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Meta #0
Midnight Strikes
The prequel to Tom Reynolds' hit Meta superhero novel series is finally here.
The world is still reeling from the devastation of the final battle between the world’s strongest metahumans. Empire City has been left in shambles as it struggles to rebuild. Overnight, the world’s metabands, mysterious bracelets that offer their owner’s superhuman powers and abilities, have all ceased working. Guilt ridden over his possible hand in all of this, the masked vigilante Midnight has hung up his cowl.
Instead of fighting crime, he now spends his sleepless nights searching for clues to recover the device that might be responsible for all of it before it can fall into the wrong hands. Along the way he meets Amanda Khan, a teenage girl with a metahuman history in search of her missing friend. Both find the clues to what they’re both searching for lead them to The Receptive, a secretive cult which offers a path to meta humanity to its most loyal followers and may just hold the answers to the missing device.
Don't forget to check out the other books in the Meta series, including Meta, The Second Wave and Rise of The Circle.
The world is still reeling from the devastation of the final battle between the world’s strongest metahumans. Empire City has been left in shambles as it struggles to rebuild. Overnight, the world’s metabands, mysterious bracelets that offer their owner’s superhuman powers and abilities, have all ceased working. Guilt ridden over his possible hand in all of this, the masked vigilante Midnight has hung up his cowl.
Instead of fighting crime, he now spends his sleepless nights searching for clues to recover the device that might be responsible for all of it before it can fall into the wrong hands. Along the way he meets Amanda Khan, a teenage girl with a metahuman history in search of her missing friend. Both find the clues to what they’re both searching for lead them to The Receptive, a secretive cult which offers a path to meta humanity to its most loyal followers and may just hold the answers to the missing device.
Don't forget to check out the other books in the Meta series, including Meta, The Second Wave and Rise of The Circle.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2018
64 people are currently reading
194 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 13, 2019
This was a very exciting story. Both the world and characters were well flesh out and the story had just the right amount of action. I really enjoyed listening to it and will definitely continue with the rest of the series.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
June 5, 2023
Read the first 4 books of the series way back in college. Glad I could pick this book up with a hazy memory of the plot from the originals and still had a good time. A very safe, enjoyable, Batman-esque adventure. Having read this, I may as well read the 5th book.
7/10
7/10
May 8, 2022
I really liked the take on this story and meta humans. It was a great story and now I’m intrigued to see how the rest of this series goes!
April 24, 2018
This is a ‘Novella’ length book before anyone starts, and is a prequel story about Midnight. It has nothing to do with Connor, but it does give us some real insight into the character of Midnight, as well as history of the city around the time of the Battle, and just after.
For those of us that are real fans of the series, and have always been interested in the Midnight character, then this is the book that you have been waiting for. It is a short story of what happened just after the Battle, when all the Metabands went dead (or so everyone thought), and there was a time without Meta’s. It follows Midnight, and his human alter ego, as they try and help a young girl who has lost her friend to a religious movement, a cult of sorts, that is using the recent Battle outcome and lack of Meta’s to lure in unsuspecting people to take advantage of them for nefarious reasons.
Midnight thinks this should be easy to rescue the girl, but soon learns there is a lot more going on that he first assumed.
This is a really fascinating look at the character of Midnight a decade before he meets Connor, at who he was then, and what he was like. We also get cameos of several other characters from the series and how they met Midnight down the track.
Further to this, there are multiple references to his past BEFORE the Battle, giving us unknown history and context, adding a lot more depth to this mysterious character. Midnight is a favourite of anyone who reads the series, and it would be fascinating to see who came out on top, Midnight or Batman (there has to be a Comic deal there somewhere doesn’t there??), but for now, if you are a fan of the series, grab this book and devour it like I did, for the information, history, context for the Meta Universe, and best of all, it is a great fun read. Reynolds knows how to captivate his readers and write a proper superhero story.
This is a must for fans, however, if you don’t know the series, you could still pick it up and actually get into it for the story, without having read any of the other Meta Series. It does makes a decent standalone story – it is just good fun.
For those of us that are real fans of the series, and have always been interested in the Midnight character, then this is the book that you have been waiting for. It is a short story of what happened just after the Battle, when all the Metabands went dead (or so everyone thought), and there was a time without Meta’s. It follows Midnight, and his human alter ego, as they try and help a young girl who has lost her friend to a religious movement, a cult of sorts, that is using the recent Battle outcome and lack of Meta’s to lure in unsuspecting people to take advantage of them for nefarious reasons.
Midnight thinks this should be easy to rescue the girl, but soon learns there is a lot more going on that he first assumed.
This is a really fascinating look at the character of Midnight a decade before he meets Connor, at who he was then, and what he was like. We also get cameos of several other characters from the series and how they met Midnight down the track.
Further to this, there are multiple references to his past BEFORE the Battle, giving us unknown history and context, adding a lot more depth to this mysterious character. Midnight is a favourite of anyone who reads the series, and it would be fascinating to see who came out on top, Midnight or Batman (there has to be a Comic deal there somewhere doesn’t there??), but for now, if you are a fan of the series, grab this book and devour it like I did, for the information, history, context for the Meta Universe, and best of all, it is a great fun read. Reynolds knows how to captivate his readers and write a proper superhero story.
This is a must for fans, however, if you don’t know the series, you could still pick it up and actually get into it for the story, without having read any of the other Meta Series. It does makes a decent standalone story – it is just good fun.
July 23, 2018
3 reasons to love this book!
Having read the other books by Tom Reynolds in this series, I really loved this one too for 3 reasons:
1) the story and writing were really good (as always!)
2) the sci-fi aspect kept me feeling future-oriented even while it was set in present times (think Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Iron Man)
3) no spoilers in this book for the coming trilogy, so even knowing how it turns out in the future books, this one stands on it’s own
Good book by a great writer!
Having read the other books by Tom Reynolds in this series, I really loved this one too for 3 reasons:
1) the story and writing were really good (as always!)
2) the sci-fi aspect kept me feeling future-oriented even while it was set in present times (think Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Iron Man)
3) no spoilers in this book for the coming trilogy, so even knowing how it turns out in the future books, this one stands on it’s own
Good book by a great writer!
January 10, 2019
Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Also, I have not read any other book in this series.
Synopsis: The story takes place in a world where humans came in possession of metabands that gave them superpowers. However, one year ago the metabands spontaneously stopped working altogether and superpowers were gone. We follow our protagonist Batman - no wait, Midnight, one year later. Midnight, a once masked vigilante, has hung up his cowl and now searches for clues for the reason why the metabands no longer work. He and Amanda, a previous metahuman, cross paths and work together to find her missing friend who has been captured by a cult leader claiming to know the return of the powers brought by the metabands.
Pros: It was a light, quick, and at times fun read. There were certain action sequences that I enjoyed and had me excited.
Cons: Characters all seem very flat and predictable. Dialogue between characters was kind of awkward. Specific scenes in the books made it seem that the author did not do his research at all and didn't know what he was talking about. Majority of that were during action/fighting scenes. I won't go over everything but one clear example: One character who was a previous vigilante was in a fight against our protagonist when the pulled a gun and fired. The gun didn't fire and the character didn't understand why until the protagonist showed that he had removed the clip. This isn't remotely realistic, and this is coming from someone who isn't even a gun nut, because a gun without a clip not only has visible differences but you should immediately be able to tell the differences with the weight as well.
Overall: I wasn't able to get into the characters and there were too many scenes that didn't fit right for me to enjoy. Two out of five stars, will not continue with the series.
Synopsis: The story takes place in a world where humans came in possession of metabands that gave them superpowers. However, one year ago the metabands spontaneously stopped working altogether and superpowers were gone. We follow our protagonist Batman - no wait, Midnight, one year later. Midnight, a once masked vigilante, has hung up his cowl and now searches for clues for the reason why the metabands no longer work. He and Amanda, a previous metahuman, cross paths and work together to find her missing friend who has been captured by a cult leader claiming to know the return of the powers brought by the metabands.
Pros: It was a light, quick, and at times fun read. There were certain action sequences that I enjoyed and had me excited.
Cons: Characters all seem very flat and predictable. Dialogue between characters was kind of awkward. Specific scenes in the books made it seem that the author did not do his research at all and didn't know what he was talking about. Majority of that were during action/fighting scenes. I won't go over everything but one clear example: One character who was a previous vigilante was in a fight against our protagonist when the pulled a gun and fired. The gun didn't fire and the character didn't understand why until the protagonist showed that he had removed the clip. This isn't remotely realistic, and this is coming from someone who isn't even a gun nut, because a gun without a clip not only has visible differences but you should immediately be able to tell the differences with the weight as well.
Overall: I wasn't able to get into the characters and there were too many scenes that didn't fit right for me to enjoy. Two out of five stars, will not continue with the series.
May 2, 2018
I didn't like this one as much as the previous Meta books. I liked it just fine going into the end sequence but there were just too many things that didn't add up for me in that sequence.
Hearing a grappling hook hit and connect 88 stories below? I suppose - that would be about 300 yards. So it would sound like a bullet hitting a metal plate. I've never shot a metal plate at 300 yards so I don't know if I could hear it or not, but everybody at street level sure would.
Sliding down a line 88 stories and having the impact stress the van's suspension and knees? How about break his legs among other things.
Blinding/deafening a roomful of opponents for a span of a minute. Taking the time to knock one of them out, put on his uniform over a battlesuit and waiting to see if they notice. Then AFTER they recover deciding to fight them all.
I like the character Midnight. Just couldn't buy the end chapters of this book.
Hearing a grappling hook hit and connect 88 stories below? I suppose - that would be about 300 yards. So it would sound like a bullet hitting a metal plate. I've never shot a metal plate at 300 yards so I don't know if I could hear it or not, but everybody at street level sure would.
Sliding down a line 88 stories and having the impact stress the van's suspension and knees? How about break his legs among other things.
Blinding/deafening a roomful of opponents for a span of a minute. Taking the time to knock one of them out, put on his uniform over a battlesuit and waiting to see if they notice. Then AFTER they recover deciding to fight them all.
I like the character Midnight. Just couldn't buy the end chapters of this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2019
Because I’m Batman
Midnight Strikes is reminiscent of a classic comic book style superhero story. Midnight may not have superpowers but he is a masked vigilantly who wears black, relies on gadgets that he creates, and fights crime. While, this may not be the most original concept for a story it includes several interesting ideas that still makes the story feel unique. Furthermore, it is a clean, quick-paced superhero adventure that is able to convey a world that is both believable and entertaining. Combine all this with streamlined writing and complex world building and you get a quite enjoyable read. If you like superheros his book is worth your time.
I received a free copy this book in exchange for an honest review.
Morality rating- This book is mostly clean but it does contain valance and torture.
Midnight Strikes is reminiscent of a classic comic book style superhero story. Midnight may not have superpowers but he is a masked vigilantly who wears black, relies on gadgets that he creates, and fights crime. While, this may not be the most original concept for a story it includes several interesting ideas that still makes the story feel unique. Furthermore, it is a clean, quick-paced superhero adventure that is able to convey a world that is both believable and entertaining. Combine all this with streamlined writing and complex world building and you get a quite enjoyable read. If you like superheros his book is worth your time.
I received a free copy this book in exchange for an honest review.
Morality rating- This book is mostly clean but it does contain valance and torture.
May 8, 2019
I have been looking for some superhero books for my middle school age son and this one is perfect! The main character is a bit like a Batman vigilante in that he used technology to get his superpowers and also dresses in black yet still is his own unique superhero. The book grabs you pretty quickly even though at first I was a bit confused the author uses that like a mystery to figure it out. It was a really fun read and the narrator does a fantastic job with the voices and overall acting and telling of the story. I'm looking forward to checking out the other books in the series.
There is some violence but not extreme, in terms of language there were only few commonly used cuss words like "damn" but no f-bombs, and no sexual content.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
There is some violence but not extreme, in terms of language there were only few commonly used cuss words like "damn" but no f-bombs, and no sexual content.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
April 30, 2020
More meta
Midnight, the definitely not Batman character, temporarily disguised as Simon, finds that his metahuman shenanigans aren't over. There's a few not entirely obvious twists, and the scene is being set for the return of the metabands. Midnight makes a more realistic Batman, a bit less plot armour, and a more interesting take on masked vigilantes.
Midnight, the definitely not Batman character, temporarily disguised as Simon, finds that his metahuman shenanigans aren't over. There's a few not entirely obvious twists, and the scene is being set for the return of the metabands. Midnight makes a more realistic Batman, a bit less plot armour, and a more interesting take on masked vigilantes.
December 31, 2020
Fantastic story!💜
Wow! This book was highly entertaining. Mysterious superhero type vigilante works from the shadows. How sexy is that? Great suspense, wonderful storyline. This is my first book narrated by Mike Carnes. He absolutely killed it. I can’t wait to listen to more of his books.
This is a prequel and the adventures continue.
I highly recommend this book!
Sisters Spotlight 💜
Wow! This book was highly entertaining. Mysterious superhero type vigilante works from the shadows. How sexy is that? Great suspense, wonderful storyline. This is my first book narrated by Mike Carnes. He absolutely killed it. I can’t wait to listen to more of his books.
This is a prequel and the adventures continue.
I highly recommend this book!
Sisters Spotlight 💜
June 24, 2018
I really like the universe that's been built in this series, but this prequel felt like a step back (yeah, figuratively and literally). The writing seemed a lot more sloppy, haphazard and rushed than I remembered from the previous entries.
September 23, 2021
Very good prequal that gives some insight intot he history of Midnight. I enjoyed it very much. The quality of writing doesn't seem to be quite as up there as the main series, but again, very nice add to the story.
June 14, 2018
Nice prequel
Everybody likes Midnight, so a novella about him should be agreeable to any fans of the Metahuman series. It was for me.
Everybody likes Midnight, so a novella about him should be agreeable to any fans of the Metahuman series. It was for me.
January 11, 2019
Short but good
This story isn't as long as his others but I does help flesh out Midnight. It also helps to possibly add in a new character or two.
This story isn't as long as his others but I does help flesh out Midnight. It also helps to possibly add in a new character or two.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews