Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

by: J.L.M. Visada

Hi, I'm Daphne Dinkly. All of my friends call me DD. My fans call me a hero, but that's really not true. I'm a coward, and to be honest I'm also a traitor. The real heroes are my friends. They saved the day. I'm just the girl that switched sides at the last possible second. I had my reasons for why I betrayed them, and under the same circumstances I'd probably do it all again. I'm not proud of that. The reality is that I should be rotting in a Supermax prison right now as a terrorist, but my best friend Joseph stepped in and convinced everyone that I was some sort of double agent. He's the big scary looking muscled up guy with the cute butt that you want to just grab with both hands and squeeze for all your worth. That booty of his tempts me almost as much as leftover cheesecake, but unfortunately for me his booty already belongs to Penny. She's that gorgeous redheaded vampire that you might have seen doing commercials for energy drinks, and that new line of lingerie. When she's not making commercials marketing Midnight Squad clothing, drinks, ice cream, and even condoms. She's either playing World of Warcraft, or doing sexy things to Joseph that we probably shouldn't discuss here in this introduction.

We weren't always famous. The world didn't even know about vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts until my friends showed up and saved the day from an evil jinn's attempt at taking over the United States. After my friends saved the day the world learned about Joseph "Grim" Reaper, the newest member of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He's actually become The Death. He's got a horse and everything. He even lets us ride it. Then there's Penny, his beautiful vampire girlfriend. Danika, the lesbian werewolf dating Joseph's sister Niki. Janine, the very flirtatious ghost of a nun. Finally there's Katy. She's this super powerful gothic witch. Together we used our newfound fame to form Midnight Squad. Joseph and the girls do all the commercials, and meanwhile in my free time I get to do research and development projects for anything that suits my fancy. Money, fame, and great friends. Now if I could just get a date everything would be practically perfect.

Of course there is a reason why no one knew about vampires, werewolves, and all the stuff that goes bump in the night. That reason is an organization that calls itself The Darkness. They want to keep the world ignorant of things like my friends, and they'll do whatever it takes. When The Darkness comes after you, they don't leave survivors...they leave examples.

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4 Stars

This is one of those books that I was nervous to start reading. I really enjoyed the first one and knowing before hand that it was going to be told from a different point of view is what got me. I liked hearing about things from Grims perspective but hearing from DD was just as good. It gives you a chance to really get to know the inner workings of a different character and to see Grim in a different light as well.

Your going to find all the same stuff this time around as well. . . Love, religion, betrayal, comedy, etc. . I really don't know how Visada can fit all of it into one book and still make it work. I do feel that I have to warn people that the religious side is a little stronger this time around. To me this isn't a big deal at all, but I can see how some people won't like it. I find it to be a odd combination myself, but I get it at the same time. . .hard to explain that one.

There is a lot of growth with everyone here also. You might have thought you knew everyone pretty well after the first book, but there is changes to each one. Some big ones and some small. I really like how well we got to know DD, I feel that she wasn't really there the first book. . .but we learn a lot about her and why she did the things she did the first time and you see how someone can change to be something better by being around people that love them no matter what. Its like a little life lesson is thrown in there when it comes to DD.

I sat and really tried to think of a way to classify this book. . .to stick it into a nice little category but just couldn't. I wanted to call it so many different genres but nothing really fits this book good at all, its just a little bit of everything all mixed together and it works really good. I'm getting a lot of different genres that I really love put into one book.

There is a lot of really good references thrown around in there to. Some really made me laugh, but anyone that makes room for Killer Clowns From Outer Space is great. I have more then one of them highlighted because they made me laugh out loud.

I have to say that in order for you to enjoy this book you need to keep an open mind. This book won't be for everyone, and I'm sure a lot of people might not like a lot of what goes on it in. I say this in hopes that if you are warned a head of time you won't feel like you wasted time or money here. If you can go into this book knowing there is going to be some things that are shocking you will enjoy it more.

The only complaint I have this time around is that I felt towards the end things dragged a little. I like a fast moving plot and was getting that, but after a while I felt that I had to keep waiting for something minor before everything got going again. I get this because when you have as many characters as this you need to make sure everyone is getting the attention they need, but after I while I just wanted to know what the real deal was and to get to it.

I feel that there is going to be any other book coming as well. Once again everything is wrapped up nicely, but there is a little opening there that Visada could take to have us all coming back again to hear from Grim and the rest of the gang.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I'm a fan of J.L.M. Visada's work and look forward to seeing more from him in the future.