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Midnight Bayou
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Manufacturer: Jove
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Jove
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Jove
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Jove
Average Customer Rating:
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Midnight Bayou Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780515133974
ISBN: 0515133973
Label: Jove
Manufacturer: Jove
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2002-11-26
Publisher: Jove
Product Release Date: 2004-02-24
Studio: Jove
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780515133974
ISBN: 0515133973
Label: Jove
Manufacturer: Jove
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2002-11-26
Publisher: Jove
Product Release Date: 2004-02-24
Studio: Jove
Editorial Review of Midnight Bayou
Haunted by ghostly visions from a century past, Declan Fitzgerald is drawn to his beautiful neighbor, Angelina. But as the passion between them grows, their future together depends on uncovering a secret from the past as dark and deep as the bayou.
Customer Reviews of Midnight Bayou
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Reincarnating the characters
Review: Nora Roberts is a sure genius behind suspense novels. Midnight Bayou is just one of them. This novel tells a story about ghosts and reincarnation among Declan and Angelina. It reminds you of watching a Japanese horror flick such as the Grudge. Be sure to watch the Lifetime Original Movie by 2009 with Jerry O'Connell and Lauren Stamile.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: didn't grab me
Review: I always wonder why I dislike this one when so many people absolutely love it, so I tried to analyze my feelings during this re-read.
First off, I deliberately ignored the fact that I didn't like it when I read it before. But no such luck. I just never really connected with this book.
This is what I came up with:
* It starts with the story of Lucian and Abigail, who are not the main characters. In fact, they're long dead, and tragically.
* There is zero conflict until about two-thirds of the way through the book, but that turns out to be pretty much a non-issue.
* We get told a lot that Declan fell in love with Lena at first sight, and even get a list of things he finds admirable about her, which is nice, but I didn't see any chemistry between them, despite the sex scenes.
* Lena does that tiresome I'm-afraid-of-relationships thing that is the absolute lamest excuse for conflict in a romance novel and makes me want to chuck it against the wall.
* We don't find out until over halfway through the book that the whole point of it is for Declan to figure out what happened to Lucian and Abigail, which is kind of pointless, since we readers have known since the beginning, and there are no consequences if he doesn't--the ghosts are annoying, but not threatening.
* The reincarnation stuff again didn't have a lot of point to it, and made an already lackluster romance between Declan and Lena worse because it seems they had no choice in the matter anyway.
* I'm not a POV purist, by any means, but since one of my biggest problems with Midnight Bayou is that I didn't connect with the characters, and since that's one of the consequences of headhopping, the fact that there is a lot of headhopping might have something to do with it.
So. I feel better because I think I've given this book a fair shot, and now I can identify reasons why I didn't like it. Even what happened to Declan near the end of the book didn't endear him to me as it did so many readers.
Why three stars? That last third of the book moved pretty well, and the characters were engaging by that point.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: very disapointing
Review: This story had a lot of promise but somewhere in the last quarter of the book it took a sharp wrong turn. If you read a lot of Nora Roberts you know that usually she has an interesting twist at the end, however this time this was a very convoluted twist. That twist made it impossible for me to relate to the characters anymore and made the book really the worst I have ever read from her collection. I highly recommend skipping it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Midnight Bayou
Review: This story takes place in the present, but also in the past. Delcan Fitzgerald is drawn to a house in New Orleans called Manet Hall, but he really doesn't understand why. He just knows that since he first saw it in college, he would own it someday. He gets strange vibes from the house, and when he meets Angelina, they intensify. Together they go on the 100 year old journey to find the answers to the strange happenings within Manet Hall.
While I generally like ghost stories with the paranormal added to the mix, this went beyond the scope of what I can take. The rebirth and reincarnation of characters was just too far out in left field for me. I normally like Nora Roberts books, but this is one I couldn't get into.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Not her best
Review: Nora Roberts is a great romance writer, but this is not one of her great works. She enters the realm of the pre-Katrina New Orleans with this romance/mystery novel but as an outsider to that society she is unable to capture its actual nature (believe me, as an insider to the pre-Katrina New Orleans, I know about that lifestyle). She makes horrible mistakes in her New Orleans geography and lifestyle then compounds those errors with the fact that in this novel at least she seems to forget about the basic differences between men and women! Considering her fame as a romance writer I find some her writing not only bad, but actually bizarre! I realize that a ghost story is somewhat bizarre by nature but she takes it to an absurd point! As you can tell I found this novel disappointing and do not recommend this book. Nora Roberts should leave this sort of writing alone and let Anne Rice write about the haunted houses in New Orleans.
Review Summary: Reincarnating the characters
Review: Nora Roberts is a sure genius behind suspense novels. Midnight Bayou is just one of them. This novel tells a story about ghosts and reincarnation among Declan and Angelina. It reminds you of watching a Japanese horror flick such as the Grudge. Be sure to watch the Lifetime Original Movie by 2009 with Jerry O'Connell and Lauren Stamile.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: didn't grab me
Review: I always wonder why I dislike this one when so many people absolutely love it, so I tried to analyze my feelings during this re-read.
First off, I deliberately ignored the fact that I didn't like it when I read it before. But no such luck. I just never really connected with this book.
This is what I came up with:
* It starts with the story of Lucian and Abigail, who are not the main characters. In fact, they're long dead, and tragically.
* There is zero conflict until about two-thirds of the way through the book, but that turns out to be pretty much a non-issue.
* We get told a lot that Declan fell in love with Lena at first sight, and even get a list of things he finds admirable about her, which is nice, but I didn't see any chemistry between them, despite the sex scenes.
* Lena does that tiresome I'm-afraid-of-relationships thing that is the absolute lamest excuse for conflict in a romance novel and makes me want to chuck it against the wall.
* We don't find out until over halfway through the book that the whole point of it is for Declan to figure out what happened to Lucian and Abigail, which is kind of pointless, since we readers have known since the beginning, and there are no consequences if he doesn't--the ghosts are annoying, but not threatening.
* The reincarnation stuff again didn't have a lot of point to it, and made an already lackluster romance between Declan and Lena worse because it seems they had no choice in the matter anyway.
* I'm not a POV purist, by any means, but since one of my biggest problems with Midnight Bayou is that I didn't connect with the characters, and since that's one of the consequences of headhopping, the fact that there is a lot of headhopping might have something to do with it.
So. I feel better because I think I've given this book a fair shot, and now I can identify reasons why I didn't like it. Even what happened to Declan near the end of the book didn't endear him to me as it did so many readers.
Why three stars? That last third of the book moved pretty well, and the characters were engaging by that point.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: very disapointing
Review: This story had a lot of promise but somewhere in the last quarter of the book it took a sharp wrong turn. If you read a lot of Nora Roberts you know that usually she has an interesting twist at the end, however this time this was a very convoluted twist. That twist made it impossible for me to relate to the characters anymore and made the book really the worst I have ever read from her collection. I highly recommend skipping it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Midnight Bayou
Review: This story takes place in the present, but also in the past. Delcan Fitzgerald is drawn to a house in New Orleans called Manet Hall, but he really doesn't understand why. He just knows that since he first saw it in college, he would own it someday. He gets strange vibes from the house, and when he meets Angelina, they intensify. Together they go on the 100 year old journey to find the answers to the strange happenings within Manet Hall.
While I generally like ghost stories with the paranormal added to the mix, this went beyond the scope of what I can take. The rebirth and reincarnation of characters was just too far out in left field for me. I normally like Nora Roberts books, but this is one I couldn't get into.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Not her best
Review: Nora Roberts is a great romance writer, but this is not one of her great works. She enters the realm of the pre-Katrina New Orleans with this romance/mystery novel but as an outsider to that society she is unable to capture its actual nature (believe me, as an insider to the pre-Katrina New Orleans, I know about that lifestyle). She makes horrible mistakes in her New Orleans geography and lifestyle then compounds those errors with the fact that in this novel at least she seems to forget about the basic differences between men and women! Considering her fame as a romance writer I find some her writing not only bad, but actually bizarre! I realize that a ghost story is somewhat bizarre by nature but she takes it to an absurd point! As you can tell I found this novel disappointing and do not recommend this book. Nora Roberts should leave this sort of writing alone and let Anne Rice write about the haunted houses in New Orleans.