Great short stories by a bunch of authors that are new to me. Each with their own little twisted mystery.. Must say though, living in a world where cellphones always seem to be in everyone's hands at every moment, Cellphone Intolerant was very amusing to me. I found myself enjoying it a little too much!!! 😊

Very entertaining! Very thrilling! One of the best short story collections I have read in a long time. A great collection of writers and varying writing styles. And a cleaver idea of of entwining the "after midnight" theme.

I love short story anthologies. Creating an impact within a few thousand words is such a difficult job and only a really talented writer can master this art. So when you see the writers' credits on this book with Jeffrey Deaver as the editor, you know you're in for a treat.

"Nothing going to happen after midnight"is a suspense anthology, with every story having one thing in come: it deals with things that happen after midnight. Jeffrey Deaver describes the book in his introduction as a "volume of suspense stories describing incidents of the curious, the eerie, the disturbed, the violent that occur in that netherworld after the witching hour..." The stories are pretty distinct from each other in the type of thrill they offer. You get a suspense thriller, an atmospheric thriller, a horror thriller, a psychological thriller, a police procedural, .... So you never quite know what to expect from the next story. However this also leads to some disappointment. As some of the stories are quite slow-paced because of their plot structure, they are quite drab to read, especially if they come after a pacy, nerve-wrecking one.

As each of the thirteen stories is by a different author, I'll begin by the individual reviews. I found the following stories fabulous.

CELL PHONE INTOLERANT: I found myself actually empathising with the lead character of this story. Maybe you'll discover a bit of your deep dark desires in him too. Read it to know why!

ALL ABOARD: Not much thrilling as it is interesting. A casual overheard conversation leads to an amusing outcome. This was a fun read that builds up thrill in a very different way.

GONE FOREVER: One of the best stories in the book, this talks of the aftermath of a mass murder. The suspense is unveiled in the course of the police investigation, so it amps up the shock factor by not telling you much at the start and slowly revealing what happened.

NIGHT SHIFT: A newspaperman on the night shift receives a call from a person saying that he will be going in a killing spree the next day. What would you do if you were in that journalist's place? Unlike what you think, most of the action in this story takes place on the phone and yet it is captivatingly done.

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF DEATH: A midnight party in the cemetery goes drastically wrong for a group of teenagers. It takes the classic popular kids vs. geeks tussle and adds a scary effect to the same. Good story in idea, could have been better in execution. But a nice read nonetheless.

A CREATIVE DEFENSE: This is sheer brilliance in writing. If you ever consider an anthology worth a read for a single story, then this is that story. You won't be able to let this story go long after you complete it. I'm not revealing anything more about this story. Just read it!

AFTER MIDNIGHT: A story in two distinct parts, this one offers a retake of Cinderella in two different time settings. While not thrilling in the conventional sense, the story is still gripping enough.

TONIC: Heard of people who would do anything, literally anything, for money? Well, you have a whole bunch of them in this story. The plot is quick and the twist is shocking.

ATM: One thing I definitely didn't expect in this book is a sweet story. But that's what ATM was to me. It has suspense, yes, but nothing of the scary or apprehensive kind. I loved this "fantastic" story.

Everyone knows that in an anthology, not all the stories would be at the same level. I consider a short story collection worth reading if it has at least 75% interesting stories. This book has 9 great stories, just about making the cut. So it's definitely worth reading. As long as you remember that every story offers a different kind of suspense, you'll enjoy going through a book where much happens only after midnight.

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review and the above opinion is completely mine and completely honest.**

I am not exactly a fan of anthologies. I like taking time to get to know the characters in a story, to "acclimatize" to their environment, to learn more about their situations. But this one is an exception. I'd like to know if suspense thriller short stories could also keep me at the edge of my seat.

This one did.... Though, not every story. Some are lukewarm. Some made me pause and ponder. Some were ho-hums, but overall, it was an incredible reading journey. It was like watching episodes of my favorite crime TV shows. There were ups and downs. There were favorite lists and least favorites.

I'd like to highlight what made me like this novel by listing my favorite stories.

"Night Shift" by Linwood Barclay was my favorite, probably because I could relate to the characters' professions. It tells the story about retired journalist Larry, who was recounting this weird incident at work decades ago as a night city desk editor. It has the right amount of suspense, and the ending just blew me away.

"After Midnight: Cinderella Then and Now" by Rhys Bowen was also fantastic in a way that it made me pause and think if the bad guys were actually the bad guys and the good guys were actually the good guys. There were similar "concepts" in the anthology like "Easy Peasey" by John Lescroart (which is also nice) and "Tonic" by D,P. Lyle (which is disturbingly good), but "After Midnight" had this long after effect on me.

"Tonight is the Night" by Shannon Kirk is also good in a weird but awesome way, like "WTF was that?"

While the anthology lived up to its title that nothing good really happens after midnight... there's still always one story which defied this line and I loved it.

This is a brilliant collection of short stories. They are excellent mysteries and each of them is very well written. There are thirteen stories, edited by Jeffery Deaver. Each story is centered around midnight or after. They all had well drawn characters, good plots and a satisfying endings.

Really good. Not everyone like anthologies. This one is a high quality collection of mostly mysteries by talented authors. There's a nice variety in stories and writing styles. I often enjoy not having to slog thru a drawn out mystery, so these worked well for me. But they are generally just good short stories.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

A great collection of short stories. They are well written mysteries that take place after midnight And will provide you with a very enjoyable read.

Wow. A Million Times YES on this book.
Firstly, this is a warning I always tell my children so I loved the title and that the stories have to do with what happens in the late hours.
Every short story in here could be made into a novel, but is still satisfying and a page turner.
Even though it is 87 degrees and muggy here, I feel like it is fall, Halloween. Everything dark and spooky. A must buy!
**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

A bunch of short stories. Most can be read pretty quickly. Not that great. ATM is the best of the lot.
If you are a fan of the short story, I would recommend Widows Point ( Chezmar ) instead.

​A diverse collection of page-turning suspense stories to keep you up well into the middle of the night (even if you know nothing good will come from staying up…).

Books are good. Books are great. But sometimes you just don't have what it takes to concentrate on a 300 page suspense. The slow burn is too slow. The frantic pace doesn't sit well with your anxiety. You just can't be bothered to start something you know is going to take days to finish.

But you still want your thriller fix.

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight is your answer. Each story is unique, from FBI agents tracking down serial killers to haunted Louisiana graveyards and a slasher dressed as a robot, and perfect for sitting down, enjoying over a cup of coffee or glass of wine, before setting the book down and saving the next story for another time.

While each story is unique, the collection is home to a powerhouse of bestselling thriller and mystery writers, each bringing the perfect pacing, tone, and atmosphere to their story.

A perfect pick for late fall nights around a firepit.

This is an amazing collection of short stories all written by some of the best mystery writers in the business. There wasn't a story that didn't make me want to read more. All the stories take place after midnight hence the title and all are extremely clever. I really hope this group does more of this soon! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Amazing!
This is a great collection of short stories. Love the different styles of writing in one volume, and how the perspective of each author will keep you on your toes. The outcome of each story is really unexpected and after one specifically, had to take a breather because of the bone chilling factor of the turn of events.
Great for adding authors to follow and look up their work.

Great anthology with a little bit of something for everybody who loves a good mystery. I had not read all the authors before so this gave me a nice taste of their writing styles, another reason why I love anthologies. I'm a huge Rhys Bowen fan (which was what drew me to this book to start with) but there were several other notable story inclusions in here, particularly the ones by Linwood Barclay. Jon Land, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Jeffrey Deaver. There really wasn't a bad story in the bunch. I highly recommend this if you are looking for something fresh and exciting to read this summer.

I’ve never read a book like this so I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it. I ended up loving it because the stories were all great! I was a little disappointed when the stories would end though because I wanted to read more. I liked that it introduced me to a couple of authors I hadn’t read but definitely will now. Overall, it was full of great mystery/thriller short stories!

This is a wonderful collection of short stories, which I very much enjoyed reading! What a wonderful book that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a solid page-turner!

With authors of this caliber, the stories are, of course, all very well written. Most of them are very, very good, but I have problems with a few. We are living in very exciting times, so why the need for setting stories in the 1950's, or writing about things that are physically impossible?

I love thrillers (which is basically all I read) and I never pass an opportunity to read short stories, so I jumped on this collection as soon as I saw it, also isn’t the title promising?! Very original ideas, and a variety of writing styles, all enjoyable, but only a few stories from this collection really stood out. I felt like these stories were strategically placed, alternating between the good, and the okayish kind. Not trying to sound super critical but I had high hopes from this one.

Amongst my favorites were Gone Forever, Night Shift, A Creative Defense, Tonic, and ATM.

Thanks to the authors, Netgalley, and publishers for the eARC

A fantastic collection of short stories, mostly mysteries, all taking place after midnight. This is one of the best mystery/thriller short story collections I have read recently. There are really almost no weak links.

Not a surprise how much I enjoyed the stories by Jeffrey Deaver (who also edited this anthology), Hank Philippi Ryan, and Linwood Barclay. These are great writers I already knew and loved. But also? I discovered new authors I really enjoyed, like Kevin O’Brien (who wrote the very entertaining “Cell Phone Intolerant”); Shannon Kirk (who wrote a deeply weird and wonderful tale of love and murder), and Jon Land, who wrote a Twilight Zone-worthy story called “The ATM.”

Linwood Barclay’s story was probably my favorite of the bunch, but really there were fully six excellent stories here, and even the weaker stories were still great. If you like mysteries, definitely do yourself a favor and pick up this very entertaining read!

Thanks to editor and writer Jeffrey Deaver, NetGalley, and Suspense Publishing for the ARC of this great anthology. I had not heard about Suspense Magazine before (the source of some of these tales), but if the stories in it are this good, best believe I’ll be subscribing!

I usually don’t read short stories but decided to read this one since I am a Deaver fan. I am glad I did. This was an entertaining collection of fun to read stories. It is a book which I would recommend to all.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Suspense Publishing and the myriad of authors who penned a tale, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Nothing Good Happens After Midnight in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Thirteen tales of suspense, mystery and intrigue to keep you on the edge of your seat all combined in one book. One that I really enjoyed reading.
Well worth a read.