Fear The Night [Paperback]

John Lutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

He comes out when the sun goes down. He delivers death from the barrel of a rifle. He's made New York City his shooting gallery. Men and women, natives and tourists, young and old, have all been his victims. The press has named him The Night Sniper. He taunts those who would try to stop him, threatening to increase the body count unless legendary retired homicide detective Vin Repetto is willing to engage him in a lethal game of cat and mouse. Repetto paid his dues. Over twenty years on the force, obtaining a captain's rank, and injured in the line of duty, he's earned his retirement. Yet, he can't help feeling responsible for the lives The Night Sniper has taken, and will continue to take if his challenge remains unanswered. The decision is snatched from his hands when the next victim is murdered right before Repetto's eyes. Now, the game is truly set to begin, but The Night Sniper doesn't realize that they're playing by Repetto's rules...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On a warm evening in Manhattan, a sniper's bullet kills a lowly theater district shop owner. It's the first of several killings in what becomes a twisted cat-and-mouse game between the "Night Sniper," so-called because he only strikes after sunset, and retired New York detective Vincent Repetto in Lutz's fast-moving crime thriller. Although the beleaguered detective is straight from central casting and the sniper's motivation is hinted at but never satisfactorily explained, Lutz skillfully brings to life the sniper's various victims. It doesn't matter if the killer's target is a Broadway star on the way up or a homeless person on the way down, in a few pages these people come across as layered and three-dimensional. One wishes Lutz had done as good a job fleshing out his main characters. (Nov.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle; First Edition edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786016345
• ISBN-13: 978-0786016341
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,134,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sure Pleaser, December 13, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Fear The Night (Paperback)

John Lutz has written another tightly woven thriller which leaves the reader asking for more. In "Fear the Night", retired detective Vincent Repetto is recruited to lead a team in the hunt for the Night Sniper, a serial killer, with targets determined by long buried revenge. Repetto's involvement is personal and his character is well-developed. Some interesting side stories add punch to the main theme. This is an exciting read, guaranteed to get your heart racing and keep you awake at night.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reptitious Game of Terror, September 12, 2006

By 

Dindy Robinson (Arlington, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear The Night (Paperback)

Fear the Night by John Lutz is a study in terror as a sniper starts killing people on the streets of New York, seemingly at random. The killer, dubbed The Night Sniper by the press, makes a strange demand--that retired homicide detective Vin Repetto comes out of retirement to handle the case.

At first the book is a very gripping suspense novel, but after about the third victim there starts to be some monotony as the same pattern is repeated over and over again--give a short character study of the victim, shoot the victim in public, leave no clues and completely frustrate everyone on the task force. Political muckety-mucks apply pressure on the task force because they aren't producing results quickly enough.

The killer adds insult to injury by leaving taunting notes, intensifying the frustration of the members of the task force. There's also a running thread of nonsense about a friendship between Repetto's wife and the police profiler, whom Repetto doesn't like, with Repetto's wife continually urging him to listen to the profiler. I also have to marvel at the stupidity of some of the people who, even when they are clearly identified as potential victims, insist on continuing with their plans and making themselves easy targets for the sniper's bullets. The point should have been driven home by somebody to these selfish idiots that even if they didn't care about their own lives, they were putting other people at risk by their foolhardiness.

Nevertheless, the book is compelling and difficult to put down as the sniper's game escalates and he chooses victims with continually higher profiles or a closer personal connection to Repetto. The final third of the book is highly suspenseful as Repetto and the task force race to stop the killer before he can strike again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars the best part of this book, throwing it away., January 11, 2009

By 

Disciple of Poseidon "Drewcifer" (Swampscott, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fear The Night (Paperback)

I have not read any of John Lutz other work but after this one I never will. He plays up this big shot Homicide Detective come out of retirement to track a serial sniper, and the guy, Vin whatever his name is does not do much of anything in the investigation. The selling point should have been Vin comes out of retirement to get coffee and donuts for the rest of the characters in this book who do all the work. The story sounded interesting on the cover, it wasn't. Do not even bother if you are a fan of crime novels. the only crime is the hours of your life John Lutz steals from you in this book.