Miami Midnight is exhilarating and fast paced leaving you wanting more.

In the last final chapter of the series we find it has been a year since Pete Fernandez's brush with death. He is now sober and is happy running a small bookstore in Miami. However, that tranquility does not last long.

Soon he is approached by a Cuban mobster asking for his help in locating a killer. He realizes there may be a connection to the people that nearly ended his life. And so begins a dangerous derailment into darkness.

Truly a wonderful, well written novel with well crafted characters.

This is my first time reading this author and this series. Turns out that it is also the last book in the series. Beginning the book, I felt a little lost but caught up quickly that Pete was shot in the last one and is now running a book store. He is also wanting to stay out of the business that almost cost him his life while still being sober. Everything is a work in progress because people know where he is and then want his help.
He wants to say no to an old Cuban gangster who is looking for the person who killed his son and for his missing daughter-in-law. When he finds out that the same person may be behind his own near-death experience, he is slowly being dragged in. then there is a retired police officer who gives him different information into how his mother died which was not what he had been told. Now he has two cases to work on. I actually found this to be a good and entertaining book with action and very good characters, I had just wished that I had come along to this character sooner. A very good story, worth the read.

his purportedly is the final chapter in the Pete Fernandez PI series. What could be a better setting than Miami, Florida for a modern day noir crime fiction novel with uncanny twists and wild turns. Florida is the glorious home of weird and wacky happenings.
Pete Fernandez was almost killed and has now given up his PI business in favor of running a used bookstore. He continues to struggle with his alcoholism and his feelings for Kathy Bentley who was his business partner in his PI firm and is now engaged to someone else. . He is thrown back into the game when he accepts a case from an influential elderly Cuban mob connected figure, Don Alvaro Mujica. Mujica is desperate to find out who killed his jazz musician son and to find his missing daughter-in-law. Pete finds there might be connection to the hit on him as well as the death of his own mother. This novel is right on the money. Alex Segura is a talented crime fiction writer and has not failed to deliver a great suspenseful story in this novel.

Alex Segura is a great writer!
I loved Blackout and can say I loved Miami Midnight too.

Well written, captivating, you're into it from the start! You want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next... Good pace, never boring. You don't want to put it down.

Can't wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Polis Books for the ARC of this book! This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

MIAMI MIDNIGHT: A Pete Fernandez Mystery
Alex Segura
Polis Books
ISBN: 978-1-947993-59-4
Hardcover
Mystery/Thriller

I can pretty much sum up MIAMI MIDNIGHT by saying that if one were to look the term “hard-boiled” in the dictionary they would find the title as the definition. MIAMI MIDNIGHT in advance of publication has been touted as the fifth and final book of Alex Segura’s Pete Fernandez series, and Segura, who does nothing by halves, closes out his account of his oft-injured (sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes by friendly fire) and much-maligned private detective with a bang.

My gold standard for novels these days is given only to those that consistently surprise in the sense that they leave me unable to predict what will happen next. Segura and MIAMI MIDNIGHT do this consistently from beginning to end. The major surprise is that Fernandez is back at all following the events of BLACKOUT. Back he is, sober, living quietly, and, in his words, out of the game, largely eschewing his private investigation business in favor of running a used bookstore. He is also dealing with his feelings for Kathy Bentley, his professional partner in his investigation agency with whom he has had a tumultuous and star-crossed personal relationship. The latter seems to be coming to an end, due to Kathy’s engagement to someone else. Still, things in Pete’s life are on a relatively even keel until two events occur. The first is that Pete is contacted by Osvaldo Valdez, who worked with Pete’s father in the Miami Police Department’s homicide division. Valdez indicates that he has information about Pete’s mother. Pete had always been told by his father that his mother died while giving birth to him, but Valdez indicates that such was anything but the case. Valdez, however, is subsequently murdered before he can give Pete any information, a set of circumstances which results in Pete digging into his own past to uncover why his father apparently lied to him. The other is that Pete reluctantly accepts Don Alvaro Mujica as a client. Mujica is an extremely powerful and influential figure in Miami and is rumored to be at or near the top of the hierarchy in the city’s underworld. Mujica’s son, a troubled but up-and-coming jazz musician, has recently been murdered, and Mujica wants the killing solved. He also wants Fernandez to find his son’s wife. The two had only been married for a short time, and Mujica wants the woman located because he believes that she has in her possession an extremely valuable painting which belongs to him. Pete begins investigating both of the personal and professional cases and quickly discovers that everyone, friend and foe alike, is lying to him for the best and worst of reasons.
He also is reminded, once again, that Miami is one big small town, where the past and present don’t just intersect but also merge. It isn’t long before everyone around Fernandez --- literally --- is picked off, one by one, in ways both violent and explosive. It seems at times as if MIAMI MIDNIGHT will reach its conclusion without all of the mysteries presented therein being solved. Actually, that occurs, though not in the way one might think. You’ll have to read it to find out exactly what occurs, but you won’t be sorry.

MIAMI MIDNIGHT is so dark and gritty that the only proper way to read it is with a spotlight and a breathing filter. It’s worth it. If you’re searching for a book with which to spend the closing days of summer you need to look no further. Recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

After being almost killed by Vincent Salermo a year ago, Pete Fernandez has returned home to Miami. He is slowly rebuilding his life by running the small bookstore sold to him by his buddy Dave Mendoza. Staying sober is a challenge and Pete's best friend Kathy has moved on, engaged to real estate guy Marco. But then aging Cuban mobster Alvaro Mujica asks Pete to find out who killed his drug-addicted, jazz pianist son Javier and to locate his new missing daughter-in-law Beatriz de Armas. Pete balks at the job offer until another dead body suggests that Javier's death might tie into the people that almost killed Pete. A retired police officer comes to Pete and drops a bombshell about his mother Graciela whom he believed died during childbirth. Instead, Pete learns that Graciela was a drunk who was kicked out of their home by his cop father Pedro. Why did his father lie about Graciela?

The two storylines come together in a dramatic end to this thrilling series.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and Polis Books with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily provided this review.

Miami Midnight is the fifth and final book in the Pete Fernandez P.I. series. It’s a wild ride that can be enjoyed by readers new to the series though it will have a particularly strong emotional impact on those familiar with the characters. To avoid spoilers, I’ll just say this is a fitting end for the award nominated series! Recommended for mystery fans.

Thank you Polis Books and NetGalley for the ARC! The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #MiamiMidnight #mystery #noir

Pete Fernandez is back to tackle another investigation while navigating various personal issues and maintaining his sobriety. This novel is populated with complex, well-drawn characters who make the story more than just a straightforward accounting of an investigation. This is good, because there are so many cartoonish gangster types among the bad guys that I lost interest in keeping them or their motivations straight. I look forward to reading the earlier novels in the series featuring Pete and the good guys facing more interesting adversaries.

Thanks to the Netgalley and the publisher for a digital advance review copy.

I'm not as enthusiastic about this novel as other reviewers are. It takes a long time to get into it and after way too many deaths along the way the suspense at the end doesn't feel real.

“The space smelled of coffee and dust, a musky, familiar odor that added to Pete’s calm. He was home. Nothing else mattered outside of these doors. Nothing would matter if he didn’t maintain his sobriety. If he didn’t take each step he could to prevent himself from taking a drink.”*

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pete Fernandez almost died. Now, he’s running a used bookstore, working the Alcoholics Anonymous program, and trying to make the most of his second chance at life. After being forced into taking a case to locate the wife of a mobster’s dead musician son, Pete finds himself on a collision course with his past and on a hired assassin’s hit list.

Pete’s struggle with remaining sober despite his whole world crashing down made this a five star book for me. He’s relatable character. His friends stick by him, because despite his human failings, he’s a good guy. Unfortunately, while he was recovering from his near fatal injury, the woman he loves moved on and is engaged. His life is in constant peril. Secrets from his past are revealed. The world gives him reason after reason to return to the bottle and drink himself into oblivion.

As I read, I highlight passages that move me emotionally or as a writer. When I finish the book, I revisit the highlights to see if there’s a quote I’d like to use in my review. I highlighted the heck out of this book. Choosing the right quote was hard because Segura filled the story to the brim with goodness. Pete’s struggles with alcoholism brought me to tears.

I like reading books in a series out of order to get an idea of the author’s ability to bring the reader up to speed regarding key events without drowning her in backstory. To be able to do that well and to instill a need for her to read the preceding books is a skill. One that is definitely in Segura’s tool box.

The large cast of characters includes several strong women, including Kathy, Pete’s on-again-off-again flame and a woman from his past. Segura hit all my buttons with this story with the struggles with addiction, great female characters, and even kittens. His fantastic descriptions bring the settings to life. I’m super stoked to read the other books in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Polis Books for the opportunity to experience this book in advance of its release.

*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.

It you only read one book this year Miami Midnight should be it! A deep dive into what made Pete Fernandez what his today, The good, bad, and ugly. Such a twisty turny story. It was great to see Pete get some closer on his feeling about his father and family in general. I really really hope there will someday be another book with him in it.

I love love love the Pete Fernandez series. Each book is a thrill a minute, keeping me glued from beginning to end. One of my all time favorite characters. This is my favorite, because we finally found out about Pete"s mother and tied up so many of his personal loose ends. Alex Segura is a master storyteller.