Title: Under The Midnight Skies
Author: Mary A. Lonergan
Publisher: LitFire Publishing
ISBN: 978-1643986302
Pages: 168
Genre: Adventure / Western / Romance
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop
Pacific Book Review
In the late 1800s, as one century is coming to a close and another is about to begin, a young woman becomes restless with her life as a teacher in New York and decides to follow her dream of becoming an actress. Her talent is exceptional, success ensues, and soon she is agreeing to sign with a theatrical producer who has contacts out west. Her destination is Texas and that’s where the most harrowing adventure of her life is about to unfold.
Told from a third-person omnipotent perspective, this is the story of Anna, a young woman of good parentage, high morals, and possessed of a courageous spirit. She enthusiastically performs in Shakespearean plays that enthrall the educated and illiterate alike in the burgeoning city of Dallas. There she meets good men and bad. Dodge is a fellow thespian who plays along side her and watches over her much as an older brother might. Brock is the man who falls in love with her and wants to make her his wife. But lurking in the wings is Jake, a dastardly man who will pay for Anna’s slip of the tongue, spiral into failure, then plan and execute a heinous act of revenge that will take its toll not just on Anna, but others as well.
Author Mary A. Lonergan is a spirited storyteller. She weaves an interesting plot to keep her tale moving while simultaneously developing her characters fully. We learn of Anna’s stalwart parents who pursue their missionary zeal among the less fortunate in Canada. We’re exposed not just to Brock’s handsomeness and chivalry, but also to his Native American and Irish ancestry. We gain understanding of Jake’s descent into madness as he desperately schemes to bring hardship, pain, and eventually death to the woman he blames for ruining his career.
Lonergan sets the table for her novel by opening with a daring rescue attempt by one of the principal players. Then she flashes back to the actual beginning of the story and lets her narrative play out chronologically. This decision, to “set the stage” by introducing suspense and action early, is a good one. It whet’s the reader’s appetite for the full chronicle that is to follow. It also must be said however, that a lack of thorough editing throughout the book impedes one’s intensity of involvement with this potentially compelling yarn. Still, if rousing tales of the old west are to your liking, you may well want to head west toward Laredo and Anna’s exciting adventure Under The Midnight Skies.
