A review by sipping_tea_with_ghosts
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

WHY

Midnight Water City is a book I wanted to like but found myself avoiding completion for at any opportunity I could for other works. The premise on its own is interesting and some of the worldbuilding is creative but this story feels much more science-fantasy than it does science fiction, omitting any explanations for why the world is the way it is - hardly speculative or introspective.

The story itself is also lacking in the mystery department - delivering answers in a way that feels convenient at best and borderline magical at worst. The second half of the book is especially guilty of this, using hallucinations and dreams as hardcore evidence and a diary as the entire backstory for the main villain. Questions are raised and never answered, possibilities are given center stage but with no real point. As the last third approached and the culprit finally showed themselves, I started to wonder if my audiobook was buffering or reading from something else entirely but no, the tone shift really did go from old man detective with a railgun to anime fox girl with absurd mommy issues mutilating themselves for the sake of self ownership.

As the start of an alleged trilogy, this book unfortunately doesn't work as a satisfying one-off nor does it set up future adventures with much confidence. The main character is an 80 year old detective with nothing much more than the noir clichés and some superfluous differences such as color blindness and synthesia. The guy also rambles way too much about the same guilts and self doubts for far too long, so being stuck with him for two more books sounds like it'd be equivalent to getting locked into conversation at a painful family cookout by your condescending relatives. (Honestly if Goodreads didn't say it was going to be a trilogy, I would have never guessed. Nothing about this story indicates something bigger is going to happen later or that so much needs to still be explored by Detective Grumps.)

Overall, a disappointing mystery with a plodding pace, absurd plot points, boring characters and a wasted setting. I'd rather go to Rapture, at least my stay would be longer and more thrilling than what was advertised on this cover.

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