), or she was under the weather the whole time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another great Shugak novel!

Any additional comments?

There are a few books missing on audible between this one and the 2nd but I felt like the listener was brought up to speed well enough to figure out what happened to Kate during the gap. I got a bit lost with the Russian story line at times, but, overall, enjoyed this book. I actually really liked the twist between Kate and Jim and thought it added to the story!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

love Kate Shugak!

I've read and re-read every Kate Shugak book and have even bought some of the audios to listen to. Can't wait for the next one!