Midnight Hours, by Vivian Zabel, first captured my attention as a short story. I wanted more. And indeed, there was more to the story... Homicide lieutenant Martin Rogers is determined not to let debilitating injuries sustained in the line of duty defeat him. Disability doesn't suit the man who i... more

Midnight Hours, by Vivian Zabel, first captured my attention as a short story. I wanted more. And indeed, there was more to the story... Homicide lieutenant Martin Rogers is determined not to let debilitating injuries sustained in the line of duty defeat him. Disability doesn't suit the man who is used to taking care of others, but a madman's bullet forces him to accept help from family and friends. Confined to a wheelchair, the Internet becomes his social outlet and a woman known to him as "Midnight" serves as a welcome distraction from the pain of grueling physical therapy and rehabilitation. But as Martin presses her for more personal information, he learns that she bears an uncanny resemblance to a woman whose photo was found in the pocket of a dead paraplegic. To complicate matters, she's also a dead ringer for an attractive assistant D.A. The story of Midnight and why she preys on vulnerable, disabled men is a compelling one, as is Martin's struggle to prove to himself and the rest of the team that he's still an able contributor and adversary to this dangerous criminal who has now set her sights on him. Calculating as Midnight is, she has made a grievous error: Martin isn't helpless, and he isn't alone. Will her rage and frustration at being thwarted by Martin cause Midnight to make a fatal mistake? Or will she manage to stay one step ahead of her "Copper"? Author Vivian Zabel has created a cast of credible characters - men and women who are neither superheroes, nor archvillains, but people readers can relate to and care about. Readers who enjoy mystery, but who are fed up with dialogue in which four-letter words are used in place of commas, will be relieved to note that Zabel spins a yarn without resorting to excessive or inappropriate profanity. The plot moves along at a comfortable pace, occasionally taking twists and turns that are surprising yet plausible. I tend to like character-driven fiction with an intriguing story, which this is. My friends groan when they catch me reading the last pages of a book before I finish the first pages, but it helps me to decide if I care whether the characters make it from point A - the first page - to Z - the last. Not only did I care, I'm eager to read the sequel: Darkest Before Dawn.