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The Midnight Club and New London is the first novel in the New London book series written by indie author John Cartier. It follows the adventures of Macy Crookstop, a boy living in New Orleans with Perth's disease, which makes him dependent on the use of a cane at a very young age. In the first installment, Macy is pulled into a secret world know as New London, which is governed by the collective subconscious. Here, he befriends three teenagers, all of whom live in different parts of the world. Together, they must unearth the truth about their parent's mysterious past, all while being hunted by a murderous dictator known as the Professor of New London.

Preface
In the preface of the novel, it is revealed that as of 2012, the United Nations has been completely dissolved. Conspiracy theorists believe it is due to the work of a computing virus known as 4-MB (modeled after the computer worm Stuxnet). Before disappearing several years prior, 4-MB was responsible for a minor attack on U.S. Navy operations, as well as the complete and partial meltdown of several nuclear reactors. Despite the fall of the UN, things are mostly the same throughout the United States, save for a slow in tourism, and a general unease and paranoia throughout the population.

The Midnight Club and New London starts in medias res. Macy Crookstop, a young boy suffering from Perth's disease, is hold up in his father's New Orleans apartment. Nursing an unexplained broken nose, as well as several cuts and bruises, Macy is busy hiding from a pair of men that have stationed themselves outside his home. After receiving a mysterious phone call, Macy deciphers a code which reveals the exact arrival time of a rescue party. Thanks to his friend, Sarah Bellavia, and her Mother, Macy just barely escape the French Quarter alive. Amidst the confusion, it is revealed that the men positioned outside are specifically seeking Macy's wooden cane.

Macy, Sarah, and Sarah's mother travel all the way to Tucson, Arizona, where Macy and the others have established a safe-house. Waiting for them are Mr. Bellavia, Mr. Westonborg, and his son, Weston Westonborg. Here the reader learns that just a few nights prior, Macy's father was murdered. Sitting the three teenagers down, the adults explain their history in an organization known as The Midnight Historical Society. In their college years, the complete list of Midnight Historical Society members included Mr and Mrs. Bellavia, Mr. and Mrs Westonborg, Mr. and Mrs. Crookstop, and Mr. and Mrs. Darkhaus. Their job was to explore how ancient civilizations performed the act of "Drifting." Drifting is explained as an ability to access the collective subconscious, a place known as New London. They were assembled and funded by a man named Sydney Reid, also known as the Professor. The Professor's true motive, however, was in using New London as a platform to organize a global crime syndicate. Unable to allow this, the members of the Midnight Historical Society confront the Professor in Romania. Mrs. Westonborg and Mrs. Darkhaus are killed in the process. Mr. Crookstop, Macy's father, engages the Professor and sends him toppling over a flight of stairs. Mistaking him for dead, the Midnight Historical Society abandon his body, only to realize later that the Professor has merely slipped into a coma and was now ruling New London as a dictator. Unable to retrieve his body, or defeat him in New London, the Midnight Historical Society (as well as the remaining drifters of the world) abandoned New London, never to return.

Set to bring the story full circle, Macy, Weston and Sarah explain how they arrived at this point in the tale through a series of flash backs, but not before it is revealed that Macy's father might actually be alive.

Macy's Flashback
Each of the teenager's parents received a letter from Murdock Darkhaus. In the letter, it falsely revealed the return of the Professor, and called for an assembly of the remaining members of the Midnight Historical Society. Unaware of Darkhaus' deception, Macy, Weston, and Sarah's parents are tricked into temporarily abandoning their teenagers to engage this wild goose chase. With his father gone, Macy receives a mysterious pocket watch in the mail. It's hands are stuck pointing at Midnight (or noon as Macy initially thought). That evening, Macy is unknowingly pulled into New London. He wakes in a cellar of mysterious broken objects, including paintings, records, manuscripts, and more. After a while, a "yellow, smoke-like" figure appears, and a young boy (revealed as Weston Westonborg) steps out from it. Terrified, both Macy and the boy scare themselves awake, unsure of what exactly had just happened.

Weston's Flashback
Weston is described as a sort of "deal maker." When he receives his pocket watch, he is living on an American military base in Germany where he conducts a number of "unsavory" transactions for valuble materials and contraband. Traveling for a second time to New London, Weston and Macy meet once more and manage to prove each others existence as opposed to be just figments of one another's imaginations. As the cellar they are imprisoned in appears to be all too real, they quickly deduce that they are not in fact dreaming, but instead communicating with their minds from a great distance.

Sarah's Flashback
Sarah is a rough tomboy who is quick to pick a fight. She lives in France above her parent's diner, and upon receiving her own mysterious pocket-watch, she too is pulled into New London while sleeping. However, it is several weeks before she bumps into Weston and Macy, as they all have different sleeping schedules.

Forming The Midnight Club
Trapped in the cellar of broken artifacts, the three teens find solace in one another, quickly becoming friends. However, with the arrival of a fourth teen, Lynn Darkhaus, pieces of the puzzle begin to assemble themselves. Despite her ominous knowledge of certain facts surrounding their circumstances, Macy convinces the others to accept Lynn, and they henceforth refer to themselves as the Midnight Club.

New London
Weeks pass, and the Midnight Club has lost all contact with their parents. Worse, they are becoming more tired by the day, making their meetings in New London more frequent. One night, a hatch above the cellar opens, and the Midnight Club meets two men named Shakes and Burrow. Shakes and Burrow reveal that the teens have been hiding beneath a pub known as Houdini's Tavern. There, they meet a mysterious man named Erich who fancies himself a magician. Apparently a man of some stature, Erich sends the children out to fetch new clothes so that he may better hide them from a terrible person he calls the "Professor of New London."

Outside the tavern, the Midnight Club find New London waiting for them. It is a 19th century steam-punkish version of London England that seems to run on a substance called "fog." The citizens of New London are being oppressed by the Professor and his police force, a group called the Citizens. In reality, the Citizens are imprisoned inmates that serve the Professor in exchange for being taught how to Drift, a tool that makes their reality more bearable.

Returning from their outing, Erich empties the tavern of its patrons and invited the teenagers to attend the first Hallowmus celebration since the Drifters abandoned New London years prior. Hallowmus is described as a weekly holiday in which a great feast is prepared and physical and metaphorical gifts are exchanged between loved ones. During the celebration, Hallowmus is interrupted by a servant named Hannah who works for the former Queen of New London. Unsure of why the children have appeared to him in the first place, Erich allows them to venture out, with escorts, to visit the former Queen.

In meeting the former Queen of New London, more of the city is explored. The former Queen is an eccentric woman who lives on the top floor of an abandoned building. Hoping that she might know more as to why the children have been lured into New London, the Midnight Club is discouraged to learn that she had nothing to do in their appearance. Moreover, they learn that the Citizens have been searching for the children for weeks. In an attempt to return to the tavern, a New London woman named Lucy, charged in escorting the Midnight club safely, is beaten and captured by the Citizens. It is here that the Midnight Club learns that certainly physical properties of New London are different, chiefly the ability to fight with the aid of "exaggerated physics." Additionally, Macy learns of "Draftsmen," or rare people who have the ability "change" New London as they see fit. Macy's Father, Tyler Crookstop, was the last Draftsmen of New London, however he abandoned the position due to the pressure and responsibility that comes with the ability of "playing" God.

Back at the Tavern, the Midnight Club discovers that the mysterious pocket watches they received are responsible for luring them into New London. Erich bids them to get rid of the watches before they are permanently trapped in the collective subconscious. He then sends them back to the waking world.

Still unable to contact their parents, the members of the Midnight Club are helpless until Lynn Darkhaus inexplicably returns to New London of her own will. The Members of the Midnight Club are forced to retrieve their pocket watches to try and save her. Back in Erich's tavern, a trap is sprung, and all but Sarah, Macy and Shakes are captured by Citizens. Out of ideas, they resolve to attack the Professor's clock tower to save their friends. Along the way, however, they are all captured.

Inside the clock tower, it is revealed that Lynn's father, Mr. Darkhaus, has been working for the Professor. He tricked the members of the Midnight Historical Society away so that their children may receive the pocket watches, trapping them in New London. Finally learning his treachery, the teen's parents break their vow and return to New London to save their children. In the process, Macy's father reveals that he abounded being a Draftsmen, however made Macy's cane as a tool to wield that power. A battle between the Citizens and the Midnight Historical Society ensures, and Macy barely escapes. His father, however, has fallen during the battle.

Having come full circle, the story continues where it left of in the safe-house. Macy was saved from his home in New Orleans and returned to the safety of his friends. On a tip, Mr. Westonborg learns that Mr. Crookstop is alive, and the remaining members of the Midnight Historical Society return to save him. It is however, to no avail, and they are all captured. Forced to return one last time to New London, Macy's friends are picked off one by one by a mysterious smoke monster during their attempt to sneak back into the Professor's clock tower. Left all alone, Macy abandons all hope and enters the tower in an apparent suicide mission. There, with everyone captured, Macy learns that his father is in fact truly dead, and that him being alive was yet another deception by the Professor, this time in an attempt to retrieve the boy's cane. Engaging in one fight fight, the impact of which fuses the two together temporarily, Macy accidentally awakens the Professor from his coma, and the man returns to the waking world for the first time in over a decade.

Unsure of what may happen next, The Midnight Club and the Midnight Historical Society return to the waking world to bury Mr. Crookstop's body. At the funeral, a man named Agent Sweetly reveals that an abandoned branch of the government was half-heartidly monitoring the situation with the Professor, however has since dismissed New London as a fabrication. Agent Sweetly explains that he believes that the Professor, along with the help of a venture capitalist named Reynard Norel, was responsible for creating the virus 4-MB, a tool that could have undefined influence and control over the world if it ever returned. Before dissolving completely, the remaining members of the Midnight Historical Society agree to find the last remaining "Proxy," a person who's job it was to keep track of all the Drifters in the United States, in an effort to build an army. Macy learns that the last Proxy is his mother, who abandoned their family when Macy was just a young boy. Finally, the Midnight Club and the remaining members of the former Midnight Historical Society return to New London for one last Hallowmus celebration.

At the end of the book, some time has passed, and it's revealed that the computing virus 4-MB has in fact returned, and it is responsible for a horrific mid-air collision of several commercial aircrafts. Deceiving the world as a "hero," the Professor's colleague, Reynard Norel, effectively holds the United States hostage by secretly releasing and openly combating the virus at his convenience. In a state of shock, the government passes the American Freedom by Monitoring Information Act (loosely based on SOPA/PIPA), allowing them to effectively shut down the internet and monitor all phone calls. With the United States' technology in a state of arrest, Reynard Norel is able to convince the government and its people that a group of terrorist with special "mental" powers known as "Drifters" are responsible for creating the virus. He then releases a list of names, which places the Midnight club and the remaining members of the former Midnight Historical Society at the top of the FBI's most wanted list.

Main Characters
Macy Crookstops is the protagonist of the New London series, as well as a member of the Midnight Club. He was born in New Orleans with Perth's disease. At a very young age, his father presented him with a wooden cane, which he told him he fashioned out of drift wood from the bayou. In reality, Tyler Crookstop made the cane in New London, "pouring" his complete ability as a Draftsmen into it.

Sarah Bellavia is a rough tomboy and member of the Midnight Club. She fancies herself the "protector" of the group, and isn't afraid of a good fight.

Weston Westonborg is a "deal maker" and arranges several unsavory transactions in his free time. He is also a member of the Midnight Club. He was born with the gift of "sight," which many people mistake as an ability to see ghosts. In reality, those with this gift can "project" the collective subconscious, allowing them to interact with New Londoners in the waking world.

Lynn Darkhaus is a mysteriously quiet girl. She lives in India, but goes out of her way to hold back personal details about herself. She may or may not be institutionalized for psychiatric reasons.

The Midnight Historical Society and the Professor Years before the Midnight Club was formed, there was the Midnight Historical Society, the members of which included Mr. and Mrs. Crookstop, Mr. and Mrs. Westonborg, Mr. ad Mrs. Bellavia, and Mrs. and Mrs. Darkhaus. They were brought together by the Professor, formerly known as Sydney Reid. In trying to capture the Professor, Mrs. Westonborg and Mrs. Darkhaus were killed. When Macy was still a young boy, his father divorced his mother, and Mrs. Crookstop left the country. Though they were not official members of the Midnight Historical society, Caroline Charlotte, a family friend of the Crookstops, and Shadow Brooks, a live-in nanny for the Bellavias, were both affiliated with the group.

Erich Erich is the owner of Houdini's Taver in New London. He is unofficially the leader of the Unfortunates, a guerrilla group and opposing force of the Professor and his Citizens. It is not clear how old he is, however it is hinted at that he has seen "many renditions" of New London. He is also a slight of hand magician.

Shakes and Burrow Shakes was once a butler of the former Queen Elizabeth of New London. After her reign, he and Burrow became fast friends. Attached at the hip, the two are chiefly responsible for undertaking the business of the Unfortunates movement.

Elizabeth Elizabeth is the former Queen of New London. With the Professor's influence growing, she joined forces with his regime in an attempt to quell his rage and terror. She did not succeed, and has since fallen into poverty and squalor. She does, however, still hold some followers throughout the city of New London.

Index
Illumen

Drifter

Citizens

Draftsmen

New Londoner

Crow

Hallowmus

Proxy

Unfortunate

Trivia

 * There have been several famous Drifters, Merry Shelly among them. After an apparent affair, she modeled Frankenstein's monster after Burrow of New London.
 * Sarah Bellavia lives in an apartment that is described as the former offices of a debunked detective named Lestrade, chiefly known for his minor role throughout Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series.
 * Weston Westonborg is based on a friend of the author's with the same name and likeness.
 * The character Agent Sweetly is one of the lead roles in an audio book narrative called, The Unfortunates, which is a preface to the New London series.
 * The author, John Cartier, was temporarily diagnosed with Perth's disease at a young age, influencing the condition in his main character, Macy Crookstop.
 * Macy Crookstop is somewhat modeled after Huey Freeman of The Boondocks.
 * Sarah Bellavia was named after a friendly waitress in the author's college hometown, who worked at a restaurant called La Bellavia.
 * The small black ball from the chapter "Tyler Crookstop," and the Chandelier from the chapter "The Importance of Wednesdays" are both references to the New London preface series, The Unfortunates.
 * The character Erich is based on Harry Houdini, who was born Erik Weisz.