Review: Took me awhile but I enjoyed it
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
3.5 Stars ~ Post-apocalyptic world. Drugs. Assassination. Fear. Snark. Sex. Horror. Beauty. Violence. Love. These are the words that come to mind to describe 'After Midnight' by Santino Hassell. It's a dark and somewhat depressing tale told from both main characters’ points of view. The year is 2021 and World War III has been over for a decade but the world and its landscape remains in misery. Gordon grew up in the slums, in group homes, and for a while he bartered his body for measly money, until his best friend Carla got him working with her for her drug boss, Chance, selling Pandora. Pandora is a new drug with no side effects and few, if any, addictive properties, but it provides a euphoric high for a few hours and is very popular. In a round-a-bout manner Gordon's job for Chance is how he meets Adam, the assassin.Adam should've killed Gordon, not left him alive with a warning. Adam works for the Agency, a super secret organization which protects the country and its citizens from terrorists, by any means required. In trying to escape from a botched job, Adam ends up hiding in Gordon's apartment while keeping Gordon prisoner. Adam realizes he can't kill Gordon because, for some reason, he feels sorry for the guy whose smart mouth gets him into a lot of trouble. Adam leaves, but continues to monitor Gordon's actions to ensure he tells no one of their meeting. Then in a totally crazy turn-about, the Agency assigns Adam to go undercover with Chance and Carla to get as much information about Chance's possible terrorist ties. What a conundrum.Gordon was not an immediate 'oh, I really like him' character for me. Most of the time I agreed with Adam's impressions which included Gordon being naive, clueless, totally insecure, having no self-confidence, and being too trusting. Since Gordon grew up on the streets a lot of his behavior didn't ring true for me. Although I did admire him for his sheer determination to live. I did end up liking his character, but it took most of the book before I felt that way. Adam was difficult to get a true bead on, although I liked how he cared for Gordon even though Adam had no clue why he was doing it. Adam had serious protector vibes and they were front and center when it came down to Gordon.I have to admit that by the end of the book I was enjoying it quite a bit. There was a certain level of predictability, but I felt the author did a good job showcasing those areas. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more background on the world war in terms of what governments were left in place, and what technologies, etc. The book ended on a happy for now level so I'm interested to see whether the author decides to write a sequel. As it was this is an enjoyable story which does carry quite a bit of dark and depressing times interspersed with interesting characters.NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews