Those who read my reviews know that I’m always on the hunt for good, intriguing and memorable horror books. This is what led me to request to review The Midnight Knock by John Fram. Now that I’ve completed it, I’m here to share my thoughts.
Back in 2020, I heard about a talked about upcoming book called The Bright Lands by author John Fram. It was touted as being unique, interesting and a new take on queer horror. Not completely sold on its Texas setting, football and overall premise, but intrigued, I borrowed it from a nearby library and read through it almost immediately. I’ve remembered that book since, but didn’t put the author of this one and that one together as being the same person when I requested to review The Midnight Knock — possibly due to fatigue or a brain fart. The premise was so interesting, though, that I probably would’ve given it a shot regardless.
The honest truth is that I did not like The Bright Lands by John Fram, and didn’t give it a great review back then. It started off well and had a likeable plot, as well as a likeable protagonist and mystery. However, I found it became harder to read, follow and enjoy as it went along, and I struggled to finish it. Something similar happened here, although I liked this book more overall.
I’m worried about spoiling anything, but The Midnight Knock has a lengthy and detailed description on GoodReads, and likely elsewhere. As such, I feel OK about sharing the description that I have in mind.
Set in a rather desolate, desert like and forgotten part of Texas called the Borderlands, The Midnight Knock begins as two men who have feelings for each other leave a run down and indebted auto shop ablaze, and flee the corpse that resides inside. These men — Ethan and Hunter — then head west, have an encounter at a diner and then flee south on a road they’ve been warned about. There, they run out of gas on a road that seems to never end, and are passed by others who do the same thing.
After hours of walking, though, they end up at a dated but seemingly pristine motel, which looks like it came right out of the mid-fifties. There, they meet others who are also seemingly stuck at this motel, which was said to have been desolate, run down, and left to rot for decades after twelve people suddenly disappeared one night not long after it opened. However, the Brake Inn Motel is looking good, is no worse for the wear and it’s being manned by two strange twins who seem to have something to hide.
After one woman is found murdered in a professional way, but also in a way that raises questions, the group is told that something has begun. They are informed that they must solve the killing before midnight strikes, otherwise they’ll all die. The area around the motel and the massive, ever changing, mountain it resides beside is dangerous, so say the twins.
What follows is a kind of Groundhog Day style story, in which the group discovers that they are part of something ancient and repeating, and that things certainly aren’t as they’ve ever seemed.
The first night that I had access to The Midnight Knock, I had a hard time putting it down and read approximately 47% of the book within several hours. I sat outside during an unexpected thunderstorm and slowly devoured it. However, I kind of lost steam with it afterwards, and didn’t have that same ease while reading the back half. The first part of this book is intriguing, hard to put down and captured me, but the latter one was kind of messy, overly repetitious and a bit of an information overload.
In all honesty, this book turned out to be nothing like I expected. In a way, I guess that’s a good thing. However, I can’t say I was a fan of what the whole mystery found in the premise turned out to be about. I think that was part of why I didn’t enjoy the somewhat messy and convoluted back half, as I was disappointed by what the big reveal was and wasn’t all that surprised by some of the others. The ending also wasn’t for me, and was a bit of a whimper as opposed to anything big or worth the wait.
Another thing about The Midnight Knock that started becoming somewhat problematic was how many viewpoints it had. Eventually, almost every person at the motel had had at least one chapter told from their perspective, and it was a lot to keep track of all of their different movements, thoughts and decisions over the time this novel covers. Things changed over time, too, so there was a lot to keep track of.
In the end, I feel that The Midnight Knock is a better book than the author’s first effort, but can not honestly say that I enjoyed it enough to really recommend it. It’s a book that starts well, grips you and then both becomes convoluted and peters out as it goes along. I can’t say for sure, but it seems like the author might have been unsure of how to end this story, and may have even been unsure of how to trap these people at said motel. It kind of feels that way.
I read an advanced reading copy, so it wasn’t fully edited. Due to that, I cannot quote the book or scrutinize the writing in depth. There were some issues that will likely be ironed out during editing, and the writing was fine overall.
At the end of the day, The Midnight Knock by John Fram didn’t live up to my hopes. It hooked me, but then I began to struggle with its information overload, many viewpoints and repetitive structure. It has a good premise, but doesn’t take full advantage of it. It has some gore, but also isn’t scary or all that thrilling once you know what’s going on, which was a tad disappointing.
Overall, it’s just OK.
This review is based on a copy of the book that we were provided with. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the early and free access.