Publisher: Penguin/ACE
Released: May 5, 2015
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she’s beautiful and dangerous.
Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred’s regular—and very wealthy—clients dies during a reading.
Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight
Day Shift, the second installment in the Midnight, Texas series, picks up 5 months after Midnight Crossroad ended. The series features an eclectic group of misfits who call Midnight home. There is touch psychic Manfred Bernardo who is still fairly new to town; witch Fiji Cavanaugh and her talking cat Mr. Snuggly; pawn shop owner Bobo Winthrop; Teacher and Madonna Reed; gay couple Joe Strong and Chuy Villegas; Reverend Emilio Sheehan, Olivia Charity, and vampire Lemuel Bridger who isn't really a factor in this story.
All have secrets but nobody really seems to mind living in a podunk town that sees little traffic but is far from being truly boring. Day Shift dives further into the mysterious and secretive lives of Joe, Olivia, and the Reverend. Several different storylines happen concurrently as well. There are new owners of the long shuddered hotel and nobody knows why they've reopened or why they brought senior citizens along with them.
Manfred goes on a business trip to Dallas and faces a major challenge after his customer dies under mysterious circumstances. On top of all of this, the victim's son blames Manfred for stealing jewelry from his mother, and the police don't much care for what Manfred does for a living. Manfred finds an ally in the most unexpected places: Olivia who just happens to be in the same place at the same time as Manfred and leaves her own mystery for Manfred to think about.
Olivia's past is briefly explored and readers get a better understanding of what she does for a living when she goes on her business trips, and how she gets things done in order to help Manfred and the town from being exposed. Olivia has a very interesting background, and one that definitely comes into play in Day Shift. One could say that Harris wants Olivia to stay mysterious for a bit longer since she only briefly covers the family angle. The only drawback is that Olivia doesn't have an outlet for her anger with her vampire lover gone.
Joe and the Reverends uniqueness are also exposed for what they really are, and I think you will be mildly surprised. Then there is the brief appearances from a certain Were-Tiger from the Sookie Stackhouse series who has a son named Diederik, and Barry Bellboy who is being hunted by vampires. I adored the kid. Seriously! I loved his interaction with Fiji and the others. He was very respectful and pleasant, and not at all like other kids. He knew he was different, but nobody could figure it out until later in the story when the pieces finally fit together.
Even though were more than a few unanswered issues like the hotel, the owners, and the residents who were brought to Midnight, I will definitely be reading Night Shift when it releases next year. Perhaps we will get more of an understanding about the town's only vampire, and how his search for answers went. Harris also hasn't dug into Bobo's background, and if he's like the rest of the group, I'll be a happy camper.
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This has a lot of people. I'll maybe try this, see if I can get away not reading the firstbook
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