MIDNIGHTERS #2

This suspenseful sequel to Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour (2004) reveals some secrets of the magical town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Bixby has quieted down since Jessica and her friends defeated a mass of darklings. The monsters that terrorize the midnighters (those, like Jessica, who walk in the magical secret hour after midnight) are avoiding the town. But now the midnighters are in danger from a new kind of monster: humans. Some normal people have discovered the midnighters’ secret, and they’re stalking Jessica. Worse, they seem to be in league with darklings, and with a new, extra-dangerous darkling-human hybrid. While the other midnighters pair off, Dess, the polymath, uncovers more of the enigma of Bixby with the help of a stranger who’s been hiding for decades. Despite a too-sudden conclusion, this powerful page-turner is compelling as it pits heroes against unspeakable evil both human and supernatural. (Fantasy. 12-16)