Darker Than Night [Paperback]

John Lutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

A killer dubbed "The Night Prowler" has turned the city that doesn't sleep into a town kept awake by terror. Unseen, he enters couples' homes. Unsuspected, he lingers until the perfect moment arrives. He leaves "gifts" for his victims - before taking their lives. Enter ex-homicide cop Frank Quinn, still reeling in the wake of an elaborate setup that ended his career. For Quinn, this isn't just any job - it's a last chance to salvage his reputation. As the investigation proceeds, the murderer loses no time stalking new prey: a loan officer and her high-earning husband; a couple who made a killing in the stock market; a pretty actress and her prosperous lover. With the body count rising, it's up to Quinn to unlock the mystery of a madman's past and end his bloody reign. Quinn's got his work cut out - because in a city the size of New York, anyone of eight million faces could be that of a killer or his next target.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lutz is rapidly bleeding critics dry of superlatives." --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786019697
• ISBN-13: 978-0786019694
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheers for Darker Than Night, October 25, 2004

By 

Marilyn Davis (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Darker Than Night (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book. In Darker than Night, John Lutz has written an eminently readable thriller. This is a tightly woven web of plot line and character development leading to a surprising conclusion. Characters, including police, victims, and killer are all intelligently and realistically drawn, with just enough red herrings to keep the reader a bit off balance. Particularly interesting is Frank Quinn, the disgraced detective who is brought back to the department to track down a serial killer who is targeting and brutally murdering happily married couples. And the back story of the "Night Prowler," himself, is intriguingly planted throughout the book, shading the edges and giving it depth. This thriller provides all the anticipated suspense, plus a bonus--truly well written prose. Thank you, Mr. Lutz, for an altogether excellent read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Darker than Night, July 11, 2009

By 

Stephen Escalera "Eskypades" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Darker Than Night (Paperback)

A serial killer preying on seemingly happily married couples. A disgraced detective trying to crawl his way out of the mess his life has become. A teenager with a troubled past living large in a house not his own. A girl trying to break free of the memories of a childhood tragedy.

All these stories and more are wrapped up in John Lutz's Darker Than Night. To say that Darker Than Night is a book about a serial killer is to say that the London Philharmonic Orchestra is about music. It is, but then it is so much, much more.

After a couple of seemingly unrelated murders, the New York City Police Department realizes it has a serial killer on their hands. But this serial killer's modus operandi is a little different than your average serial killer. This guy stalks his prey, studies them, gets into their lives, and even leaves them gifts that he knows they'll enjoy. The NYPD knows he has to be stopped and to do so, former Detective Frank Quinn is employed to sniff out the clues and hunt the killer down. Quinn however, is seemingly no saint. He has a past that has driven him so far down into life's gutter that there seems no way of his overcoming it. But the police department politics that got him into this mess in the first place are the same politics that influenced the decision to put him on the case. The two detectives assigned to partner with him aren't exactly your knights in shining armor either, both having run-ins with department politics that seem to have put the careers up against the wall.

Interwoven into the serial killer storyline is that of a teenage boy, pushed through the foster care system and seemingly at odds with the world in general. After a couple bring him into their home, his life starts to pick up and seems to be on the mend. He is employed by a kind man who teaches him his trade. But he also gets a little cozy with his foster "mom" until they are discovered by the husband. Driven away from the house, the boy finds a way to return, only to have tragedy strike again.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Darker Than Night is that we get to know each and every character of the book, including the killer, his victims, the detectives, and a few other characters that may or may not have an important role in the plot. This last part is especially what keeps the book intriguing because it leaves the reader guessing as to who or what is working behind the scenes. Just when you think you have it figured out, a plot twist is thrown in that completely throws your theory out the window. Even right down to the end, everything is not what it seems, thus only adding to the mystery and suspense.

The one major complaint that I have about the book are the often gratuitous sex scenes. Call me prudish, but these seem a little overplayed and highlighted more than what was sufficient. The book also has quite a bit of language, but this may lend to the feeling that the characters are a little on the unsavory side.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An embattled cop tries to track down a serial killer terrorizing New York, May 14, 2007

By 

Jeremy Taylor (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Darker Than Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Darker Than Night is the fourth book in a series of six by prolific thriller novelist John Lutz. The "Night" series features six stand-alone novels connected by a common theme: serial killers and the attempt to stop them.

Lutz, who has written more than forty novels in a career now well into its fourth decade, has clearly learned a thing or two about writing thrillers along the way. Darker Than Night hooks the reader from, quite literally, the first page and rarely lets up in intensity until the final chapter. The plot is complex and multilayered--something of a rarity in the genre--and features interesting characters (especially the villain), dramatic crime scenes, and believable police work.

Lutz does an excellent job of presenting the story through the point of view of a large cast of characters, some of whom are killed off fairly quickly but nevertheless have an interesting perspective to add to the reader's experience. A particularly interesting series of scenes shows a man whom the reader assumes to be the villain undergoing psychological therapy. The scenes feature realistic dialog and give an interesting perspective not only on the psyche of a killer but also the reaction of the city, interpreted through the therapist's eyes, to the killings.

For much of the novel, the story switches between the present-day hunt for the Night Prowler, as the nighttime killer terrorizing Manhattan has been dubbed by the media, and the past life of an artistic young man who, having been adopted into a dysfunctional family, slowly devolves into a killer. As the tension builds in both stories, the reader can't help but draw conclusions about how the two plots must be related, but Lutz does a masterful job of concealing till the very end exactly what those ties are. Lutz does a good job with his characters as well, giving them backgrounds and motives that make them come alive.

Unfortunately, in spite of the good writing and careful pacing, there is much to be concerned about in this book. In both the past and present storylines, the protagonists engage in rather explicit sexual affairs. Foul language is minimal, but the depictions of the Night Prowlers murders are quite graphic--more so than necessary even for a book about serial crime. The book contains no spiritual dimension or even any uplifting themes to speak of.

Darker Than Night could have been a stand-out book in a crowded genre; the quality of the writing makes Lutz an author worth reading, and--at least on a purely literary level--the book is entertaining and compelling. It's too bad the gratuitous content makes this book impossible to recommend.