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The Midnight Watch

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The Midnight Watch

By: David Dyer
Narrated by: Robert Fass
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About this listen

On a black night in April 1912, fifteen hundred passengers and crew perish as the Titanic slowly sinks beneath the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Charting the same perilous course through the icebergs is the SS Californian, close enough for her crew to see the eight white distress rockets fired by the Titanic. Yet the Californian fails to act, and later her crew insist that they saw nothing.

As news of the disaster spreads throughout America, journalists begin a feeding frenzy, desperate for stories. John Steadman is one such reporter, a man broken by alcoholism, grief and a failed marriage. Steadman senses blood as he fixates on the Californian and his investigation reveals a tense and perplexing relationship between the ship's captain and second officer, who hold the secrets of what occurred that night. Slowly he peels back the layers of deception, and his final, stunning revelation of what happened while the Titanic sank will either redeem the men of the Californian, or destroy them.

©2016 David Dyer (P)2016 Audible, Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Sea Adventures Adventure Thought-Provoking
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Where does The Midnight Watch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is an excellent perspective on the Titanic story. It is not the best book I've read this year but it is one that I enjoyed immensely.

What other book might you compare The Midnight Watch to, and why?

I would have to say A Night to Remember by Walter Lord. This is the flip side of that night in the Atlantic.

What does Robert Fass bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I always get more by reading books myself. As I was sick I found the audible reading less of a strain on my eyes.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes. When the wife of Herbert Stone tried to give her husband a legacy by telling Steadman what a beautiful man he was.

Any additional comments?

If you like the story of the night the Titanic sunk you'll enjoy this story. Stanley Lord, captain of the California comes across as a self-centred jerk till the end when Dyer allows Steadman to give the elderly captain an out for his culpability on that night.

Historically intriguing

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Beautifully captured the intricacies of human nature and its failings in relation to a mammoth disaster

Great book

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I nearly didn't persevere with this book, but once I got into the story, I just wanted to see why the distress signals were ignored. Kept me interested then until the end, which was very thought provoking. The narrator's voice was a bit annoying, but otherwise a great book.

Thought Provoking

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I loved this book. The narrator is wonderful. There were phrases which I wish I had written down as they were just so beautiful and deserve to be remembered. The story is so important. I have no idea if much of it is true, but it was brilliant nonetheless.

The most beautiful phrases

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Loved the story and the possibilities. Thought provoking with the what if's (if it were true). The ending was a little disappointing though.

Interesting and well read.

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For anyone as fascinated by Titanic as I am, this fictional story based on the facts of Captain Lord and the Californian is a must. The relationship between the Captain and his second officer, and an unrelenting journalist make for an intriguing tale. I recommend this book.

A moment in history

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I have been a little obsessed with the Titanic since I was a young child. This was back in the day where we all expected the ship to be found in one piece sitting serenely on the bottom of the Atlantic, and that she would be re-floated and make a grand entrance into New York harbour at last (or is that the plot of 'Raise the Titanic'? anyway...).
I read 'A Night to Remember' when I was 14 and have recently read Jay Ludowyke great story about the Carpathia. So this book has now added to my knowledge by confirming some of what I knew regarding the events surrounding the Californian.
While fictionalised, I understand much of it to be based on facts and transcripts of interviews and transcripts from the inquiries.
I liked the focus of the story being through the eyes of 2nd officer Herbert Stone and the newspaper man Steadman. The story did not tell us much at all that we did not already know until the story about the family who perished. Told in the inimitable style of the time where a fictionalised story was used to tell the real tragedy of the event, this was the very best part of this.
Beautifully performed by Robert Fass, this book is for anyone who knows a little and wants to learn more about the tragic events of the sinking of the Titanic.

The missing pieces revealed. Superb storytelling.

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When I first started listening to the book I thought I must have the wrong book. David did an excellent job laying a foundation in the early chapters, slowly building up to a crescendo at the end. As the book drew on I found it harder and harder to stop listening

Well constructed

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The Titanic is always fascinating. I’ve read that the discovery of the wreck showed it was not the Titanic in sight of SS Californian. The distance between them was actually greater than thought at the time. This was not known through Lord’s life, so he suffered always for his perceived lack of action. I’m no expert and only share what some say. It was a great experience to feel part of the action in these aspects of the disaster.
Yes, the war must have put it in perspective, yet what horror that this happened. A very clever enjoyable book.

I did enjoy it.

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If you have an interest in Titanic you should get this, even if you think you have read and know everything about the disaster. If your interest in the Titanic is passing or found its high water mark when you watched James Cameron's film, you may be thinking do I need this in my library. Well you do!!
This novel is not so much about the Titanic's lone disaster of failing to see ice burgs or having enough life boats for all the passengers, but instead focusses on the disaster of the California, the infamous ship that was close enough to see Titanic's lights, but failed to answer her eight distress rockets seen by the second mate of the California on his titular midnight watch. The ship was a cruise ship belonging to the same company The White Star Line, Captained by a very capable Englishman of the Merchant Navy. The mystery of why the California failed to come to Titanic's aid is what the book aims to answer.
The story is well written, extremely well researched, the author obviously loves everything maritime and absolutely respects deeply the subject matter as well as the characters both fictional and non fictional, and captures the spirit of the times while never falling into tropes.

Haunting, beautiful, human story that surprises.

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