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In Midnight's Silence

(Los Nefilim #1)

T. Frohock (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 180 ratings · 69 reviews

A lyrical tale in a world of music and magic, T. Frohock's In Midnight's Silence --the first novella in the Los Nefilim series--shows the lengths a man will go to save the people he loves, and the sides he'll choose when the sidelines are no longer an option.

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Born of an angel and a daimon, Diago Alvarez is a singular being ...more

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ebook, 128 pages

Published June 23rd 2015 by Harper Voyager Impulse

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· 180 ratings · 69 reviews

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Apr 14, 2015 Mark Lawrence rated it it was amazing

This was a joy to read. Teresa Frohock's début, Miserere, came out in 2011 and it's a crime we've had to wait until 2015 to see more long fiction from her.

The best thing about this story is the writing. It's just excellent. Not overdone, not clunky, just fluid and assured. It puts you there, you believe it, you believe the setting, the people, everything. I can see why Voyager picked this up, the writing can stand and look any piece of literary fiction in the eye without blinking first.

The chara ...more

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Feb 05, 2017 Emma rated it it was amazing

This was superb. Set in the civil war era in Barcelona before the Second World War, this is no modern urban fantasy take on angels, nefilim, demons and vampires. This is a much darker version. I love how song is interwoven into the magic. How Frohock manages to fit so much atmosphere, back story and world building into this short novella is beyond me, but I LOVED it. I am thoroughly impressed and can't wait to explore more of her work. Recommended.

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Sep 17, 2018 T. Frohock added it · (Review from the author)

I just wanted to pop in and say thanks for all of the reviews and ratings for the novellas!

For those of you who enjoyed IN MIDNIGHT'S SILENCE, you might like the sequels: WITHOUT LIGHT OR GUIDE, which continues Diago's story, as well as the conclusion of the novellas, THE SECOND DEATH.

I wrote the novellas like the old radio serials from the 1940s with each story having a beginning, a middle, and an end. However, when you read the novellas back-to-back, they read very much like a novel.

A brand ne ...more

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Feb 20, 2019 Lukasz rated it liked it

Shelves: novella

Set in 1931 Spain, Im Midnight’s Silence focuses on Diago, a half-daimon, half-angel being working for Los Nefilim - an organisation bringing together and employing the offspring of angels and daimons. Consider them the soldiers of higher angels. Each Los Nefilim member has a special power that comes with a price. The music-based magic / power felt fresh and unique.

Frohock’s angels are a bunch of scheming bastards who will stop at nothing to reach their goals. Diago and his partner Miquel are a ...more

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Jun 03, 2015 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

The magic of music, angels, and daimons. There is so much sinister elegance in these things that Frohock combines so beautifully in the first book of her Los Nefilim series.

Diago Alvarez is born of angel and daimon, and, despite the mundane life he seems to lead (teaching piano lessons to bratty kids, avoiding said bratty kid's mom's advances), there is obviously something more to him. A darkness that one might think leans more to his daimon side than the angels. But this too is a wonderful dece The magic of music, angels, and daimons. There is so much sinister elegance in these things that Frohock combines so beautifully in the first book of her Los Nefilim series.

Diago Alvarez is born of angel and daimon, and, despite the mundane life he seems to lead (teaching piano lessons to bratty kids, avoiding said bratty kid's mom's advances), there is obviously something more to him. A darkness that one might think leans more to his daimon side than the angels. But this too is a wonderful deception that Frohock weaves into her story. Angels are not the beautiful and beatific we most often see them as in literature. Frohock manages to make them as deliciously horrifying as the daimons and their minions that Diago must face.

But all of this is not really the heart and soul of this short story. That comes in the form of Miquel, Diago's lover, and in Rafael, the young boy whom Diago discovers he has unknowingly fathered. The relationship between Diago and Miquel is harsh and realistic, and Diago's desire to raise this boy as his father did not raise him is heartbreaking. Especially since, in order to save Miquel, Diago must sacrifice the child to a daimon in hopes of stopping a war that will decimate humanity.

This book takes place in 1930's Spain, which initially seems a bit distant and unrelatable, but quickly becomes quite the opposite as it draws the reader into the world that lies beneath the veil of every day society. It also incorporates music as the source of magic, which, indeed it is. But, as I said in my review of Frohock's Hisses and Wings, I wanted the music and magic connection to go deeper. I wanted it to really dig into the emotions it is meant to evoke and paint a picture, much like what occurs in Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind, which is pretty much the only thing I truly enjoyed about the latter.

Still, this was another fascinating entry in Frohock's library. I especially love the way her fantasy and urban fantasy steps so far away from what we typically see in this genre in terms of characters and settings.

With thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

www.BiblioSanctum.com ...more

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Apr 16, 2015 Beth rated it really liked it

Shelves: novellas-and-short-stories

This is the third story of T. Frohock's that I've read--the first being the novel she wrote as Teresa Frohock, Miserere, and the second being "The Broken Road." In all of these, I've most enjoyed the unsettling otherworlds Frohock has built, and characters I can really sympathize with.

I felt the world-building was done especially well in this one. I got a good idea of the tensions in Barcelona, and of the various factions and interbreeding of daimon, angel, and human, with little or no info-dump ...more

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Jul 10, 2015 Kristen rated it liked it

In Midnight's Silence, a dark fantasy novella set in Barcelona, Spain in the 1930s, is an intriguing beginning to a new series. It's very much about the choices of the main character, who is complex and multi-dimensional. The world is also compelling, particularly the angels who are not at all angelic! While I did find parts of the beginning slow, I enjoyed it overall and am looking forward to finding out what happens next in Without Light or Guide (coming November 3)!

3 1/2 stars (liked it)

Full ...more

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Jun 24, 2015 Saphirablue rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-book, fantasy, glbta, historical, hurt-comfort, in-english, read-in-2016, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 02, 2015 Michael Fletcher rated it it was amazing

Gorgeous.

I'll definitely be reading Without Light or Guide.

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Feb 14, 2018 Bart rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-read, fantasy

Actual rating: 5.00 (!)

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May 22, 2015 Joel rated it it was amazing

I really love Teresa's writing - this is yet another wonderful story by her, with real-feeling and visceral characters, great dialogue, and real emotions. I really, really enjoyed this piece.

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Aug 23, 2015 T.O. Munro rated it it was amazing

Back in January of this year Goodreads tempted me to set a target for books read this year. In the spirit of continuous incremental "improvement" which has dominated my working life in education in the UK, and in homage to Hitch Hiker's Guide to the galaxy, I promised myself I would read 42 books in 2015, one more than the 41 I clocked up in 2014. It is now late August in a year dominated by exceptional work and life pressures, we are nearly two thirds of the way through the year and I am barely ...more

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Jun 21, 2015 Lynn Williams rated it really liked it

https://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2015...
In Midnight’s Silence is a short story which brings to us a wonderfully strange world where Angels, Daimons and Los Nefilim roam amongst us.

The main characters of the story are Diago, Miguel and Raefael and the story starts in Seville during the 1930’s. At the start of the story Diago returns to his apartment to find evidence of a struggle and his partner Miguel missing.

I’m not really going to elaborate on the plot but will say this is incredibly easy to r https://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2015...
In Midnight’s Silence is a short story which brings to us a wonderfully strange world where Angels, Daimons and Los Nefilim roam amongst us.

The main characters of the story are Diago, Miguel and Raefael and the story starts in Seville during the 1930’s. At the start of the story Diago returns to his apartment to find evidence of a struggle and his partner Miguel missing.

I’m not really going to elaborate on the plot but will say this is incredibly easy to read. The writing flows well and appears effortless and Frohock manages to bring to us a strange tale of abduction and threat, filled with revelations and creatures of myth and lore with a number of new elements brought into the equation for good measure.

Hidden in plain sight are Angels, Daimons and Los Nefilim (characters born of a liaison between angel and human who act as a sort of police agency controlling the Daimon’s behaviour).

So, apart from the excellent writing which contains a wealth of imagination making it difficult to believe that this is only a short story (100/130 ish pages I think) what else did I love about this story. Well, firstly, having read Miserere and the Broken Road I can unequivocally state that the author is an expert at conjuring other worlds populated with creatures straight from hell! Speaking of which, her books always seem to have a religious theme and yet they never have a ‘preachy’ feel. She has a great ability to literally suck you into whatever situation she creates and she manages to write these deliciously creepy elements along the way that will have you looking over your shoulder as you read! I particularly love the scenes with the Golem.

In terms of characters we have this wonderful blurring of the lines between good and bad where the angels in the story come off a little less ‘angelic’ than you might expect. Okay, the Daimons are pretty much a bunch of nasty characters as you would expect but even so! The surprise element of the book is that Diago is neither Angel or Daimon but a combination of the two. Up to this point he’s refused to take sides but this is about to change.

On top of this the story brings up some really interesting and new (for me at least) ideas in terms of the immortality/rebirth of angels and the carrying over of scars from a previous life.

This is a book very much about choices – difficult and heart wrenching choices and impossible situations that you really can’t see a good ending to.

The only criticism that I can make is that I wanted more – luckily there is more to follow so that’s basically a win!

I received a copy of this from the author. The above is my own opinion. ...more

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Jun 22, 2015 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Review from TenaciousReader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2015/0...

A Midnight’s Silence is another solid story by T. Frohock. Real characters are placed in dark and distressing situations, using a combination of music, magic, love and trust to survive. It introduces the reader to a world of angels and daimons in 1930s Spain, with our protagonist Diago being half angel, half daimon. This puts him in a unique position because the two worlds generally don’t play all that nice with each other (as Review from TenaciousReader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2015/0...

A Midnight’s Silence is another solid story by T. Frohock. Real characters are placed in dark and distressing situations, using a combination of music, magic, love and trust to survive. It introduces the reader to a world of angels and daimons in 1930s Spain, with our protagonist Diago being half angel, half daimon. This puts him in a unique position because the two worlds generally don’t play all that nice with each other (as one might expect).

Diago has managed to live outside of these two groups, committing to neither one. He is, however, fully committed to his lover, Miquel, who is a member of Los Nefilim. This is a group that polices the daimons. This doesn’t exactly make Diago, being unaligned and half daimon, very popular with Miquel’s co-workers. The book is dark, and despite there being angels and daimons, there is not really an overtly religious tone to this book. In fact, Diago even confesses to not knowing if there is a god or not. It is like they are two supernatural orders that function independent of the religion that people in our world usually associate with them. I enjoyed this ambiguity to a greater being, it was nice to see the angels and daimons just as on their own as regular people.

Diago is placed un an unthinkable situation of being asked to choose between his lover and his newly found son, as we are introduced to Rafael, Diago’s son that he never knew he had. Rafael has been cared for at an orphanage run by Sister Benita, a very unpleasant nun. Nun or not, she’s a horrible person with no empathy or compassion. So, taking this into account, I guess you could say that there is a portrayal of fallible religious people. Just because someone is religious doesn’t mean they are a good person. The actions people take, how they treat and respect others, that is what is important, and you see evidence of this in A Midnight’s Silence. Sister Benita did amuse me though, so she might not be anyone I’d like to take care of my kids, I was happy at her inclusion.

For anyone that looks for good examples of real relationships with LGBT characters, add this one to the list. Diago and his lover, Miquel, are human, and care for each other, and honestly, it’s just written the same as any relationship between two humans should be. There’s a good balance of suspense and characters in this and I look forward to seeing what is next. ...more

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Dec 19, 2015 Kenny Soward rated it it was amazing

I'm a big fan of Teresa's and really enjoyed Miserere: An Autumn Tale. I think, as other reviewers have pointed out, Teresa has a direct and stripped-down style which lends itself to an overall elegance of storytelling.

In Midnight's Silence stops just shy of being truly "weird fiction" and is not quite urban fantasy either. I'm reminded of some of Anne Rice's earlier vampire novels where characters of great depth, dramatic flair, and history are thrust onto a stage furnished with antiquated and ...more

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Aug 06, 2015 Courtney Schafer rated it it was amazing

In Midnight's Silence may be a novella, but it packs a ton of character and story into its pages. Half-angel, half-daimon protagonist Diago is drawn with such deft strokes in the opening scenes that when he soon faces some terrible choices, I was biting my nails and praying for him to find a solution that wouldn't come with an equally terrible price. In Midnight's Silence is dark and beautiful and evocative; it's a great introduction to Frohock's work if you've never read her before, and a long- ...more

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Jun 20, 2015 Mieneke rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, 2015

In Midnight's Silence is the first entry in a new series of novella's by T. Frohock. After having read and enjoyed her previous novella The Broken Road last year, I couldn't wait to read the first on the Los Nefilim sequence, because how could I not want to read about fallen angels, daimons and Civil War-era Spain? It turns out, I can't resist at all, since I tore through the book in an afternoon, only coming up for air once I finished it.

The main story is told over the course of only a couple In Midnight's Silence is the first entry in a new series of novella's by T. Frohock. After having read and enjoyed her previous novella The Broken Road last year, I couldn't wait to read the first on the Los Nefilim sequence, because how could I not want to read about fallen angels, daimons and Civil War-era Spain? It turns out, I can't resist at all, since I tore through the book in an afternoon, only coming up for air once I finished it.

The main story is told over the course of only a couple of days at most, with some flashbacks to develop characters and history, and focusses tightly on Frohock's main characters Diago and Miquel, which is a joy, as they are fabulous. They start off as an established couple and the conflict in their relationship, which is loving and stable, is provided through the appearance of Diago's son. A child he didn't know existed from an affair Miquel never knew he had. In a way these are very grown-up relationship problems, ones that usually crop up after other stories have written their 'the end'. I really liked the fact the maturity of the relationship and the partners and I appreciated the fact that the fact that they love each other was never in doubt.

Diago is a complicated character, someone who is always in-between; he's neither angel or daimon, he's neither immortal or mortal, and neither Nefilim or innocent. He belongs nowhere and everywhere, but finds his home and his anchor in Miquel. Since the book is mostly written from Diago's point of view we don't get to see how Miquel views this bond, whether Diago is as much his anchor and he is Diago's. Hopefully, we'll be able to explore this further in the next books. One of the things Diago and Miquel had clearly agreed about is that they didn't want children and Rafael's appearance puts paid to all of that. I loved the way that Diago snaps into parent-mode even if he hadn’t wanted a child before, yet acknowledges that Miquel isn’t bound to make the same choice. His reaction to Rafael is influenced by his own abandonment by his father and he is determined not to let history repeat itself, even if it means giving up what is most precious to him.

Frohock doesn’t shy away from dealing with tough subjects and questions. For example, her examination of Rafael’s conception and whether Candela raped Diago or not, with her angelic powers essentially serving as a roofie. The reactions this elicits from Miquel and Diago were interesting. Miquel grasps at this to staunch his feelings of being betrayed, while at the same time being furious that someone did this to Diago. Diago, on the other hand, has a hard time coming to grips with the truth of the situation, preferring to believe he betrayed the love of his life to knowing he was violated. Thanks to the circumstances the men don’t get to discuss what happened in depth, so it’ll be interesting to see whether this will come up again in the next book.

Another tough question Frock puts to her protagonist and the reader is that of sacrificing the one for the greater good. In this case. Diago is told that sacrificing his son to Moloch will save millions of lives. The angels obviously believe that sacrificing one child to save many is the moral choice, but Diago questions this. Given our hindsight – we know that the angels are working to prevent WWII and the Holocaust – this dilemma is harrowing in the eyes of the reader. How many time travel stories aren’t based on the premise of going back and killing Hitler, thereby stopping the war? Yet in those cases, as in this case, the question is, would it work? Given the fact that the angels have some form of precognition it makes the choice even harder, as obviously they know it will. But has this knowledge blinded them to alternative scenarios? Diago’s answer to the question whether the good of the many justifies the sacrifice of the one is instant and absolute—he’ll find another way.

The organisation known as Los Nefilim is a fantastic concept. I have a weak spot for these kinds of secret, supernatural societies and Frohock chose her angle well. The Los Nefilim leader Guillermo is an interesting character, whose brief appearance was too little of a good thing. I sincerely hope to see more of him. His daughter Ysabel was lovely and added a bit of a lighter note to the end of the book, which I enjoyed. The way she took Rafael under her wing felt very natural and true to how children operate amongst themselves and her somewhat impudent attitude to the adults around her was quite amusing. Frohock didn’t just include wonderful characters on the side of the angels, there were several on the side that opposes Los Nefilim and Diago and Miquel as well. The scenes with Moloch and his servants were tense and fascinating – Moloch is everything you’d expect him to be and more – and the sacrifice of one of Moloch’s servants was actually quite touching.

Frohock’s world-building in the book is wonderful. The magic in the story was music-based, reminiscent of the magic depicted in The Broken Road. I liked the idea that the magic could be carried through song, through instrumental music and in some cases through dance. The 1930s Barcelona setting was wonderful as well and served as a great showcase for Frohock’s beautiful writing, which is quite descriptive and very atmospheric. The scenes where Diago moves across Barcelona from his house to the district where Miquel worked are gorgeous.

In Midnight’s Silence is a great story, which I absolutely loved. Frohock’s writing is lush and her story instantly captivating. I can’t wait to read the next entry in the series and I can’t recommend In Midnight’s Silence highly enough.

This book was provided for review by the publisher. ...more

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Nov 18, 2018 Mimi rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, novella, my-kindle, 2018, angels-and-demons

3.5 stars

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Nov 10, 2015 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

In Midnight’s Silence is the first in Teresa Frohock’s “Los Nefilim” novella sequence. It posits a world in which angels and demons are physically real, and inhabit the world alongside humanity – largely cloaked in shadows. Their children, the Nefilim of the title, are something else again – and the struggle and sacrifice of some of them is central to Frohock’s story.

The world of Los Nefilim is set in the Spain of the nineteen-thirties, several years before the civil war. In most respects, it re In Midnight’s Silence is the first in Teresa Frohock’s “Los Nefilim” novella sequence. It posits a world in which angels and demons are physically real, and inhabit the world alongside humanity – largely cloaked in shadows. Their children, the Nefilim of the title, are something else again – and the struggle and sacrifice of some of them is central to Frohock’s story.

The world of Los Nefilim is set in the Spain of the nineteen-thirties, several years before the civil war. In most respects, it resembles the world that we know. There’s the division between the rich and poor of the country, with subtle hints of the geo-political conflict to come. But this is an undercurrent in a richer sense of social and literal geography. This is a Spain where you can feel the turgid heat curling off the page, and where the vitality of the people is obvious in every word and gesture.

Frohock’s prose is almost lyrically descriptive, and really helps locales come to life. There’s broken down boarding houses, stultifying parlours of the rich, and some sewers which fairly crawl off the page with a stink of tortured misery hanging in every passage. Where this world differs from our own is the titular Nefilim – the children of Angels, caught in a hidden conflict between Angels and Daimons The mythology around the Nefilim and those above them in the celestial struggle is deftly inserted into the narrative, the reader picking up information alongside the characters, the world gaining a different texture as their understanding grows. There’s not much in the way of flashy magic here – but there is a sense of corruption, and a sense of a kind of divinity, lurking between the words on the page. I’d love to delve deeper into the world hidden behind our own – but also love that most of it remains unknown.

In part, this mystery is due to our protagonist, Diago. The offspring of an angel and a daimon, aligned to neither, he gives us a unique view on the world. But it’s one limited by status – he is deliberately kept out of the loop on all sides of the conflict, and his sense of discovery moves alongside that of the reader. But he’s not just – or perhaps not even – a special snowflake, despite being a hybrid. It’s to Frohock’s credit that Diago feels more human than supernatural – a man with a deep love for his partner, Miquel, a man with some tightly controlled rage issues, and a man trying to construct a version of himself. He feels flawed, but not broken, and as the reader sits inside his head, we can feel the emotional depth of his commitments, and the turmoil of his struggles. There’s a sense of the iceberg about Miquel – far more present than is currently exposed – but what we see here has the intensity of a lava bath. His relationship with Miquel is one of the core sections of the text, and it feels plausible, and carries a great deal of emotional honesty and heft. There’s a certain stark vulnerability present in their interactions which makes them a pleasure to read.

There’s other characters here of course. I was a particular fan of the clinically cold angel who kickstarts the plot, and the enjoyably vile demon Moloch. The supernatural creatures have a coiled darkness about them, on both sides, and seem somehow both more and less than human – like looking into a fun-house mirror. In contrast to Diago’s tortured near-humanity, they serve as stark warnings, or precursors of narrative dread – and keep things tense enough to have you turning every page.

The plot is fairly straightforward, wrapped around the strong core of characters and setting. It’s tightly plotted and tense; there are constraints on the characters which keep them moving, and their need, and the aforementioned emotional stakes, had me invested and turning pages as fast as possible. There’s a lot at risk here, and the characters are convincing enough, and I was interested in them enough, to feel that risk, and the sacrifices they were willing to make to attain it – the plot was intriguing in it’s own right, but worked wonderfully when meshed with the characters. In any even, it sprints along, merging a kind of slowly rising horror with adrenaline and a feeling of emotional investment to create an literary elixir, greater than the sum of its parts.

Is it worth reading? Well, I’d say so. The characters are top-flight, plausible and fascinating examples of humanity and…otherwise. The setting works, and feels vividly real. The plot acts as the glue between the other two pieces of the narrative, and can be both entertainingly terrifying and emotionally convincing – so yes, give it a go. ...more

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May 22, 2015 Heather Allen rated it really liked it

Shelves: diverse-reads-2015, fantasy, historical-fiction, short-fiction

This review originally appeared on Around the World in 80 Books!
This novella is about the sacrifices people will make on behalf of those they love or have the potential to love. The story takes place in late 1930’s Barcelona. Protagonist Diago finds out his boyfriend Miquel has been kidnapped by an angel, he goes to find him without a second thought. Miquel is a part of Los Nefilim, a group that “monitors daimonic activity for the angels.” I imagined it as a sort of CIA/FBI/secret agent sort of This review originally appeared on Around the World in 80 Books!
This novella is about the sacrifices people will make on behalf of those they love or have the potential to love. The story takes place in late 1930’s Barcelona. Protagonist Diago finds out his boyfriend Miquel has been kidnapped by an angel, he goes to find him without a second thought. Miquel is a part of Los Nefilim, a group that “monitors daimonic activity for the angels.” I imagined it as a sort of CIA/FBI/secret agent sort of organization. Because of Diago’s birth, half daimon, half angel, he does not choose sides and is therefore left to follow Miquel around anywhere Los Nefilim need him.

Circumstances change when Diago finds out about his son, Rafael, who he made with an angel, Candela. She seduced him with a song and a child was born. (For the narrative, the boy is now 6-years-old.) The word rape is mentioned because an angel’s song can be very powerful, though Diago thinks that he had cheated on Miquel. I found this to be very thought provoking, because so rarely is male rape addressed. And to have two different ideas of what the act actually was, makes the sub-plot even more interesting.

When Diago finds Miquel, the angel has put a curse on Miquel that is slowly draining his life force. The angel tells Diago that he must sacrifice his child to the daimon Muloch in order to get a coin that can cause mass destruction (there’s a war coming between the angels and daimons). The coin is for the angel’s nefarious purposes. Of course, having just found out about his child and knowing he can’t sacrifice an innocent life, Miquel and Diago form a plan to offer a golem in the boy’s place and hope there is enough time to get away.

The time comes for the sacrifice of the golem, Muloch summons Diago’s long-lost father to verify that the child is his family. His father lies to Muloch, allowing Diago to escape, but the father sacrificed his life in order for him to do so. For this part in particular, I felt there was a lot of backstory that I wasn’t picking up on. His father disappears as soon as he appears and doesn’t seem to have any motivation for sacrificing himself. I’m not sure what happened in Diago’s past that caused him to not find love. I felt like there were parts missing, perhaps because of the novella format.

I won’t spoil the end, but things end on a high note and the family is together. I enjoyed the storytelling and the characters. I think that I’ll find out more information about what’s happening in Diago’s past, as well as their roll for future events, in the next two novellas in the series—the war with angels and daimon’s coincides with WWII—and should make for some interesting plotting. Also, for the next stories, I hope Diago and Miquel make out at least once! I realize tensions were high, but it would be nice to see some affection (aka PDA) between the two. I see a lot of potential world building and I look forward to the rest of the series to find out more about Los Nefilim, and the back stories for Diago and Miquel. I found myself comparing this novella to the TV show Supernatural—there’s a lot of action/adventure, combined with fantasy elements that makes it a fun read. ...more

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Jun 23, 2015 Brian rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teresa-frohock

When I was younger I read several series by an author and I was fascinated by the passion and love that the author had for their characters, especially the MC. The fourth series I saw a drastic change in that the love and passion. It was literally gone. The work wasn’t rubber stamped and still was a good series but not great like the previous three. I have read authors that have that passion for their characters or their stories or certain scenes above other scenes. In reading In Midnight’s Sile When I was younger I read several series by an author and I was fascinated by the passion and love that the author had for their characters, especially the MC. The fourth series I saw a drastic change in that the love and passion. It was literally gone. The work wasn’t rubber stamped and still was a good series but not great like the previous three. I have read authors that have that passion for their characters or their stories or certain scenes above other scenes. In reading In Midnight’s Silence, Mrs. Frohock is hopelessly in love with Diago and Miquel. There is a crafting of the nuances of the characters that is unsurpassed in her previous writings and that is quite an accomplishment if you have read any of her other works. The movement, attention to pertinent but not extraneous details along with the psychological imprint you get from them in Mrs. Frohock’s writing leapt out of the story and easily imprinted itself onto my consciousness.

In reading a story, I will stop and envision the environment, smells, sounds, images and try to set myself into the scene. This was so easily done reading IMS that I reread several of the passages in the first couple of chapters to make sure I wasn't subconsciously filling in blanks from the setting given by the passage. Some authors are wonderful at scant details to set a scene but after reading IMS a second time I saw that Mrs. Frohock had whittled away at the settings as a master wood carver. Everything that needed to be in place was and anything not well, was not. I found myself shivering at the aspect of the dark becoming inclusive in the tunnels, the smell of Miquel that Diago could recall with an amorous thought or the feel of the etching under his touch.

Trying to write this review without spoilers is becoming increasingly difficult as it is a wonderful telling and immersion into Diago and Miquel’s love/relationship/complexity but one must. I wanted to touch on the psychology of Diago and Miquel. There is several essences that you will experience in reading IMS. You will see several sides of both Diago and Miquel and how the complexity flows effortlessly to and fro as the characters experience the crescendo and falls of the story. Pay particular attention to this as you read and by the end you will feel as you have made a new acquaintance that you want to drink in more and more of because you just have to know, more and more. The interactions of love to stark terror to controlled ambivalence is a wondrous joy to behold and a seamlessness that unless one is looking directly at it will sift by as chaff floats on the wind.

I highly recommend reading IMS for a great story, excellent writing and storytelling and for those who might have forgotten how love in an instant can turn your day around with such ease or commotion as to forever change you and your outlook on the world forever. :P)
...more

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Apr 05, 2016 Kristobelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, reread

Still 5 stars.. If you can make me teary eyed, and laugh simultaneously, you win the stars. I'm going to do a thingy on the bloggity blog once I've finished novella 3, to incorporate all the thoughts..

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Oct 01, 2015 Galleywampus - rated it it was amazing

Really excellent work here. A review of the first two installments is forthcoming, likely in January.

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Sep 28, 2018 Rubi rated it liked it

Llena de amor y música, dos de mi ingredientes favoritos.
Full of love and music, two of my favorite ingredients.

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Feb 02, 2019 keikii Eats Books rated it it was amazing

96 points, 5 stars!

I put together a review for the omnibus on my blog, keikii eats books.

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Oct 07, 2015 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Something awful has happened. Diago Alvarez had thought all he had to worry about were the amorous advances of his sullen piano pupil’s mother, but something has come back from his past, not just to haunt him but to destroy him. In a fast-paced start to her three-part series Los Nefilim, Frohock takes her readers to the mouth of hell and back in In Midnight’s Silence.

Frohock is no stranger to the strange, and In Midnight’s Silence is delightfully eerie while also being poignant and soulful. It’s

...more

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Apr 14, 2015 Mia added it

***NOTE: Related story: Hisses and Wings, a short story co-written by T. Frohock and Alex Bledsoe

It is 1930s Barcelona, a city with undercurrents of conflict and a populace almost frantic in the pursuit of distraction. Diago is a half angel, half daimon who has lived difficult lives. His partner, Miquel, is a member of the Los Nefilim, marshals of the angels in keeping watch on the daimons. Their talent and magic lies in their music.

Being a half-breed, Diago's allegiance is sought by both sides ...more

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Apr 04, 2016 Hayley Stone rated it really liked it

While this didn't turn out to be my cup of tea, it was still a delightfully eerie tale that weaves supernatural elements into a unique, often neglected historical setting seamlessly.

Frohock's writing is effortless, undeniably atmospheric and, at times, downright lovely. Since this is a horror story, those more lyrical moments add to the general sense of unease that accompanies Diago's journey to save Miquel and his son, Rafael. This should not be a beautiful story. But, in many ways, it is a lov ...more

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Jun 28, 2015 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, spain, blog-tour, novella

Angels is far from being a favourite of mine in fiction BUT I might just change my mind now. In Midnight’s Silence is a dark fast-paced novella incorporating angels, daimons, music, sacrifice and love set in beautiful Spain. I keep having images of men in white flowing shirts (they don’t actually wear “flowing shirts” in the book but… what I see in my head is my prerogative!) playing guitars and gorgeous ladies doing the flamenco.

I love these characters with all their faults & strengths. The ...more

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Nov 02, 2016 Siobhan rated it it was amazing

I could go on for ages about the things I loved in this book. The characters are well-drawn and believable, the plotting is tight and effective, and the world works well. I want to particularly single out the writing of the children in the story. Rafael in particular is an absolute delight. A lovely book. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

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About T. Frohock

T. Frohock

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Website is at tfrohock.com

T. Frohock has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. A real-life cyborg, T has a cochlear implant, meaning she can turn you on or off with the flick of a switch. Make of that what you will. She currently lives in North Carolina, where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.