The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld
When I catalogued this series earlier in the year, the blurbs caught my eye. I remember thinking that I would love to read them when I had the time. And then last weekend I got the chance to meet Scott Westerfeld! Naturally, I would have to read one of his books before then so I had some frame of reference when listening to him speak.
The Secret Hour is book one of a trilogy with a very X-files theme. According to the book the whole world pauses every night at midnight for exactly 1 hour. During that hour all the ancient evil spirits are free to wander and interact with the world, but at 12.01 (one hour later) they all disappear back into the restrictions that science and education have built around them.
And if a human child is born exactly at midnight, as they reach adolescence, they too can see this secret hour. They can move around as normal and interact with the world and everything in it, including the darkling spirits. In this book a group of teenagers has been gathered by cosmic influences in a small town in Oklahoma. Each of them has a special ability that will help them against the darklings. As they gather together and learn to work together they develop a true strength to fight against the evil that only they can see.
Westerfeld was inspired to develop these characters after the Columbine shootings. Apparently in the States teenagers who dressed in dark clothes, and avoided the light were seen as homicidal psychopaths after the shootings. Westerfeld has drawn his midnighters in the same gothic style, claiming that bright light can hurt, dark clothes helps them remain anonymous etc. Except his midnighters fight evil, not cause it.
I loved the book. In fact I have cleared space in my reading program to get through the other two in the series over the next couple of months. I’ll keep you posted.
