I don't think I've ever read anything by Jonathan Moore, but I did like this one. It was a strange book that I thought would be a police procedural, based on the beginning, but then gets very sci fi with some romance and mystery thrown in. I enjoyed it and I"ll read more by this author.

3.5 Stars

This book took me awhile to get interested in. It seemed slow to start, but finally picked and kept me interested. It was really good and kept me invested. I loved the story line and the relationship that Carver and Mia develop. I would read more from this world.

I've enjoyed the author's previous work, but for some reason, I struggled to connect this time around. The storyline wasn't one that I was finding enjoyable. Therefore, I made the tough decision to set the book aside and move on. Thank you for granting me access to an early copy.

I wasn't able to finish this book, so I decided not to review it on my site or any of the major retailers/Goodreads.

Inspector Ross Carver is called to the home of one of the most expensive homes in the city. When the FBI storms in and takes over the case, Carver is forced into a disinfectant trailer and given a potion that disorients him.

Carver cannot remember how he gets home or why he wakes up with his neighbor keeping watch over him. As he learns that he was carried into the building by strangers, Carver begins to investigate the circumstances and people that he met that fateful night.

Full of twists and red herrings, The Night Market is a novel full of conspiracy theories. I was a bit disappointed in the ending myself.

"Do you ever think there's maybe something that's gone wrong with the world?"

The setting is San Francisco, but in a possibly near future time, when Inspector Ross Carver and his partner Jenner come upon a sight so unusual -- well the dead body part is not out of the ordinary -- it's the fact that it looks like it is has been cooked and eaten that takes them by surprise. Moments later, the FBI storms their scene and whisks them off to be decontaminated. Carver wakes a few days later to find his neighbor, Mia, reading to him. What follows is an incredible tale of greed and memory manipulation that has affected the entire society.

This is a very fast-paced, action-packed thriller. It's really just what I needed. The writing is stellar and so are the characters. And what a memorable ending. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller!

Wow! Immediately rushed to Amazon to find the other books by this author in the same world. Great neo/cyber war, echoes of Neuromancer though way less tech-y.

This book is not for me and it is not for everyone. I really tried to get into this one but it fell short for me. I will admit I did not and could not finish it.

That book description had everything to hook me: some kind of strange disease, a FBI secret, a mysterious neighbor... I thought I was in for a great ride!

Well, I didn't go as far as I tough but it was all right nevertheless. The character are well written and likable, the tension was really there and the run to find who's behind everything was great.

Only thing that bore me was that there was maybe too much stuff going around. In the end, the description doesn't give any hint of what is really happening in the book which is more about a big old technological conspiration that about a mysterious disease.

Mia is the key to all the story so the investigation about the dead guy at the beginning and all the stuff with the FBI was not necessary.

Moore mastered the character's hide and seek part with the bad guys and I was really worried about them. His writing is great and does a lot to improve the quality of the book. What misses most maybe for the story is some context that could have help me to understand why Mia is hunted and why people react as they do.

In a nutshell

A good book that could have been great if the author hadn't put all different kind of theories and conspirations in one story. It's a 3/5 for me.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on January 16, 2018

The Night Market is a near-future science fiction thriller. Many thrillers that are based on wide-scale conspiracies tax the reader’s ability to suspend disbelief, but readers are conditioned to suspend disbelief when they read science fiction, so the conspiracy seems plausible. In fact, given the rampant nature of consumerism and the ease with which corporations place profit over moral behavior, the conspiracy would be all too likely if the technology upon which it depends actually existed.

The near future in which the story is set is not a nice place. Big chunks of urban areas belong to vandals at night. Police brutality is unchecked. Isolation is a way of life. Consumerism is the new heroin.

Ross Carver is a police inspector in San Francisco. He and his partner, Cleveland Jenner, investigate a report that a blood-covered guy inside a house is beating a bedroom window. A few minutes after the report is made, the man had turned into a pile of cooked meat. By the time Carver and Jenner arrive, the dead man is a pile of moss. A few minutes later, the feds have Carver and Jenner in decontamination and are burning down the dead man’s house. And after that, they don’t remember a thing. In fact, they don’t remember responding to the call.

Before their memories disappeared, Carver and Jenner were investigating Patrick Wong, who has now disappeared. Jenner thinks he interviewed Wong, although he doesn’t recall the details. They wanted to talk to Patrick Wong so they could find Johnnie Wong, who may have murdered a singer named Hadley Hardgrave. The story eventually circles back to that murder.

Carver gets an assist from a neighbor named Mia who appears to be agoraphobic, but Carver, and thus the reader, doesn’t know whether anything about Mia can be trusted. Such is the nature of conspiracy novels. In fact, part of the fun of a conspiracy novel is guessing which characters are part of the conspiracy. In The Night Market, puzzling out how the conspiracy works is also part of the fun.

The ending of The Night Market is surprising. It’s also surprisingly creepy. The novel as a whole is sufficiently convincing to be chilling, while Jonathan Moore’s crisp prose style creates a dark blend of uncertainty and suspense. You don’t need to be a science fiction fan to enjoy this near-future thriller; it’s like a Ludlum novel with fewer words, stripped to its bare essentials.

RECOMMENDED

This was a really interesting book - a mix of crime drama, mystery, dystopian science fiction, and thriller. With a narrator with an unreliable memory and characters who may or may not be trustworthy, the reader is left guessing the entire way as to what is really going on. I appreciated the underlying themes about materialism presented. It was an enjoyable read that provoked some thinking.

Sad to say this novel was not for me. It’s a futuristic dystopian thriller with a small romantic component.

I did like the idea of the novel. Imagine, a near future where your memories are erased....Let's back up a little. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner, Jenner are called to the scene of a death. When they get there, two policemen are waiting for them. To their amazement, the body of the victim is undergoing autodegradation. Bones are disappearing in front of their eyes. Just then, the FBI (or so they say) walk into the room and take them to a decontamination trailer. Next thing they know, they are given something and when Ross Carver wakes up in his own bed at his apartment, he can't remember anything from the last three days and to his surprise, his neighbor Mia is reading to him.

Ross knows something is very wrong and when Jenner admits he's having problems with his memory too and they are surrounded by a funny smell, they are both determined to discover what was done to them. But, who can they trust? Is Mia hiding information from them? Who's the mastermind? And is the world going mad?

Like I said earlier, the premise was a good one but I failed to enjoy The Night Market. It might be this reader's fault for not realizing this was a futuristic suspense novel and I can't say that I have read this genre before. I felt the prose dragged in certain parts and I didn't buy the Mia-Ross interaction.

Thank you, NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the chance to read The Night Market.

Cliffhanger: No

2/5 Fangs

The Night Market is a unique dystopian thriller unlike anything I have ever read. The setting is futuristic San Francisco and Inspector Ross Carver is investigating a murder when everything gets weird. This ends up being a blend of police procedural and dystopian thriller, but it is one hell of a ride. Think Blake Crouch. Highly recommended!

The Night Market is a creepy, futuristic, dystopian thriller that was definitely different from anything I've read lately. It felt like there was a lot going on with the story and the characters and while it was a decent read, I don't think it was for me.

This book provided so much promise at the start that I felt a bit disappointed in the end. The storyline, its science fiction/dystopian part, is absolutely fascinating. This area had so much potential that I got my hopes up. The mystery part was exciting as well but the ending wasn’t quite there for me.

Ross Carver is a great character and I felt strongly connected to him. He is a great detective, great friend you can always trust. Mia, on a contrary, made me dislike her from the start. Maybe it’s just me but I found everything she was saying or doing absolutely hideous. Not that I didn’t believe her but how she did it (or the author did for her). If Jonathan had an intention of creating a love story, then for me personally it failed.

The other thing I didn’t quite like is a title. I don’t really get why it’s called ‘The Night Market’….If you get, can you please help?

Despite the stated dislikes, I quite enjoyed the story and how it was going. I’m an absolute sucker for dystopias. The more the better. This one also about really interesting society created on consumerism and advertising technologies which are great topics to explore. As I said it can be so much more in that. This was my favourite aspect of ‘The Night Market’.

I was also disappointed to find out in the end that it’s the third book in a series. It can be read as a standalone novel but now I keep guessing how much connection it had to other books.

This book is one of those to enjoy the process but not the ending.

An unexpected book that will hook you and keep you in. Read it, you won't be disappointed

Wow! What a ride. I'm not a huge reader of detective thrillers, but I love sci-if, so this one interested me. I was not disappointed.
The story takes place in an alternate now, or maybe in our near future if society keeps heading in its present consumer-driven direction.
The story is dark, atmospheric, moody, with twists and turns that kept me guessing well into the final quarter of the book.
I kept thinking of Mullholland Drive, the David Lynch film noir of 2001. This is the kind of stuff I cannot watch on a screen, but love to read. Suspense that I can put aside for an hour and take a breather.
What has made Ross so ill and erased his memory? Nothing is what it seems after he and his partner in the SFPD answer a call about suspicious activity in an upscale San Francisco home.
Recommended.

“The Night Market” by Jonathan Moore is what I’d classify as sci-fi noir and I absolutely loved it. The plot opens in a futuristic San Fran and veteran cop, Ross Carver is called to investigate what seems to be a routine murder, but is anything but...Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jonathan Moore, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for allowing me to read and review The Night Market. I really enjoyed this book and plan to pick up more books from Jonathan Moore. 5/5

Having never heard of this author before I was intrigued to read the synapsis. The comparison to Blake Crouch was incredibly enticing and did not disappoint! This story was a lot of fun, totally unpredictable, and kept me guessing. I really enjoyed the twists, the characters were real and well created without being at all bothersome from the propulsion of the story and the problems that kept coming up were so clever and unexpected! I heartily agree that fans of Blake Crouch will find similar enjoyment reading The Night Market, as it has a wonderful creepy, suspenseful, and unpredictable quality that makes for excellent reading. Now I'm off to read more from this author!