Book Description
I am Meredith Gentry, P.I., solving cases in Los Angeles, far from the peril and deception of my real home - because I am also Princess Meredith, heir to the darkest throne faerie has to offer. The Unseelie Court infuses me with its power. But at what price does such magic come? How much of my human side will I have to give up, and how much of the sinister side of faerie will I have to embrace? To sit on a throne that has ruled through bloodshed and violence for centuries, I might have to become that which I dread the most.

Enemies watch my every move. My cousin Cel strives to have me killed even now from his prison cell. But not all the assassination attempts are his. Some Unseelie nobles have waited centuries for my aunt Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness, to become weak enough that she might be toppled from her throne. Enemies unforeseen move against us - enemies who would murder the least among us.

The threat will drive us to allow human police into faerie for the first time in our history. I need my allies now more than ever, and to keep my alliance with the Goblin Court, I must attend a ball in my honor. It is a frightening and erotic dance that can end only in the bed of Holly and Ivy - twin brothers, half-sidhe and half-goblin, feared warriors but empty of magic. If I can awaken their sidhe magic, then the goblins will be my allies for another two months. Pain and pleasure await me - and danger, as well, for some at that court seek only death.

Before I risk the dangers of the Goblin Court, I will embrace Sholto, the Lord of That Which Passes Between, in all his alien beauty. I will find new joys with the butterfly-winged demi-fey. My guards and I will show all of faerie that violence and sex are as popular among the sidhe as they are among the lesser fey of our court. I will go to the beds of men I do not know - and do not trust - in a bid for political and military might. Passions undreamed of await me - and my enemies gather, for the future of both courts of faerie begins to unravel.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
In A Stroke of Midnight, Laurell K. Hamilton's fourth Meredith Gentry novel (A Kiss of Shadows, A Caress of Twilight, and Seduced by Moonlight), everyone's favorite private investigator -- and sexy faerie princess -- is back home in the treacherous Unseelie Court, trying to come to grips with her burgeoning supernatural powers.

After a barely thwarted assassination attempt, Princess Merry NicEssus (a.k.a. Los Angeles private eye Meredith Gentry) -- ignores the counsel of her aunt Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness, and decides to hold a press conference inside the fairy mounds: a dangerous move for all humans and sidhe involved. As the session is ending, two dead bodies are discovered -- one sidhe, one human. While police and FBI agents swarm the area, Merry's cadre of hunky sidhe guardians must not only track down the killer or killers and pacify the temperamental Queen; they also must find a way to impregnate Merry so that she can become the next Unseelie ruler. But as her sensual experiences begin to affect everyone around her in amazing ways, Merry realizes that with new powers come new responsibilities -- and new temptations.

Although the overall Meredith Gentry story arc isn't advanced that much in A Stroke of Midnight, there are shocking revelations regarding the history of the Unseelie Court, as well as the jaw-dropping consequences of Merry's new powers. Saturated with suspense, mystery, and, of course, Hamilton's famously unbridled eroticism -- A Stroke of Midnight will leave Meredith Gentry fans both utterly satisfied and begging for more. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

I am Meredith Gentry, P.I. and Princess Merry, heir to the throne of Fairie. I have departed the safe haven of Los Angeles to face the peril and deception of my first home, the Unseelie court. There, my enemies are many, and my guards may not be able to protect me from the treachery of the unseen foes that will stop at nothing to keep me from the throne.

As for my quest to produce an heir and thereby save myself and all that is faerie from utter destruction - well, I am still trying. As pregnancy becomes ever more urgent, I must leave the protected beds of the Queen's Ravens and lay with other men, men whose designs and allegiances remain in question. And a night of delirious passion will transport me and my new lovers to another place, the mysterious dead gardens - an event that portends great unrest in the forces of magic.

In order to save myself and those I love, I must walk into the very mouth of danger, and visit the Goblins in their lair - as well as the cunning King Taranis himself, who has an astonishing proposal for me. For I alone hold the power to rescue the universe, even if it requires aligning with my greatest and most dangerous of adversaries. But I'm running out of time. . . .

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Solving a double homicide, avoiding assassins and coping with growing, sometimes uncontrollable, power keep faerie private detective Princess Meredith NicEssus (aka Meredith Gentry) busy in the fourth and strongest entry in Hamilton's adult fairy tale series (after 2004's Seduced by Moonlight). When someone murders a fey and a reporter during a press conference inside the Unseelie's headquarters, Merry calls in the cops to assist (and inadvertently involves the FBI as well). But once on magical turf, human police face challenges and dangers of which the princess was unaware. Meanwhile, Merry lives up to the five fertility deities in her lineage and lustily fulfills her royal duty of mating with sidhe males and making sex beyond mere human comprehension. As Merry matures, the meaning of all the sex and magic comes into more effective focus, as does Hamilton's underlying mythos of the restoration of the faerie race's true power. The absence of complicated politics results in a more palatable plot than in previous volumes. By the end, the Unseelie court seems to be tiring of Merry's super-sadistic Aunt Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness (as are, most likely, many readers). The queen's son and Merry's rival for the throne, Prince Cel, looms as an even greater, more corrupt menace to her future. Faeries, fornication and forensics fuse for yet another darkly fantastic frolic for Hamilton fans. Agent, Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House. (On sale Apr. 12) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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