Midnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's Daughter

by Lynn Walker

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS, WINNER
ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD, GRAND PRIZE SHORTLIST

The first time Lynn used cocaine with her father, she was eighteen. The last time, she was twenty-one. In those three years, she lost everything and everyone she cared about and was forced to choose—her father or her life.

Lynn grew up the carefree daughter of a Miami undercover narcotics agent—until her dad snuck out of the house in the dark of night without a glance back. She never knew what happened to her father until she was in high school, and he was in prison for drug smuggling. By then, Lynn had developed a dangerous drug and alcohol habit of her own. It was the perfect setup for her to latch onto the only connection to her dad that remained when he was paroled from prison—cocaine.

Midnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler’s Daughter is a true story about family bonds, addiction and the price of holding on when it's time to let go.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, True Crime, Biography, Addiction, Historical, Crime

306 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2022

About the author

LYNN WALKER is the author of the best-selling books, Midnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's Daughter and Breaking Midnight: A True Story. Her debut novel is Three Days Earlier: A Psychological Thriller.

For many years, Lynn worked with high school students whose parents were drug addicts & alcoholics. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@walkermemoir
Instagram: www.instagram.com/walkermemoir
Facebook: www.facebook.com/walkermemoir
YouTube:www.youtube.com/@walkermemoir

Reviews

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynn’s story of overcoming her demons and the hero worship of her father.

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a crazy life the author led. It's amazing she came out the other side relatively unscathed, although she has a lot to constantly work on. Great, honest life story that was hard and harsh.

Merged review:

What a crazy life the author led. It's amazing she came out the other side relatively unscathed, although she has a lot to constantly work on. Great, honest life story that was hard and harsh.

[Eles Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t generally read memoirs because the stories always tend to go out of order and start to jump around. I get easily frustrated and confused by this, so I tend to steer clear of them. However, I was excited to be an ARC reader for this new release and volunteered to read it. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. This was the first memoir that read like a novel in my opinion, and because of that, I enjoyed it more than most other memoirs I’ve read in the past.
The story was emotionally charging. I found myself feeling sorry for Lynn while also being angry when she initially didn’t jump onto the opportunities to get help. I also found that I was able to relate to her feelings of loneliness while struggling with all of her stresses. I found myself motivated to wanting to pick up new hobbies when reading the steps of physical activities she engaged in to replace the void of drugs and alcohol. I won’t lie and say that I’ll be backpacking anytime soon but finding an activity like she did that boosts self-esteem seems like a good idea – seeing how it helped her in her journey.
The epilogue promises a sequel. Hearing the pov of her father will help reading about her experience to come full circle and I am really looking forward to it.

[Star Gater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful testament and legacy of two women, the author and her mother, and written incredibly well. This is about her, not her father.

Like so many other children abandoned by their father, the author battles wanting his love and acknowledgment of her life. She follows dark places at an incredibly young age. She is brutally honest in the choices she made. Her mother always wanting her to succeed, never gave up on her, and practiced tough love.

I am truly amazed that Ms. Walker has lived to tell her story. I'm humbled and am a better person after reading her memoir.

Through hard work lives can be changed.

There is a lot of profanity and sexual references, while I understand, they prevent 5 stars. Albeit, I think there is a lot to learn and everyone should read this.

Thank you Goodreads and Lynn Walker for the opportunity. The narration was spot on for me.

[Alice Golding · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟 The 2nd of 3 books - having read the first book from Lynn’s dad’s perspective, it was so interesting to read what was going on for Lynn during that time

[Jasmine Orton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best memoirs I’ve read in a while. Well written and held my attention from start to finish. A very honest story about family issues, an addiction and overcoming the addiction and working on herself 👏

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a must read. Good cop gone bad. Abandoned family. How both events impacted his family and their individual lives. Characters come to life with each turn of the page.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Midnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler’s Daughter

I Picked Up This Book Because: I love a Memoir.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Review copy provided by LibraryThing
Dates Read: 9/20/22 - 9/27/22
Stars: 2.5 Stars
Narrator(s): Paige Risenfield


The Story:

I hate to say it but I was a little disappointed in this book. I didn’t realize it is not narrated by the writer and I have trouble connecting with the book like this because it doesn’t feel as personal to me. Also, I thought there would be more about the father and the smuggling and her role in it but in a great amount of the book she is estranged from her father My last thought is how does she remember so much in such great detail with all of the drugs/alcohol/blacking out she has had in her past. Maybe it’s because I have such a sucky memory I can’t fathom how she managed to recall all of this.

The Random Thoughts:

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember when Lynn told me she was going to write a book. I was floored. Her story is one that easily could be fiction, but it’s not. This book is amazing. I highly recommend it. Stop reading the reviews and just buy it. You’ll finish it very quickly because you won’t want to put it down. I also recommend reading her second book, about her dad. It’s called Breaking Midnight.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads for a copy of this truly amazing book.
This is the best memoir book I have ever read! Filled with such raw emotion and light. I was rooting for Lynn the entire time. How she went from a drug addict to climbing out of the abyss was truly inspiring. I will be reading the sequel and following the author.

[Taylor M · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, this book was bumpy at first. The author, Lynn, begins with describing moments from her childhood. Her dad is amazing and caring, but his job as an undercover cop is dangerous. Although slow at first, things soon begin to pick up in the worst possible way.
Her father acts suspiciously for a while before abandoning his family. He moves in with his new eye candy and sees his kids less and less. Divorce is common, but your father turning into a drug smuggler—not so much. Of course, Lynn doesn’t know that’s what he’s doing yet.
Eventually Lynn and her brother, Ricky, get into some bad stuff, all of which the author seems to recall perfectly. Either she’s filling in holes or her memory is perfect because I can’t even remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday.
Anyway, the main chunk of this story is about Lynn’s addictions which plague her throughout high school and then college. And as her father grows more rich and powerful, her access to drugs never seems to be an issue either. This is where the story really gets toxic because Lynn begins using with both her brother and her dad. Like, a lot.
Not to mention, the poor girl has abandonment issues so she’s always selling herself short and shacking up with the wrong men. She’s not afraid to describe everything in detail, which I can appreciate. She’s brutally honest in such a direct manner it makes you think, “Oh, yeah. Snorting like a dozen lines of cocaine in one day is no biggie.”
This is the insider’s perspective to addiction and how difficult it is to overcome. No matter how many times Lynn tells herself this’ll be her last drink, you want to believe her even though it’s not likely true. She’s someone you root for because she’s so very human. I was incredibly happy with it ending on a positive note.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gripping story of a young woman’s account of her youth and relationship or lack there of a relationship with her father. I believe this shows how easily a child or teen can go off track without a consistent, strong, positive adult influence in their life and how difficult it can be for one parent to hold all the responsibility of support and care on their own. Although, I often did not agree and wished Lynn had made different choices, I enjoyed hearing this fast paced story, while I was throughout always hoping that Lynn would find her way. I am glad she was able to recover and share her story. 5 star read.

[Ector Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this memoir it is a great story of overcoming life when the cards are stacked against you. Lynn walker put her life out on paper and let us see her flawed self as only a good author can. I would have never picked this book up if it was not gifted to me but I am glad it was. I recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with addiction or if you know anyone who has. I will pass this story forward as I feel I can help someone out. Thank you Lynn for sharing you story with us.

[Rulla Alani · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Hailey Hawkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to put down in a gut wrenching way.

[Melissa Simmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

*First, I'm very grateful that I won this E-book on a Goodreads Giveaway. I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to read such an amazing Memoir and thank the Author for the Opportunity as well!*
I thoroughly enjoyed this! This Memoir was so well written that I felt like I was in the Authors shoes, feeling every raw and heart wrenching emotion, from being in the darkness to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It closed out perfectly. I believe that anyone with experience in Addiction will relate to certain aspects of this story. To the Author, Lynn Walker, everything she went through from a child through adulthood and where she is now, is very admirable and inspiring.
I truly look forward to reading her other Book, in relation to this except from her father's perspective as a Drug Smuggler and the life and demons he endured.

[Amber Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

This intimately grabbed my attention and held it to the end. Love the honesty and could truly relate to the feelings of abandonment and needing to mask it. A very real portrayal of addiction and trauma.

[Lynne Bain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I really liked this book. The story seemed so honest. I liked how detailed it was and really enjoyed every part of it.

[ChapterAddict Aka Kelly Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book Midnight Calling had me sitting there with my mouth hanging wide open half the time. I swear I have never read anything like this before.

So Lynn she grew up thinking her daddy was the good guy like wearing a badge and all. Then boom turns out he was sneaking off at night doing shady mess and lands himself in prison for hauling dope around. That right there sounds like some kinda movie but nope it was her real life.

Then when he got out she was already riding the rough train herself hitting the bottle and the white stuff. And instead of running away from the man she jumped right in his crazy world. And lemme tell ya the part where she actually sits down and uses cocaine with her own daddy I just about dropped my sweet tea. That's the type of family bonding nobody needs. Shoot a board game would have worked out fine.

The way she tells it though it isn't whiny it isn't fancy. It's just straight forward this is what happened and this is what it cost me. And by the time she had to choose between keeping her daddy or keeping her own life you just know that choice damn near tore her in two.

It isn't a pretty story but it's real and it's wild. I laughed a couple times not because it was funny but because my brain didn't know what else to do. Like dang girl how are you even still here to write this book.

I give it 5 outta 5 Catfish!

[Krazy Chicken Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book but not what I was expecting. When reading the description of the book I got so excited that I won it from the Goodreads giveaway. I love a good biography and love a happy ending which I assume this book had. I also assume that this book would be about how the drug Smuggler got his daughter into smuggling drugs that is not what this book is about this book is more last about a drug addict with a dad problem.

That doesn't make the book any less good as it is still a really great book with a happy ending the only thing I wish the author would have done was focus on the mother and how different the mother was compared to the dad. It seemed to me that the mom was working so hard but was rarely mentioned the mom seemed to really try and help but never really got through. I also wanted to know how the relationship ended at the end of the book.

[Rosa Mooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh I really really did not enjoy this. I don’t like when memoirs include a huge amount of dialogue because there is just no way that people can quote or remember entire conversations that they’ve had with people (especially conversations that happened years in the past!!)

The writing was poor and extremely repetitive, and while I sympathised with her story and her struggle with addiction, I was honestly just dying for this book to end. It felt like 306 pages of drugs and sex and drugs and sex and drugs and sex, which appears to have been what her life was like for many years but it really doesn’t make for a particularly insightful or interesting read.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

I won this from a giveaway on Goodreads. I didn’t know this book is 1 of 3. It kept me interested from the first paragraph . I am roughly the author’s age and could relate to the timeframe of her childhood and teenage years. My father was also absent, an alcoholic and did drugs with me as a teenager. I, fortunately, never fell to the lows that the author did. The story did get a little long describing her fall into addiction. But everyone has a bottom and she certainly described how she met hers. I would recommend this book. It was enjoyable.

[Kelli Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure that I buy this book being a memoir. It reads more like a work of fiction. If it is a true memoir then the author has a lot of demons she still needs to conquer starting with the hero worship of her horrible father. Also the way she tells it she spent years constantly high in cocaine or drunk and blacked out. Yet somehow remembers in details events during that time. Not convinced this is real. The timeline was all over the place and it wasn’t a great read regardless. 2.5⭐️

[Kathy Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

I can't imagine living a teenage life like Lynn Walker. She truly is a very strong woman to go through her early years as an addict and turn her life around and make great accomplishments.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and kept reading despite the primary subject of drug use. I appreciated the author’s ever ending drive for her dad’s relationship. I kept hoping for a happy ending as I wanted to see Lynn overcome and succeed her youthful indiscretions.

[Hunter Pond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read! Recommend reading this alongside Breaking Midnight - really insightful to see the life timeline of father and daughter and the similarities versus differences of what they went through.

[Paola Guimaraes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. You are able to visualize Lynn through out the story of her life. The compassion you feel for her as she overcomes her demons and finds her place in life.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a good read. Wasn’t expecting the end, overall I give you 8 out of 10. Well done

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took courage and incredible introspection to write this book.

[Wendy Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you're not a textbook addict, this memoir speaks to all of us who use some sort of substance and/or behavior to feel accepted on some level.