Prisoner of Midnight by Barbara Hambly is eighth and most current of the James and Lydia Asher series about vampire hunters and their uneasy vampire ally, Don Simon Ysidro. I was excited to find it’s set in 1917, with James on leave from serving as a spy at the front and Lydia recently returned from the front herself. I definitely need to find volume seven soon, as it’s set in the beginning of World War One. After a desperate call from Simon, who’s being held captive, Lydia and daughter Miranda end up on a luxury ship to America, trapped with a killer and hunted by German submarines. Hambly emphasizes the differences between first and third class passengers. A wealthy American capitalist, his thug/private detectives, and union labor struggles form a background. Meanwhile, back in Europe, James must negotiate with Paris vampires to help Lydia solve the mystery. Content warning for child deaths. There are assorted anti-Romany/anti-Semite/anti-Muslim/anti-Catholic/anti-Protestant sentiments among the passengers, including a little anti-black racism; a powder keg in a confined space.

Hambly's vampires are truly scary, even Don Simon, although he would do almost anything for Lydia and James and their daughter. This one has Lydia and Miranda crossing the Atlantic during WWI. There are murders on board, the threat of a German sub, and a captive Don Simon. Very suspenseful, with hopes of more books in this series. If you want a very good, scary vampire book, start with t

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The latest in the increasingly-should-be-called-Lydia-Asher series features Lydia tracking a kidnapped Don Simon on a transatlantic voyage through submarine-infested waters. The claustrophobia induced by both the fear of being targeted at sea, as well as by the expectations of Lydia's society relatives and acquaintances on the ship, make the ending all the more affecting. Meanwhile, James continues to work undercover in Europe, but increasingly seems marginalized in both the story and Lydia's life (although their limited interactions are still very loving and sweet). I'm interested to see where their story goes from here!

I'm a fan of Barbara Hambly but it's the first I read in this series.
I think that this book can be fully appreciated if you read the previous installment. On my side I felt confused and I think this book was not my cup of tea.
I will try to read the other books in this series and then try again.
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

At the end of the previous book, <i>Pale Guardian</i>, Lydia swore that she never wanted to see Ysidro again and that she didn't want him secretly guarding her. Two years later, at the opening of <i>Prisoner of Midnight</i>, she is contacted by him in a dream, leading to a crisis of conscience. As she writes to Jamie:
<i>Don Simon is a prisoner, somewhere. The dreams that I have had were unclear – uncharacteristically unclear – but I sense, I KNOW, that he is being held captive, in terrible and continuous pain. If he were not, he would not have asked for my help – as he did, as he is. His voice, crying out of darkness, was broken up, like fragments of a torn manuscript. The only words that were clear were, ‘City of Gold’.
The American liner SS City of Gold leaves Southampton on Wednesday, for New York.</i>

Luckily, Lydia's extremely wealthy and extremely obnoxious aunt, Lady Mountjoy, has already booked a first-class suite on that very <i>City of Gold</i>. Lydia agrees to take the voyage with her, despite two immense problems: A) she's not actually sure what she should do if she manages to find Ysidro – free him or kill him, which would at least put him out of his misery while also stopping him from killing future humans, and B) in 1917 passenger liners are frequently targeted by German submarines, meaning everyone might end up dead on the bottom of the ocean before she solves the first problem.

Lydia fairly quickly discovers Ysidro's captor, who turns out to be millionaire industrialist Spenser Cochran. Cochran's plan for a pet vampire is to have him kill strikers and miners and all those other annoying poor who demand their so-called rights. Unfortunately the <i>who</i> is less complicated than the <i>how</i>; Conchran has injected Ysidro with some sort of painful poison, part scientific and part alchemical to suit a vampiric nature, which requires daily antidotes to keep him alive. Ysidro's escape, therefore, is not a matter of unlocking a door, but of figuring out the composition of both drugs and stealing or creating a new supply.

Which is James's job. Stuck back in Europe, due to a combination of not having time to reach the SS <i>City of Gold</i> before its departure and his obligations to Britain's wartime government, he nevertheless manages to communicate with Lydia via telegram. With the help of various French and English vampires (who hate the idea of such a poison existing), he sets out to find who made the drugs and ultimately get a copy of the research notes into Lydia's hands.

Matters get even more complicated when several third-class passengers on the ship turn up dead and drained of blood. Is Ysidro somehow killing them with no memory of it, due to the poison? Is there a second vampire on board? Will an innocent third-class passenger be blamed for the murders, since "a vampire did it!" isn't a valid alibi? Lydia investigates, with the sort-of help of Cochran (who believes two pet vampires would be even better than one pet vampire), third-class passenger and anarchist Georg Heller (who absolutely believes vampires don't exist and the whole thing is probably a conspiracy to keep the poor man down), and first-class passenger and elderly Russian Princess Natalia Nikolaievna Gromyko (who believes in vampires and that they are best contacted through the Astral Plane).

Whew, there's a lot going on in this book. But it all works! The <i>Titanic</i> (1997)-esque feel of a grand passenger liner as a microcosm of society, the contrast between the glittering upper levels and packed steerage beneath, is excellent. Ysidro's constant pain and woe are straight-up <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StoicWoobie">stoic woobie</a> fuel, for those of you who love their favorite characters most when they're suffering. (I am totally one of those people.) I also really adored the resolution to the third-class murders. There's a twist at the end that I'm not so sure about, but I'm willing to wait and see where Hambly goes from here. On the other hand, the ending does potentially suggest that the next book might be set in NYC, which I would <i>LOVE</i>.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2797980106

James Asher #8

Lydia and James are back with our favorite vampire Don Simon Ysido. While James is off being a spy at the front, Lydia is boarding a luxury liner from Paris, headed to America. All she knows is that Simon is in trouble, in pain and she must help him. Then maybe kill him. But first she must find him.

Her working theory is that someone is using him and keeping him under their thrall. That someone being an obnoxious, unscrupulous American, industrialist Spencer Cochran and his henchmen. Known for making striking workers disappear among other unsavory acts.

James is trying as hard as he can to get her information on the drug that is being used on the vampire. Even going so far as to knock on the Paris vampires door for help.

When children begin dying on the ship, time is of the essence to save not only the passengers, but also Simon.  Who she really does not want to kill, but will she?

This is one of my favorite series. Historical Fiction with Vampires. What could be better?

Very Well Done!

NetGalley Reviews/ Severn House May 01, 2019

I fell in love with Don Simon Ysidro, Spanish Renaissance vampire, and James and Lydia Asher, sometimes friends and allies, consummate vampire hunters, with their first encounter in Those Who Hunt the Night, one of the best vampire stories ever. Hambly’s vampires are not nice. They are not sparkly. They are very definitely not safe. But they are compelling, and when, in 1917 and the heat of the first World War, Dr. Lydia Asher receives a coded distress call from Don Simon, she does not turn away. Theirs is a long and complicated history, and more is at stake than their friendship. If Don Simon has been taken captive by an agent of one of the Great Powers, his terrible powers could turn the tide of the war.

The story unfolds aboard a ship crossing the Atlantic, complete with revolutionaries riding belowdecks, an insanely ambitious American industrialist, Jewish refugees, and the unexpected inclusion of Lydia’s young daughter, whom she believed safe at home in the custody of one of her aunts. Oh yes, there are German submarines in these waters, and no ship is safe from their torpedoes.

One mysterious death after another stokes superstitious fears of a vampire aboard – and where is Don Simon? What hold does the industrialist, Cochrane, have over him, and how can Lydia break it? And what will Lydia have to do to prevent the introduction of a vampire to the fertile feeding grounds of America?

I finished the story, with its breathless climax, wanting to go back and read all the adventures back-to-back.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book but no one bribed me -- quite unnecessarily -- to praise it.

Vampires are not the only danger to be faced on the Atlantic voyage aboard the City of Gold.

As the Great War lasts until 1918 during the conflict of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers), against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan and the United States (the Allied Powers), this novel is nestled in the year of 1917 and gives way to an array of characters of different backgrounds and statuses.

James Asher receives the note that his wife Lydia will embark on an Atlantic crossing to solve the capture of Vampire Don Simon Ysido. He knows his wife will be in danger as the Germans are launching torpedoes at ships left and right.

Most of the story is told from Lydia's view on her travels aboard the luxury liner. As passengers one after another are being found dead in third class on the lowest deck, she is cleverly investigating. Talks of vampires on the ship and the threat of torpedoes create a generalized panic and she has little time to sort things out.

There are some big players on the ship, one of them being Spencer Cochran the industrialist, who has found a way to enslave vampires via drugs with the intent to use them as weapons. With Lydia uncovering the truth she is not only putting herself in danger but her daughter traveling with her as well. Will she be able to stop the drug and other vampires from entering the United States?

***
A cleverly written mystery in the James Asher series. It's historical flair due to the vast and different characters injected with different languages and customs, make this very atmospheric in setting. Barbara Hambly's attention to historical detail truly whisks the reader into the past.

This novel was a first for me by this author, but I could tell immediately that she is an experienced writer. I do love books like Dracula, and was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I may have to take a closer look at this series and start at the beginning.

I would recommend this book to mystery and vampire lovers alike. It is entertaining and witty, infused with historical charm.

I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you.


More reviews of mine here:
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1917 and Vampire Don Simon Ysidro has been kidnapped, drugged and enslaved by industrialist Spenser Cochran - who plans to use him as a weapon - and who are now on their way to America aboard a luxury liner.
James and Dr Lydia Asher have dreamt of the kidnap - dreams sent from the weak and dying Vampire. Lydia secures passage in the ship to rescue her friend whilst James seeks help from the ruling Vampire of Paris.
While crossing the Atlantic, children from 3rd class have been found murdered with puncture wounds on their necks and it looks like there's another Vampire on board.
Can Lydia solve the murders and save Don Simon?
Fabulous characters and lots of suspense, book 8 and it still feels fresh.

Prisoner of Midnight is a good book written by Barbara Hambly. I have not read her other works and might give the others a try.

Hard to believe that I've been reading this series for 30 years (since Those Who Hunt the Night was released in 1988)! I'm a huge fab of James and Lydia Asher, and Don Simon Ysidro is one of my all-time favorite vampires. Hambly's vampires are predators, and far more interesting to me than so many whiny emo modern vampires, This time out, Don Simon has been drugged, captured, and is being carried off to America by a nefarious businessman. Lydia, responding to his psychic calls for help that she received as dreams, is on the same ship, attempting to find and either rescue or kill him before he becomes a danger to others. Oh yes, it's WWI and the ship is in danger of being torpedoed as it makes it's way to America! Meanwhile, back in Paris, James is searching for information concerning the substance that has been used to subdue Don Simon, as well as the antidote. While not my favorite of the series, I did enjoy it immensely and am grateful to Severn House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the digital ARC.

Oh, dear. I'm not sure if the author's heart was in this one. That, or I've read so much of Barbara Hambly's work that I am sensitive to all her writing tics and can see her coming.

In 2007, Barbara Hambly wrote a short story called "Sunrise on Running Water", a story about a hapless vampire who was sailing to America on the Titanic and went down with the ship. Great idea! What a creepy thought- being unable to die whilst trapped in a coffin at the bottom of the frigid ocean. It feels like she thought about that story, decided to turn it into a book with Ysidro as the hapless vampire.

And hapless he is. Ysidro is kidnapped to be taken to America to be used for nefarious purposes on the City of Gold liner, and Lydia Asher must go after him to keep him from being used, killing him if necessary. Lydia and her husband James are kept apart all book again- I don't know when these two will be allowed to reunite! James keeps himself busy trying to help Lydia figure out who took Ysidro and why. He also gets caught up in vampire politics, as usual.

The author signposts the characters she likes and dislikes very clearly. There's a mystery on the ship- people are dying, drained of blood. Is it a vampire? Something else? The class distinctions between first class stateroom suites and third class crammed with passengers, mostly from the Balkans or Russia frantic to escape the horrors of war, are drawn deftly. Lydia is becoming a bit judgey for someone who benefits from the class system as much as she does, although there are drawbacks to being a lady as well. I found the author's language a bit twisty and confusing at times; she overexplained some things and underexplained others.

Anyway, I think the whole point of the book was to get Ysidro to the USA, and also to change him due to the torture that he endured. I'm interested to see where the author goes with this, but it felt a bit like a placeholder book. Lots of submarines were threatened, but I never really believed in that terror.

Barbara Hambly's Prisoner of Midnight is the eighth book in the James Asher series. While the series as billed as James Asher, Lydia Asher often plays an equal or larger part, as does the vampire Don Simon Ysidro.

The series begins with Those Who Hunt the Night, which I admit still remains one of my favorites in the series.

In this latest book, Don Ysidro has been drugged and taken captive and is being shipped to America. Lydia joins the voyage to find him, and to either free him or kill him, whichever becomes necessary.

Not my favorite in the series, but an interesting twist at the end that makes me eager for the next book.

Read in January; blog review scheduled for April 17.

NetGalley/Severn House.

Fantasy/Vampires. May 1, 2019. Print length: 256 pages.

Book 8 in the James Asher series (I've seen it called the Asher/Ysidro series, for reasons obvious to anyone who's been reading along, but this copy calls it the James Asher Vampire novels, so I suppose I'll go with that. I only comment because Lydia's POV, as has frequently been the case in more recent novels, seems to take up a greater page count than James's own.). It's 1917 and as the Great War rages on, Lydia finds herself on a ship to New York chasing after an imprisoned Ysidro, while James remains in Paris, playing dangerous games with the vampires at the Front in order to rustle up intel to help his wife free (or kill) Ysidro. If you haven't been reading this series, "Prisoner of Midnight" is a terrible jumping-in point. (And weirdly, the book list at the front begins with Book 3, not Book 1.). If you have, be assured this series remains in top form.

Lydia's portion reads a bit like Titanic-fiction; a bunch of wealthy early-20th Century people hobnobbing on a glittering ship headed to NYC (with an assortment of colorful characters down in steerage), except instead of icebergs everyone's terrified of German subs. James's (less-substantial, which I found disappointing; not because Lydia's part was poorly written, but just because James has always been my favorite character) part is something we've seen quite a bit of from him: playing intrigue with the Undead, desperately trying to use them to his own ends (while making himself just useful enough that they don't kill him for sport).

One of the most interesting aspects of this series (in my opinion) has long been the dichotomy between the Ashers' portrayed relationship(s) with Don Simon, and the reality of vampire/human relationships they see throughout the series. Something lampshaded throughout by both of them: is Ysidro their friend, despite being a murdering vampire, or is he engaging in the same sort of multi-year hunt that his fellow undead love so dearly? This installment gives plenty of hints for both scenarios, and certain things happen by the end that can either be read as evidence of a cuddlier Ashers/Ysidro relationship to come, or as hints that Don Simon has a very particular endgame in mind for one (or both) of the Ashers and is carefully and meticulously steering them toward it.

Very excited to see which it ends up being.