Midnight Rain

By: James Newman

Narrated by: Tom Jordan

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Midnight Rain is a dark coming-of-age novel in the vein of Robert McCammon's Boy's Life and Stephen King's The Body (Stand by Me). It is a tale of growing up in the South, a reflection of boyhood and all its wonders, and the story of how one boy deals with a terrible secret that threatens to tear apart both his family and hometown.

1977. In a small town called Midnight, North Carolina, 12-year-old Kyle Mackey ventures toward a strange new world called manhood. Kyle's older brother Dan is going away to college. The night before Dan's flight leaves for Florida, Kyle visits what he calls his "Secret Place"—an old shack in the woods bordering Midnight.

But Kyle stumbles upon something that proves his favorite spot in the world is neither as private nor as innocent as he once thought....

It begins with the naked, battered corpse of a young woman. And, standing over her, a man Kyle knows....

©2013 James Newman (P)2022 Mark Alan Miller

Very interesting and funny at times

This was like a combination of several coming of age books I have listened to.

The plot is some what convoluted but at times hysterically funny.

Tom Jordan is an excellent storyteller.

Nice to listen

It's nice and enjoyable to listen to this story, aptly narrated by a deep voice 👍

Atmospheric and captivating

This one took me a while to really get into, but once I was hooked, I was hooked. Tom Jordan did a great job setting the mood and guiding us down the twists and turns of the plot. A very fun listen.

Absolutely fantastic

I would consider this a perfect audiobook as it has everything I love in one story
Toms narration was excellent his attention to detail takes this to another level
If you like, southern Gothic, dark thrillers, this is a definite must listen
The comparisons to king and mccammon are warranted, but also think this stands on its own highly recommended 5stars

this book is spellbinding!

I don't normally give out 5 stars but this book was worth every star! Incredible, well written book! I listened to it in one day! In the summer of 1977, 12 yo Kyle Mackie was witness to a murder...and he couldn't call the sheriff!! We follow Kyle as he grapples with honesty and doing the right thing. I even grew fond of Kyle's 'pet' bike, Burner :-) The author did an excellent job portraying racism, inequality and justice in the small town of Midnight, NC. No spoilers here, just trust me that this deeply moving story will keep you in its grip from chapter one through the end. Kudos to the narrator for a great job of casting the audible spell.
I voluntarily accepted a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Revisit to Midnight

I purchased the signed limited hardcover of MIDNIGHT RAIN when first published nearly twenty years ago. I read the book and absolutely loved it. All the hype MIDNIGHT RAIN as being in a similar vein as BOY’S LIFE by Robert McCammon and THE BODY by Stephen King is very well deserved. I had not read MIDNIGHT RAIN by James Newman in at least fifteen years so when I saw that Encyclopocalypse Publications had released this classic coming of age thriller in audiobook format, I was excited to revisit Midnight. MIDNIGHT RAIN did not disappoint and if anything was even more enjoyable this time around. The audiobook MIDNIGHT RAIN is well worth a listen if you have already visited Midnight, North Carolina or not.

I was hooked from the start!

James Newman is a new author for me. I absolutely LOVED Midnight Rain. The way he describes the setting, the characters, but especially the thought process of Kyle, it was as if I was watching a movie in my head. I especially liked how he kept reminding me that Kyle was JUST 12 years old, with a 12 year old's perspective and fears. The love he continues to have for his mother, even through her tough life choices is understandable and acceptable. And the idolizing of his brother Dan hurt me when he realized that he was not as perfect as he thought he was.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, and Tom Jordan is one of my very favorite narrators, and, after this book, may very well jump to top narrator in my mind. Tom Jordan is a story teller of the highest level. From the timber of his voice, to the slightest of accents that tells us this is set in the south, to the narration of the storyline so that I can literally SEE the shack, the well, and, my favorite, his best friend, Burner, as they raced to keep up with the pickup.
I'm sure that I would have enjoyed this novel if I had read it, but I KNOW that I got so much more out of it listening to it through Tom Jordan.
I'll watch for more from both the author and the narrator.