Author: John Fram
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 21, 2025
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I thought I was picking up a simple mystery, but "The Midnight Knock" dragged me into something far more ambitious and unsettling. This isn't your typical whodunit—it's a fever dream that feels like Pulp Fiction got lost in the desert with Groundhog Day with a smattering of Alien thrown in for good measure. The premise is deceptively simple: guests at an isolated motel must identify a killer by midnight or face something ancient and hungry lurking in the desert darkness. But nothing about the execution is simple.
Fram does something I've never seen before, l
iterally repeating the title page throughout the book. It should have annoyed me, but instead it added to the disorienting quality of the story. These aren't people you'd want to have dinner with—they're killers, fugitives, and criminals all hiding at a remote Texas motel. But somehow, their desperation became infectious. It's this kind of experimental storytelling that sets "The Midnight Knock" apart from typical locked-room mysteries.
iterally repeating the title page throughout the book. It should have annoyed me, but instead it added to the disorienting quality of the story. These aren't people you'd want to have dinner with—they're killers, fugitives, and criminals all hiding at a remote Texas motel. But somehow, their desperation became infectious. It's this kind of experimental storytelling that sets "The Midnight Knock" apart from typical locked-room mysteries.
The beauty of this book is that I had absolutely no idea what was happening, and I loved every confusing minute of it. Just when I thought I had a handle on the mystery, Fram would pull the rug out from under me. The supernatural horror creeps in so gradually that by the time you realize you're not reading a straight mystery anymore, you're already trapped.
The ending gets a bit wobbly, but Fram manages to bring everything together in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable. The climax delivers on the promise of the setup, even if the path there occasionally feels uneven.
A big thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
