Customer Reviews

Fear The Night

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I truly enjoyed the first novel by Lutz so I quickly ordered 3 more and then 3 more. By the time I got the first 3 and read 2 of them, it was too late to cancel the other order. His books are boringly repetitious. My suggestion: Read 2 and then forget the rest. They are all gruesomely, repetitiously alike.

I truly enjoyed the first novel by Lutz so I quickly ordered 3 more and then 3 more. By the time I got the first 3 and read 2 of them, it was too late to cancel the other order. His books are boringly repetitious. My suggestion: Read 2 and then forget the rest. They are all gruesomely, repetitiously alike.

A serial killer called the Night Sniper is stalking NYC and shooting people at random. A hot-shot cop is called out of retirement to stop the killer, much to the killer's delight.

Good read, lots of action, but I have a couple problems with the story. One: One of the storylines isn't done well. There is an ex-cop that is suspected of being the Night Sniper (for no apparent reason other than he is good with a gun) who is never put under surveillance when the cops have no other suspects. Mystery readers appreciate realism and in a real life investigation he would have been watched and qucikly eliminated when the killer strikes while he is being watched by undercover surveillance. Two: The hero cop that is called out of retirement does nothing to solve the case, two younger female detectives do most of the investigating and piecing together of clues. Could have been better.

I've read several of Lutz's books and have enjoyed them. While this was no exception, I did have a few problems with it. The book could have been shortened by about 100 pages. There were far too many victims killed by the Night Sniper. It seemed like every two or three chapters someone was being killed. It was a little too much for me.

Also, there was not enough of Repetto actually trying to solve the murders. He would show up at one crime scene, tell Meg and Birdy what to do and then wait for the next victim. I would have like to have read more about him and why the Night Sniper wanted this retired cop back on the job.

I was also a little disappointed in how the Night Sniper's identity was discovered. Repetto had nothing to do with it. It would have been nice if he had figured it out.

That said the book did keep me interested right up until the end and I was never bored reading it. Four stars for this one.

A serial killer sniper wants only the worthiest of adversaries, so he demands a renowned retired NYPD detective come out of retirement to catch him. Lutz drops that thread and the detective becomes very inactive and fades into the background. (For an active protagonist, read Lee Child's Jack Reacher series.)

In Fear the Night, people get shot and killed, shot and killed, shot and killed, but nothing ever changes. No one seems to catch up with this killer till near the end of the book. Also too much repetitive internalization. Round and round and round we go. Circling the drain but never going down.

The characters didn't seem very sympathetic either. Maybe Meg and her newfound love interest, but that's about it.

I've always loved the serial-killer-themed police procedural, but there is almost no police procedure going on here. 95% of the book is about the killer (whose motives are questionable - I had a hard time believing them) and only 5% is devoted to actual detecting. I had to laugh out loud at the praises heaped on the main character's (Vincent Repetto) skills because he does absolutely nothing to solve this mystery except show up at the crime scenes. And there are many, many crime scenes - none of which lead to the identity of the killer. Repetto's character is one-dimensional, with the peripheral characters getting only slightly more attention. There were also several plot holes and editorial mistakes that diminished my enjoyment. This book could have been so much better had the characters been more fully fleshed out and the number of murders reduced. The writing style was pedestrian at best. John Sandford (one of many) does a far superior job with this genre. I'm afraid I won't be reading any more of Mr. Lutz's novels.

I am a fan of this author but was disappointed in this insipid tale of a serial killer sniper preying upon the denizens of New York.

John Lutz has demonstrated, in his earlier novels, a masterful ability to develop compelling characters and riveting storylines. He is able to flesh out secondary characters who only briefly appear before they meet with their chilling and untimly ends. It is an art to make the reader care about the peripheral players. The author is also usually wise enough to match truly devious killers with equally canny cops.

Unfortunately, in this novel,Reppetto, a retired police detective and successful serial killer hunter, is pressed into service when a sniper starts shooting people at night. Assigned the usual support of mismatched partners, the dorky, antsy male cop and the beautiful, blunt but bitter female detective, and a beautiful police profiler, Repetto does little more than visit an increasing number of crime scenes. Added into the mix is a brain-damaged ex-cop from Philadelphia, reduced to living on the streets, Reppetto's devoted and long-suffering wife and his lovely daughter, who becomes a target of the sniper. There is very little detecting here and and unfortunately, even less suspense.

The serial killer is probably the most interesting character in the book, although the hatred of the city that is supposedly driving him, make little sense. His manipulation of the characters, particuarly one of the females, provides entertainment but the mistake that leads to his identity being revealed is uncharecteristically sloppy.

This book is readable but mundane and suspense fans find significantly greater enjoyment in Lutz's earlier works.