Customer Reviews

Nightlife

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Thomas Perry has written some modern classic suspense novels such as the Edgar Award winning THE BUTCHER'S BOY. He has created some interesting and strong female protagonists. His latest effort, NIGHTLIFE, features again some very strong female protagonists- one a serial killer and the other the cop pursuing her.
Hugo Poole is a major crime figure living in LA. When a cousin of his is found murdered in his Oregon home, Poole hires retired detective Joe Pitt to find his cousin's killer. Catherine Hobbes is the Portland homicide detective assigned to the case. As Catherine looks into the killing, she discovers that the killer is a female who has established a relationship with her victim. In fact, the killer is a woman of many identities who has made a habit of dating then killing men. Catherine publicly begins to pursue the killer. Unfortunately, the killer begins to feel boxed in by Catherine and decides to murder her pursuer.
Thomas Perry knows how to weave a compelling tale. Unfortunately, in this latest work, he lacked a certain focus. The plot meandered and quite often his story would wander off on tangents that might lead a reader to wonder about the editing. For example, he describes a minor character with great care and detail over the span of several pages only to kill them off ten pages later. The ending comes so suddenly with virtually no denouement that the reader might be left scratching their head. This is not Thomas Perry's best effort. I would recommend some of his earlier works such as PURSUIT or DEAD AIM which were just republished in attractive trade paperbacks.

I won't summarize the entire novel, as you can see that in the publishing reviews.

A new Thomas Perry book has always been a long-anticipated treat, from "Butcher's Boy" through the Jane Whitfield series and right up to the present, usually made all the more welcome due to the sporadic timing of his works; Perry doesn't follow the usual one-per-year schedule of most popular fiction writers.

From the start, "Nightlife" is a grabber, introducing one of the best female villains ever in his central antagonist (who goes by many names throughout the story), and very effectively portraying her as a total sociopath - it's an absolutely riveting depiction.

He also introduces a couple of other fascinating characters: Hugo Poole (in what has to be one of the best character intros in contemporary fiction) and Joe Pitt. Both of these characters are fascinating: unique, compelling, memorable. Poole is a shady underworld character with a strong set of values, a take-no-prisoners attitude, and the stones to carry it all off. Pitt is a retired DA's investigator, ex-cop, lady's man, the kind of guy you want at your back in a dark alley.

Perry's third protagonist is Catherine Hobbes, a Portland PD detective trying to track down the murderous antagonist. Another well-delineated character, though not nearly as interesting as either Poole or Pitt.

The story moves along briskly at first, as the antagonist moves from city to city ( and identity to identity ) in her efforts to stay ahead of the law, killing her victims along the way.

But for me, it all goes sideways about two thirds of the way through. Earlier in the book, we'd seen Poole fall very far into the background of the story ( a terrible waste of a fascinating character ). Suddenly Pitt ( a love interest for Catherine, among other things in the story ) does the same, all but disappearing from the remainder of the story. The action grinds down to a snail's-pace ( I hate to say it, but I almost gave up on this book at that point ) as the antagonist kind of flails around with juggling identities and Catherine seems to be noodling around Portland contemplating her navel.

We finally reach the final confrontation in the climax, but it was very unsatisfying, almost perfunctory. It certainly did a disservice to a book that started out so well. In my opinion this book would have been much better if Pitt, and especially Poole, had been more central to the story with Catherine being a peripheral character.

Oh, well. Three stars.

I always read a new Thomas Perry novel as soon as possible, then, over time, I re-read them. He's that good. I loved this one -- the serial killer is both fascinating and frighteningly banal. That's quite a trick. I liked the heroine, Catherine Hobbs, and I liked watching her mind work. She is intelligent and observant, logical and dedicated. Good characters, and wonderful writing. Go buy it, read it, then try his other books. I'm particularly partial to "Metzger's Dog", but really, I've enjoyed them all. Perry does not repeat himself, and he is always excellent. Read him.

Charlene Buckner has a screw loose and she's dissembling. A former beauty pageant kid, she craved attention from her mother. But her mother was more interested in the attention such pageants brought her than how they benefited her daughter. So the mother left poor Charlene, and that's when the screw fell out.

Since then, Charlene's used her wits, her beauty and her innate smarts to survive. She's a chameleon, changing her look, her colors, her name and place whenever the need arises. And change she must, for Charlene's left bodies in her wake with nearly every transformation. But it's not blood lust that drives Charlene, it's expedience, the need to escape and to cut all ties. But now Charlene has Portland Detective Sergeant Catherine Hobbes on her trail, and she's being dogged from Oregon to California, to Arizona and on. For someone who kills for expedience, the best move is to eliminate what's threatening you. And that's Catherine Hobbes.

In NIGHTLIFE Thomas Perry has written a taut suspense thriller that crackles with pace and tension. Bravo. The only criticism? The book seems written on the fly. Early characters, early direction seem to drop out, as if the author wasn't sure where the book was going. Still, good writers write good books. NIGHTLIFE was well worth the read.

The first 2/3 of this book were excellent, and up to the standards set by Perry's earlier thrillers. The last 1/3 of the book bogs down as it delves deeply into the mind of the villain as the narrative focuses on her more and more. This wouldn't be so bad if this examination of her psyche were mixed in with some action or dialogue, but there is no mixing. Where most thrillers would be racing to their breakneck conclusion, this one limps. For the first time ever, I found myself skimming a Thomas Perry book, and the ending couldn't come fast enough.

Read 'Butcher's Boy' or 'Metzger's Dog,' both of which are earlier Perry books. You'll be happy you chose one of those instead of this.

This is a curiously inert book. I have read every one of Thomas Perry's books over the years, and I place this one near the bottom of the list. If it had not been by Perry, I might have given it four stars, but I had great anticipation for this one and was the first in my library to get to read it. One expects a Perry book to have well-crafted prose, but also to have a plot that grabs you, even one that has off-the-wall premises (I'm thinking Death Benefits).

The expected adept prose was here, the plot elements were about as pedestrian as they could be (for a thriller). A potentially interesting character (a gangster type) was used in little more than a walk-on part; another (a ruthless, rogue detective) got little more use, save as a deus ex machina. And the heroine was a stick. The villain was insufficiently creepy--wacko, of course, but rather flavorless, and the final confrontation seemed hurried, while the heroine's victory seemed not a tribute to her skills, but her luck. Two cases solved by the heroine during the course of the novel (neither related in any way to furtherance of the story) seemed almost more interesting than the main plot.

Describing of the actions of the two main characters by an omniscient narrator and never really letting the characters speak for themselves drained the book of urgency.

Female serial killer, Tanya Starling begins a killing spree in Portland with the murder of Dennis Poole, a mobster's cousin.
Changing her name and appearance numerous times, she travels on to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Flagstaff and back to Portland leaving a trail of dead bodies.

The author focuses mainly on Tanya's character--how she changes her appearance, falsifies documents, her thoughts as she is travelling and the method in which she sets up her victims. From shooting, stabbing, tossing a guy over a balcony, she is inventive with her murdering ways. And if she can't do someone in, she will try to get some guy to do it for her.

Tanya's given name is Charlene Buckner. As a beautiful girl, her mother entered her in children's beauty pageants. She sometimes won. Her mother is a shallow person with only one goal in mind--dressing up for an evening out to have a good time. She always brought home her boyfriends. Charlene was always in the way and unwanted. Gee, where do you think Charlene got her ways? As a beautiful woman, she mimics her mother's ways with fatal results. At times you may feel a tug of sympathy (believe it or not) for Charlene but then her murders will sure cure you of that.

Charlene is annoyed by the fact that one Detective Sergeant Catherine Hobbes will not let her be and is hot on her trail.

Hobbes is another main character in this story. We learn about her while she is in pursuit of Charlene. The cat and mouse game begins when Charlene decides to murder Detective Hobbes.

There is mention in the jacket cover blurb of Joe Pitt, a private investigator, running a parallel investigation of Charlene which never really pans out. Pitt is a secondary character, Catherine's romantic interest. Unfortunate because the banter between Joe and Catherine is enjoyable. They would make a great team.

And what ever happened to Hugo Poole, Dennis' mobster cousin? He went out clubbing one night and was never heard from again. Maybe he will show up in the next book.

This is a story of two beautiful women in battle with each other to the bitter end. A very enjoyable read.

Here we have that rarest of things, a great love story, one in which both characters are evenly matched and on top of their form. Catherine Hobbes is a likeable, gorgeous policewoman who wears her beauty with the briskness of a nightstick. The daughter and granddaughter of cops, she has had a troubled past, a difficult marriage, and a history of heavy drinking she's only now learning to deal with honestly. Joe Pitt was once "on the job" as they say but retired to become a private investigator. When he takes an assignment from LA-based crime boss Hugo Poole, he knows his ethics are undergoing a squeeze but hey, a buck's a buck.

We don't expect Catherine and Joe to strike sparks together, with her contempt for his professional code, and her fear of getting involved once again with a sexually desirable man who goes through women like Kleenex. But what do you know! Even long distance (he lives in Southern California, she in Portland, Oregon) can't tamp the fires of love, and we the readers are rooting them on as soon as we see what's happening between them.

Alas, they are trapped inside what could have been an okay serial killer story turned unexpectedly dull. Tanya Starling or whatever her name is just isn't interesting. Even Perry seems to realize this. Where once Jane Whitfield enthralled us with the details of changing one's identity, at least she was a supergenius, with a spiritualized, Iroquois connection to the shifting sands of identity. Tanya is too dumb to know how to do all the things Perry has her do. I wonder if NIGHTLIFE didn't actually begin as a Jane Whitfield book, which Perry decided to retool when he found his attention wandering to the law enforcement characters?

And why call it "Nightlife"? All the best scenes occur during daylight. Two cases of Catherine's stand out, subplots to the Tanya story, but much more interesting on their own--Catherine's interrogation of a man whose wife seems to be missing, and her encounter with a woman whose husband has "accidentally" shot an "intruder" to their home. Marvelous wtiting and wonderful suspense. And then the book thsese setpieces is mired in is dolefully dull, what a shame.

We're asked to believe that a rich, urbane lawyer would take a gauche eighteen-year-old student under his wing and for nine years teach her about life, living, culture, art, etc., etc. Yes, she's physically beautiful, but what else is there? In reality, such a relationship would last nine days. Then he suddenly dumps her because he wants to do the same thing with another eighteen-year-old. From there, she takes up with another wealthy man but kills him after a few months, because-- well, we don't know why exactly. Some mumbo-jumbo about a trashy mother and the need to acquire a real identity.

We're also asked to believe that a criminal kingpin in L.A. would agree to meet with an young upcoming hoodlum in a culvert, late at night, alone, because--well, because he requested a meeting.

We're also asked to be believe that a woman's credit report would contain store purchases made by someone with the same name. But since the credit card was obtained using a third-party's social security number, those purchases would not end up on that credit report.

And on and on it goes like this, the requisite hurt in the background of the heroine, the tiresome, repetitive manufacturing of driver's licenses and credit cards, the implausible behavior of the killer at the climax.

A major disappointment.

I don't get it. I have just finished another outstanding Thomas Perry book, one I hated to put down and couldn't wait to pick up and yet as I noodled through the other reviews of this book it would appear that there are two different copies of it making the rounds. Well, if so, I was fortunate enough to get the right one.

I found the writing mesmerizing as we are introduced to Tanya Starling as the book opens. Born Charlene Buckner, Tanya is reviewing in her mind the first of many murders which she will commit before the last page is turned. However, Tanya has killed her only victim. The next one will be murdered by Rachel Sturbridge. And the next by Nancy Mills. And the next by Anne Forster. Well, you get the idea. Buckner is a seriously dedicated serial killer who morphs from victim to victim into a new identity.

Dogging her tracks is Catherine Hobbes, Sargeant Hobbes of the Portland Police Department. Tanya's first victim was killed in Portland, Oregon. Hobbes, an attractive woman in a man's profession has caught the case. The victim is Dennis Poole, a solid citizen who happpens to be the cousin of Hugo Poole, an underworld figure from L.A.

Hugo, partly from self protection and partly because he was very fond of his cousin, hires Joe Pitt, a retired investigator for the L.A. District Attorneys office who was a bit of a legend in his time and is now making his mark as a private investigator.

This does not amuse Hobbes initially. She has her suspicions about the connection with Hugo and feels that Pitt may be there as much to hinder the investigation as to help it.

All of this gets whipped into a melange of a story with additional characters coming and going and the bodies piling up as Charlene moves about the country.

Eventually, the story settles out to Charlene and Catherine and a twist in that the one who has been stalked for most of the book becomes the stalker, bent on adding Hobbes to her list of victims.

Thomas Perry writes stories such as this better than most and justifies one's agitation at the time spent waiting for the next book to appear. Nightlife is a keeper!!