The Face of Midnight

by Dan Padavona

Becca is homeless, but she sleeps in the finest homes.

She might even be sleeping in your bed right now.

But danger is closing in on Becca. New York's most-feared serial killer, The Midnight Killer, is butchering victims on his way across the state.

After Becca flees from a deranged stalker, she takes shelter inside an abandoned farmhouse. Something evil lurks within the house, and a freak October storm has trapped Becca inside.

And it's Halloween Night.

Genres: Horror

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2016

About the author

Author of the Wolf Lake and Darkwater Cove series.

Want a free thriller and mystery book? Please join my VIP thriller readers club at
www.danpadavona.com.

I'm a father, husband, dog lover, and an advocate for animals and the homeless.

My kryptonite is ice cream, and my super power is cranking heavy metal.

More than anything, I love a good story. Let me tell you one.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a very disjointed read. It wasn't a horror story, which is how the synopsis sounded. Halloween was also referenced, making it sound like a significant backdrop to the book, which it was not. I believe it was only referenced twice, and nothing beyond that fact that it happened to be that day. And the Midnight Killer did not make an appearance until the very last portion of the book, and it was fairly brief. In fact, I felt like it was a hard pivot from the trials and tribulations of Steve and Becca to suddenly they're discovering snuff films and being pursued by multiple assailants. The beginning of the book also was very rocky before it found its flow. So my biggest critiques were how this was advertised. It was made out to sound as if the story would follow Becca, who is being terrorized by The Midnight Killer in some creepy old house, akin Halloween with Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. There is no mention of our main character, Steve, and honestly, nothing really paired up. It felt like several different stories trying to run parallel with one another, with very loose connections, instead of being a singular experience. And the ending felt like a bit of an information dump about the identity of the killer, and Donna's part in everything, too, which I didn't think was done well, either. The actual quality of the writing was very good, and I did enjoy the relationship dynamics of Steve and Becca, but everything else just felt very haphazard. This needed to either significantly change the focus of the story, eliminating a lot of the unnecessary plot points, going for either a strict horror story or a drama. For a much better Dan Padavona book, I would highly recommend Crawlspace.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. It really reminded me of a Laymon novel. I also really liked the character Becca. I enjoyed the ending.

[Sharkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

11pm is not the time to be reading the climax of horror novels, but apparently I like to live on the edge. I also suggest not reading this while lying on your stomach - I think it's been five times Ive looked over my shoulder expecting to see the Midnight Killer with his axe and clown mask, prepped to strike.

Maybe I just have an overactive imagination. Aw well, a few nightmares here and there do the body good.

If you can't tell, this book scared me. That foreclosure house they were in... it wasn't right from the beginning. Just... it felt wrong. I didn't like it. It was a bad house. But a bad house makes for a wonderful horror setting.

Anyway, I'm a bit on edge now, and it's late, and I'm going to try sleep. Read this book if you like horror! Read any of Dan's books if you like horror. They're all horrific and wonderful.

[Richard K. Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had NOTHING to do with Halloween or being a horror book...only that the last 8 pages take place on Oct. 31st. Cannot recommend this snooze fest.....

Well, looks like I will never be reading Dan Padavona again. This was the WORST case of an author trying to cash in on my favorite night of the year; Halloween by touting this supposedly horror novel being about a 'Midnight Killer' or that it 'is Halloween'. The cover is the 2nd best thing about this stupid and boring ass book about this weird chick by the name of Becca who is homeless by choice, and she moves around by staying temporarily in people's home that are away from them. And how does she know this....she uses the computers in the local library where ever she just happens to be at the time. This is how she gets hooked up with Steve and takes him on her little 'steal, and stay' life....all while this so called 'Midnight Killer' stalks the streets of the New York area and his on his way to Barton Falls.

The worst part of this entire book is that it has NOTHING to do with Halloween, and the image of the 'clown face' on the front cover does not even show up till after page 2oo..and there are ONLY 225 pages in the whole thing. It is so boring, slow and just a bad overall attempt to cash in on Halloween Horror that never ever comes.....sorry.

1 😴

[SB Senpai Manga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books gives you extremely high anxiety as everything bad that could happen does happen to Steve. His car is totaled, his landlord cheats him out of money and evicts him, a woman won’t leave him alone, he lost his job, and a serial killer is stalking the area. At least he made friends with a homeless woman who spends her time squatting in other people’s homes. What this book does very well is make you feel empathy for each character during their daily activities. In fact you sometimes forget that this is a horror book when it’s mostly focused on how much Steve can’t catch a break to the point it makes the reader create tension in their mind. But all the setup is there as it periodically reminds you that the danger is coming and the final three chapters pull no punches for a great horror experience.

[Tee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t understand the great reviews. When I first started the book I thought the writing was quite odd, stilted and simplistic, but I kept reading. The more I read I realized it was stilted and simplistic because the author writes like someone in elementary school writing their first “scary” story.

The story was so implausible, and the way he fell immediately in love with some vagrant chick was ridiculous, his stalker Donna was so over the top, and if he told me one more time that there was TWLEVE DVDs I was going to scream.

So predictable. I did end up finishing it and was so disappointed in myself for wasting my time.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book probably deserves 2-stars but I’m rating it a 1 cause I was so bored I DNF.

I’m partially bias because I had a negative opinion of the authors other novel “Crawlspace” before heading into this one, but this was just as boring in my opinion. The chapters were longer than the process to get a green-card approved and I didn’t care for any of the characters.

If you like the author, maybe this deserves a higher review. But with the exception of Camp Slasher, his books have not been for me. I see an attempt in his writing to mimic Richard Laymon, but without any of the suspense that Laymon creates.

I’m really disappointed… I was so excited when I bought this book 😢 Oh well.

[Matthew Marcum · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts off rocky and a bit too quickly for my liking, but it finds its footing about a quarter of the way through and then keeps swinging. I loved Richard Laymon’s Night in the Lonesome October, and this hits a lot of the same beats and vibes.

As I said, I do wish the author had taken his time building the world and life of the MC before diving fully into the chaos, but it was overall really enjoyable. I’ll definitely be reading more.

[Ken Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book by this author. I've enjoyed hearing him on the Horror Show with Brian Keene. That didn't really tell me much about what to expect of him as an author though. I feel the book started a little slow but maybe only first chapter or so. Then it really took off. Started it yesterday and done before noon today.

[Bill Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun/ Scary

Kinda like the Scream Stories and kinda not. Fast paced, keeps you interested.
Over all good looking forward to the next one

[Barbara Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Trapped"

Trapped is exactly how I felt. Glued to my seat, my stomach in a huge knot and to scared to not finish the page. This certainly is a different side of this author.

[Scherrie Manes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book...

but a little wordy. Great characters and storylines. This book really does give you the creepy crawlies more then once throughout the book.

[Bonnie Racki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay

I don't think it talked too much about the Midnight Kill. It took a long time for him to really come into play and it seemed that it didn't last long.

[Conny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great.
I would love to have an extra chapter to see Becca again.
Just a little extra chapter ....