Midnight - (The Walking Shadows) by Brenden Carlson (Paperback)

About the Book

Dodging the mafia, the cops, and the FBI, Elias Roche and Allen must find a killer with both a time limit and a looming war hanging over their heads.

Book Synopsis

In a gritty, tech-noir version of 1930s Manhattan, an ex-cop and his robot partner must stop a killer who's sending the city into chaos.

December, 1933. The city that cannot sleep, where cartels and mobsters go bump in the night. Manhattan's delicate peace is broken when four politicians in the pocket of America's reigning megacorporation are murdered at the Edison Hotel, dispatched by an unknown assassin wielding a rare and unique weapon. The NYPD calls upon the only man for the job: Elias Roche, the Nightcaller.

With Upper City bigwigs in a panic and the shadowy Iron Hands poised to make a grab for the Lower City, Roche is having doubts about his role in the complex power structure as a former cop and current Mob enforcer. But he sets out to investigate, now under more scrutiny than ever before: a new radio show based on his escapades thrusts unwanted fame upon him, the FBI are breathing down his neck, and a relentless journalist is dogging his every move. Meanwhile, an awakening cynicism in his Automatic partner, Allen Erzly, is turning their already bleak world upside down. As the pressure mounts, it's a race to find the killer before the eve of the New Year.

Review Quotes

Brenden Carlson's noir masterwork, Midnight, brings Depression-era New York City to life in this brilliant follow-up to Night Call. With future tech. And robots. I like noir. And robots.-- "David Clink, Aurora Award-winning author and co-host of the Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi podcast"

Carlson does a good job populating his gritty, split-level world with dodgy mobsters, deadly dames, and killer machines-- "Publishers Weekly, for Night Call"

Carlson wonderfully creates a world that is instantly recognizable but is still populated with a new landscape filled with people we recognize and understand. This writer is definitely one to watch.-- "Globe and Mail, for Night Call"

About the Author

Brenden Carlson is a chemist and freelance writer. His debut novel and the first in the Walking Shadows Series, Night Call, released in 2020. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.