joliendelandsheer's review against another edition
3.0
Review first published on my blog The Fictional Reader
I bought a copy of this in a secondhand shop in Dublin because a) it was super cheap and b) I love Tess Gerritsen’s mysteries. And it seemed to be about 300-330 pages at first. Until I realized that the last 60 or so pages are previews of two of her other books.
This book only has like 250 pages! For a mystery book, I feel like that’s difficult. In my opinion, a mystery needs time to develop and build the tension, and this book lacked in that department because of the length.
In general though, I quite liked the mystery. It starts with an assassin murdering an assassin. And then Sarah gets a call. Her husband has been found dead in a hotel in Berlin. Only Sarah thought he was in London. She doesn’t believe he died, and wants to find out what happened -which is where Nick O’Hara from the U.S. State Department comes in. I had fun with the mystery -even though I had to suspend my disbelief at times.
The biggest reason I only gave this book 3 stars -aside from the length- is the romance, and how prevalent it was. First of all, Sarah had only married Geoffrey 2 or 3 months ago. She had only known him for 6 months. How do you marry someone you’ve only known for 6 months? That aside, she discovers some things about Geoffrey that make her believe she never really knew him. (I’ll try to hold in my DUH! here). And that’s where the romance with Nick starts. And I feel bad for not liking the romance, because I LOVED Nick’s character. He was an honest, smart and kind person. But you can’t fall out of love with someone in a few days, and fall in love with an entirely new person! Especially when you are a) so dependent on the new person and b) he must be intertwined with your husband’s tragedy in your mind.
I bought a copy of this in a secondhand shop in Dublin because a) it was super cheap and b) I love Tess Gerritsen’s mysteries. And it seemed to be about 300-330 pages at first. Until I realized that the last 60 or so pages are previews of two of her other books.
This book only has like 250 pages! For a mystery book, I feel like that’s difficult. In my opinion, a mystery needs time to develop and build the tension, and this book lacked in that department because of the length.
In general though, I quite liked the mystery. It starts with an assassin murdering an assassin. And then Sarah gets a call. Her husband has been found dead in a hotel in Berlin. Only Sarah thought he was in London. She doesn’t believe he died, and wants to find out what happened -which is where Nick O’Hara from the U.S. State Department comes in. I had fun with the mystery -even though I had to suspend my disbelief at times.
The biggest reason I only gave this book 3 stars -aside from the length- is the romance, and how prevalent it was. First of all, Sarah had only married Geoffrey 2 or 3 months ago. She had only known him for 6 months. How do you marry someone you’ve only known for 6 months? That aside, she discovers some things about Geoffrey that make her believe she never really knew him. (I’ll try to hold in my DUH! here). And that’s where the romance with Nick starts. And I feel bad for not liking the romance, because I LOVED Nick’s character. He was an honest, smart and kind person. But you can’t fall out of love with someone in a few days, and fall in love with an entirely new person! Especially when you are a) so dependent on the new person and b) he must be intertwined with your husband’s tragedy in your mind.
thelaurasaurus's review against another edition
1.0
This book is entirely lacking in subtlety, with the plot and characters being one dimensional and cliched. I could roll my eyes through the multiple descriptions of our leading lady, Plain Jane. I could even tolerate Plain Jane and the State Department Misery-Guts falling for each other within about two meetings, despite him being the one to inform her of her husband's death, and despite the fact that she's chasing her dead husband to Europe. I could just about live with the State Department Misery-Guts thoughts about how Plain Jane was nice, in an almost pretty kind of way, and how his ex had been too pretty.
It was when they got to London (and then Margate of all places) that I lost it. Did you know that in London, everyone sits around in the fog, munching on corned beef or roast beef and horseradish sandwiches? I can't. I'm out. The highlight was a race between an MG hire car and a Peugeot, that is how bad this book was for me.
It was when they got to London (and then Margate of all places) that I lost it. Did you know that in London, everyone sits around in the fog, munching on corned beef or roast beef and horseradish sandwiches? I can't. I'm out. The highlight was a race between an MG hire car and a Peugeot, that is how bad this book was for me.
artiv's review against another edition
3.0
Blog: https://thelogophile.wixsite.com/blog
Call After Midnight is my first Tess Gerritsen book. Gerritsen was recommended to me by the same person who insisted I read the JD Robb collection, so I had to give it a go.
Call After Midnight tells the story of Simon Dance (alias Geoffrey Fontaine), who fakes his death in a Berlin hotel room. His wife, Sarah, searches for the truth and is led on an espionage chase around Europe. Alongside her is the dependable Mick O'Hara of the US State Department, helping her find her husband.
Gerritsen combines romance, action, and violence into neatly packed 250 pages. However, this also results in the character substance slightly lacking. The characters were stock and not very believable. The plot was quite standard, but well thought through.
Although I found Sarah irritating and two-dimensional, I enjoyed Nick's character. He was the most rounded character of the book, and the most believable.
Gerritsen writes the suspense/thriller parts of the book well, and the plot twists and turns ensure pages are kept turned - you want to see what happened. However, I found that the book read as more of a romance/romantic thriller, than a pure crime thriller/espionage story.
Although I wasn't too impressed, Gerritsen did leave me with enough that I am now reading the first of her Rizzoli and Isles series (The Surgeon), which I am finding a lot more enjoyable.
Call After Midnight is my first Tess Gerritsen book. Gerritsen was recommended to me by the same person who insisted I read the JD Robb collection, so I had to give it a go.
Call After Midnight tells the story of Simon Dance (alias Geoffrey Fontaine), who fakes his death in a Berlin hotel room. His wife, Sarah, searches for the truth and is led on an espionage chase around Europe. Alongside her is the dependable Mick O'Hara of the US State Department, helping her find her husband.
Gerritsen combines romance, action, and violence into neatly packed 250 pages. However, this also results in the character substance slightly lacking. The characters were stock and not very believable. The plot was quite standard, but well thought through.
Although I found Sarah irritating and two-dimensional, I enjoyed Nick's character. He was the most rounded character of the book, and the most believable.
Gerritsen writes the suspense/thriller parts of the book well, and the plot twists and turns ensure pages are kept turned - you want to see what happened. However, I found that the book read as more of a romance/romantic thriller, than a pure crime thriller/espionage story.
Although I wasn't too impressed, Gerritsen did leave me with enough that I am now reading the first of her Rizzoli and Isles series (The Surgeon), which I am finding a lot more enjoyable.
lilos_bookcase's review against another edition
I already don't like unnecessary romance, but then make it such a bad one? She had just found out her husband is dead, and yes that he is not who she thought he was. But then after only one or two meeting with another guy, we can only hear how hot he is and how hot she is and what that does to their bodies? Stopped reading at the kiss.
Maybe that's the asexual spectrum in me talking, but in a crime book I want to read about crime, not how sinful the body of another man is, only days after the husbands death.
Maybe that's the asexual spectrum in me talking, but in a crime book I want to read about crime, not how sinful the body of another man is, only days after the husbands death.
shahrun's review
2.0
My first Tess Gerritsen reading experience. I found this book OK. It was a quick easy read.
bibliobethreads's review
3.0
Really enjoyed this book, it was the first of hers that I have read and will definitely be reading more!
coffeecakesandbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Normalerweise gefallen mir die Romane von Tess Gerritsen sehr gut. Dieses Buch gehört zu ihrem Frühwerk und dieses blieb nicht unbemerkt. Es handelt sich um eine Spionagegeschichte zwischen Washington, London, Berlin und Amsterdam. Die Charaktere sind recht flach gestaltet und ich konnte keine wirkliche Verbindung zu ihnen aufbauen. Dennoch blieb die Handlung spannend, wenn auch keine allzu unerwarteten Dinge geschahen.
belladonna_nox's review against another edition
2.0
Went into this expecting an espionage/suspense/thriller story, which I got in some degree, but the amount of romance rubbish was just awful, cringe inducing and so poorly written.
Thank god Gerritsen's writing has improved since this.
Thank god Gerritsen's writing has improved since this.
sincerelyyoursannie's review against another edition
Newlywed Sarah Fontaine receives a disturbing call about the accidental death of her husband, Geoffrey Fontaine. Convinced there has been a mistake and that he is still alive, she pairs up with Mick O’Hara from the US State Department, to uncover the truth.
Full review: https://sincerelyyoursannie.com/2021/02/21/call-after-midnight-by-tess-gerritsen-book-review/
Full review: https://sincerelyyoursannie.com/2021/02/21/call-after-midnight-by-tess-gerritsen-book-review/