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Nightlife
Thomas Perry’s novels of suspense have been celebrated for their “dazzling ingenuity” ( The New York Times Book Review ) and for writing that is “as sharp as a sushi knife” ( Los Angeles Times ). By turns horrifying and erotic, Perry’s new thriller takes us on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that pits two women against each a beautiful serial killer and the detective who is determined to stop her.
When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his Portland, Oregon, home, police find nothing at the scene of the crime except several long strands of blond hair hinting that a second victim may have been involved. Hotel security tapes from the victim’s last vacation reveal an out-of-focus picture of a young blond woman entering and leaving his room. Could she also be a murder victim?
Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is determined to solve the case and locate the missing blonde, but her feelings, and the investigation, are complicated when Hugo hires private detective Joe Pitt to perform a parallel investigation. As the Joe and Catherine form an uneasy alliance, the murder count rises–and both realize that the pretty young woman in the security tapes is not a victim at all.
As Catherine follows the evidence, she finds herself in a deadly contest with an unpredictable adversary capable of changing her appearance and identity at will. Catherine must use everything she knows, as a homicide detective and as a woman, to stop a murderer who kills on impulse and with ease, and who becomes more efficient and elusive with each crime.
When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his Portland, Oregon, home, police find nothing at the scene of the crime except several long strands of blond hair hinting that a second victim may have been involved. Hotel security tapes from the victim’s last vacation reveal an out-of-focus picture of a young blond woman entering and leaving his room. Could she also be a murder victim?
Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is determined to solve the case and locate the missing blonde, but her feelings, and the investigation, are complicated when Hugo hires private detective Joe Pitt to perform a parallel investigation. As the Joe and Catherine form an uneasy alliance, the murder count rises–and both realize that the pretty young woman in the security tapes is not a victim at all.
As Catherine follows the evidence, she finds herself in a deadly contest with an unpredictable adversary capable of changing her appearance and identity at will. Catherine must use everything she knows, as a homicide detective and as a woman, to stop a murderer who kills on impulse and with ease, and who becomes more efficient and elusive with each crime.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 7, 2006
348 people are currently reading
563 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Perry
86 books1,661 followersThomas Perry is the author of 25 novels. He was born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester in 1974. He has worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and as a writer and producer of prime time network television shows.
He lives in Southern California.
His website is www.thomasperryauthor.com
He lives in Southern California.
His website is www.thomasperryauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 179 reviews
September 28, 2015
Another excellent thriller where Perry gets inside the head of a serial killer. He made it so logical that it was scary. The back story that slowly emerges is both horrifying yet so mundane & likely. Perry also wrote from the point of view of those trying to catch her & that was interesting, too. Clues were read properly, misread, or so easily wiped away. I was very impressed by the way the lead investigator, Catherine, read her suspect & not at all surprised by the more typical thinking displayed by the men. That made Perry's job even harder, but he wrote her well & Shelly Frasier did a great job of reading. The climax was quite abrupt, yet satisfying.
There was a character similar to Roy Prescott from Pursuit, although he was darker. Having read that book filled in the character a bit more, but it's not really a cross over, so there's no need to read it first. Joe Pitt is another excellent character that I would love to see with his own series.
No silenced pistols!
:)
There was a character similar to Roy Prescott from Pursuit, although he was darker. Having read that book filled in the character a bit more, but it's not really a cross over, so there's no need to read it first. Joe Pitt is another excellent character that I would love to see with his own series.
No silenced pistols!
:)
December 20, 2021
I didn’t love the ending. It was not a bad book. Maybe I should give it a 3.5 star review. But it wasn’t as good as many I have read lately. Overall, the bad girl gave me the creeps. I liked the detective that was chasing her. At least she realized the possibilities that everything was done by a woman and not a man helping a woman. It entertained. And sometimes that is good enough.
August 5, 2016
Master story teller Thomas Perry has once again spun another very interesting yarn to enjoy. It's moniker , "Nightlife", is a wild tale just chock full of some unique, and intense characters which easily deliver a pretty good suspense thriller . Written in 2006, "Nightlife", has two somewhat intense protagonists. Former LAPD and DA Special Investigator Joe Pitt is now a PI down in LA, while up at Portland PD, homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is a hard nosed and quickly career rising detective. Dennis Poole of Portland, Oregon, is brutally murdered by new girlfriend Tanya Starling. Poole's brother Hugo, a crime boss down in Los Angeles hires Joe Pitt to find out who killed his brother, and why. Girlfriend Tanya, is a skillful and young seductress with a talent to get various men to do things for her at a drop of a hat. Catherine who has only been a cop for about seven years but has risen quickly within ranks of homicide department catches this case . Tanya is a extremely clever killer who doesn't leave forensic evidence in her trail. Both Hobbes and Pitt have their hands full trying to unwind Tanya's sprawling and bloody wake. Tanya is an expert on changing her identities and physical appearance. Tanya navigates her vicious bloody wake leaving bodies, and confusion from Portland, then to LA, Phoenix, Denver, and back towards Portland once again. Tanya has something to prove to Catherine and is laser focused on her end game. Also, Tanya likes to taunt Catherine by calling her cell phone to confuse her, and to throw her off the trail. Tanya is a very devious adversary for Catherine to track. Even veteran detective Joe Pitts sees Tanya as a slippery foe to catch. Hobbes and Pitt working together begin a intimate relationship fairly quickly. Although it's not unexpectant, their romance adds some spice to a very lively plot. In a very dynamic story with several unexpected twists, and crazy turns the pages fly by at warp speed. At an intense 400 pages, this enjoyable page turner with it's quirky and unique characters is another Thomas Perry classic. As a huge fan of author Thomas Perry, I thought, "Nightlife", was certainly one of his best. I'm not sure if Hobbes and Pitt team up in any other Perry books, but that would be fun to find out. I'm giving, "Nightlife" four stars out of a possible five stars. This one is another very good suspense thriller from master story teller Thomas Perry. Even though it's now ten years old, this one is a must read for all Perry fans. For those who haven't read any of Thomas Perry's books, They are must reads for all suspense thriller readers ! Don't miss out on some great reads ! Check it out soon !
October 21, 2016
Audiobook. Thomas Perry delivers a fine novel about a chameleon-like woman who preys on men (just how deliberate her actions might be I will leave to other readers.) Perry presents the story from a variety of different points-of-view: the Portland detective sergeant looking for her; the gambling-addicted former D.A. office’s retired investigator, and Hugo Poole, the local crime boss’s, hired gun. The killing that started the manhunt and flight was that of Hugo Poole’s cousin and Poole wants to know if the killing might have been revenge for something he himself had done.
There are lots of similarities to Perry’s Jane Whitfield series. The woman, who adopts multiple identities--much too easily IMO ( it just can’t be that easy to create new drivers licenses, and having scanners and printers close at hand all the time also seemed a bit fortuitous) -- manages to stay several steps ahead of her pursuers. How she does it provides for an intriguing, excellent long-flight read or listen.
A minor complaint is that there is often extensive backstory to minor characters with only ten pages to live.
There are lots of similarities to Perry’s Jane Whitfield series. The woman, who adopts multiple identities--much too easily IMO ( it just can’t be that easy to create new drivers licenses, and having scanners and printers close at hand all the time also seemed a bit fortuitous) -- manages to stay several steps ahead of her pursuers. How she does it provides for an intriguing, excellent long-flight read or listen.
A minor complaint is that there is often extensive backstory to minor characters with only ten pages to live.
February 5, 2013
Surprisingly good. Very well written. 9 of 10 stars.
September 23, 2021
This book starts out with a PI, former district attorney special investigator Joe Pitt being hired by a man whose cousin was murdered in Portland. It seems as if he will be the central character.
When he goes to Portland and hooks up with the homicide detective investigating the case, it turns and we meet the actual main character, Catherine Hobbes.
The murderer goes on to kill others but is not your typical serial killer. She justifies anything she does as what needs to happen. She's completely delusional.
Perry has turned a serial killer novel on its head. Good investigational technique leads Hobbes all over the west trying to catch up with the killer.
When he goes to Portland and hooks up with the homicide detective investigating the case, it turns and we meet the actual main character, Catherine Hobbes.
The murderer goes on to kill others but is not your typical serial killer. She justifies anything she does as what needs to happen. She's completely delusional.
Perry has turned a serial killer novel on its head. Good investigational technique leads Hobbes all over the west trying to catch up with the killer.
January 7, 2011
This book could have been over half way through. I think the author was paid by the word.
April 16, 2020
This story was very predictable with no surprises. I found only one character had any personal growth development throughout the book. There were at least 2 chapters that I found totally unnecessary to the plot.
At the beginning of the story the protagonist is believed ( by all the male characters ) not capable of this crime. She must have had a man do the killing for her. Boring! Once again, no surprises there.
At the beginning of the story the protagonist is believed ( by all the male characters ) not capable of this crime. She must have had a man do the killing for her. Boring! Once again, no surprises there.
June 12, 2021
On the plus side, this book had an interesting villain, a dangerous woman who fully understands how to target and manipulate men to suit her needs. The story is well written and features some of the author’s trademark “how to be a criminal” tips. What I didn’t like was I found the book to be a little overlong and thought that the ending was abrupt and anticlimactic. I always find Thomas Perry’s books to be worth the read, though, and this one was no exception. 3.5
February 16, 2019
A female serial killer and female detective, Catherine Hobbs, play cat and mouse across the country. Our killer is a master manipulator and changes identities like changing clothes. Well constructed page turner that kept me reading late into the night.
May 26, 2024
Great story, if slightly waffly in places.
April 30, 2025
4.5 Such a “cool” villain girl
January 17, 2017
More erotic than writer's usual, otherwise plot and characterizations are above average, well narrated.
January 15, 2023
Thomas Perry has written a number of outstanding books during his career, but unfortunately, this isn't one of them. Full disclosure: I am a fan of this author, and have enjoyed many of his works, so I was really looking forward to reading Nightlife.
The book opens strong, with a great plot concept and Perry's signature style to draw the reader in quickly. But then, something very strange begins to happen. The story rapidly devolves as Perry becomes tiresome in his descriptions about Charlene, a young woman who will emerge as one of the two central characters. She clearly suffers from an antisocial personality disorder whereby anyone in her path is perceived as either someone whom she can use or someone to be eliminated as an obstruction. Over and over again, the reader is subjected to snippets of how badly she was treated by her disturbed mother who lived vicariously through Charlene's winning beauty pageants. Charlene seeks to escape the verbal and psychological abuse of her mother by slipping out of the house at night, further and further into the darkness where she could find some peace. Ultimately, she left to create a series of alter egos, finding men from whom she could extract money, gifts, shelter, knowledge and protection in exchange for beauty and sex. Yet, inevitably, things would cool off and she would perceive the man as a threat, ungrateful, and in her mind, a villain that needed to be killed. With each murder, she would adopt a new name and identity and leave for another town.
Ultimately, she would be hunted by the other protagonist, a Portland Detective called Catherine Hobbes, who also has a litany of emotional issues stemming from having discovered her husband being unfaithful, leading to a divorce and her joining the police force. Ah, such wounded women.
As the chapters unfold, Perry continues to float back to the past to give us another glimpse into both women's lives, as if to remind the reader just how the screwed up childhood of one or the adulthood of the other can explain why they behave as they do.
Detective Hobbes is determined to find this mysterious killer, whom many of her colleagues believe to be either a victim or an accomplice to some male baddie. Along the way, Perry introduces a rather famous and attractive PI, called Joe Pitt, who has been hired by a victim's underworld cousin to perform a parallel investigation. No surprise here as Joe and Catherine begin to connect on a personal level while working in tandem professionally. So, we've got some romance, some psychopathology, and murders committed by a woman who seems preternaturally gifted at adopting new identities, creating documents such as birth certificates, drivers licenses, etc. in a matter of minutes just by visiting a local copy center with a computer and printer.
And this is the main reason for the three star rating for what should have easily been four. Perry seemed to have fallen in love with explaining his evil killer's thoughts, backstory, and warped way of viewing the world. This would have been a great 230 page book, but at over 400 pages, it's just too long and redundant. The reader is asked to believe that this killer is able to perform all sorts of amazing evasions, create new identities and alter her appearance at whim, open bank accounts, etc. and readily find men who will become seduced into relationships with her that will ultimately result in their death. Suspension of disbelief is not just suggested, it's mandatory here but, for me anyway, was a bridge too far. I'm sorry, but even as a fan, I couldn't get past the incredulity factor. More's the pity, because this had the kernel of a great Perry novel, but fell far short as it bloated and repeated its way to a conclusion that seemed abrupt -- as if the author finally became bored and decided to move on. As did I.
The book opens strong, with a great plot concept and Perry's signature style to draw the reader in quickly. But then, something very strange begins to happen. The story rapidly devolves as Perry becomes tiresome in his descriptions about Charlene, a young woman who will emerge as one of the two central characters. She clearly suffers from an antisocial personality disorder whereby anyone in her path is perceived as either someone whom she can use or someone to be eliminated as an obstruction. Over and over again, the reader is subjected to snippets of how badly she was treated by her disturbed mother who lived vicariously through Charlene's winning beauty pageants. Charlene seeks to escape the verbal and psychological abuse of her mother by slipping out of the house at night, further and further into the darkness where she could find some peace. Ultimately, she left to create a series of alter egos, finding men from whom she could extract money, gifts, shelter, knowledge and protection in exchange for beauty and sex. Yet, inevitably, things would cool off and she would perceive the man as a threat, ungrateful, and in her mind, a villain that needed to be killed. With each murder, she would adopt a new name and identity and leave for another town.
Ultimately, she would be hunted by the other protagonist, a Portland Detective called Catherine Hobbes, who also has a litany of emotional issues stemming from having discovered her husband being unfaithful, leading to a divorce and her joining the police force. Ah, such wounded women.
As the chapters unfold, Perry continues to float back to the past to give us another glimpse into both women's lives, as if to remind the reader just how the screwed up childhood of one or the adulthood of the other can explain why they behave as they do.
Detective Hobbes is determined to find this mysterious killer, whom many of her colleagues believe to be either a victim or an accomplice to some male baddie. Along the way, Perry introduces a rather famous and attractive PI, called Joe Pitt, who has been hired by a victim's underworld cousin to perform a parallel investigation. No surprise here as Joe and Catherine begin to connect on a personal level while working in tandem professionally. So, we've got some romance, some psychopathology, and murders committed by a woman who seems preternaturally gifted at adopting new identities, creating documents such as birth certificates, drivers licenses, etc. in a matter of minutes just by visiting a local copy center with a computer and printer.
And this is the main reason for the three star rating for what should have easily been four. Perry seemed to have fallen in love with explaining his evil killer's thoughts, backstory, and warped way of viewing the world. This would have been a great 230 page book, but at over 400 pages, it's just too long and redundant. The reader is asked to believe that this killer is able to perform all sorts of amazing evasions, create new identities and alter her appearance at whim, open bank accounts, etc. and readily find men who will become seduced into relationships with her that will ultimately result in their death. Suspension of disbelief is not just suggested, it's mandatory here but, for me anyway, was a bridge too far. I'm sorry, but even as a fan, I couldn't get past the incredulity factor. More's the pity, because this had the kernel of a great Perry novel, but fell far short as it bloated and repeated its way to a conclusion that seemed abrupt -- as if the author finally became bored and decided to move on. As did I.
December 29, 2017
Six-Word Review: Single murder becomes complicated serial killings.
Even though I started with his "Metzger's Dog" from 1983 years ago, I got hooked on Thomas Perry's Jane Whitfield novels. I liked them a lot. He somehow has an ability to work with female protagonists in a way few male authors can. He does this without stereotyping the males in the story.
"Nightlife" has two protagonists. Portland, Oregon PD, homicide detective Catherine Hobbes and, Joe Pitt, a PI from LA. They are both brought in when Dennis Poole of Portland is brutally murdered by his girlfriend, Tanya Starling. Hobbes is assigned to the case and Poole's cousin, Hugo, a crime boss in Los Angeles hires Pitt to find the killer and find out why his cousin was murdered.
Tanya, it turns out is a practiced seductress who can get men to do things for her whenever she wants. Tanya is clever enough to never leave any forensic evidence as she goes about seducing and murdering the men she meets. Tanya can easily change her identity and appearance confusing law enforcement and leaving dead bodies all over the Western U.S.
Tanya tantalizes Hobbes with phone calls and other ploys but has an endgame Hobbes and Pitt have trouble seeing. In a sub-plot, Hobbes and Pitt begin an intimate relationship which spices up the story. There are several unexpected twists and turns as the plot unfolds. Perry's writing grabs the reader and makes it difficult to put the book down.
I'm a fan of Perry and "Nightlife" is one of his better efforts. I haven't found any additional books with Hobbes and Pitt but would like to find some. In the meanwhile, I'll enjoy his other efforts.
Even though I started with his "Metzger's Dog" from 1983 years ago, I got hooked on Thomas Perry's Jane Whitfield novels. I liked them a lot. He somehow has an ability to work with female protagonists in a way few male authors can. He does this without stereotyping the males in the story.
"Nightlife" has two protagonists. Portland, Oregon PD, homicide detective Catherine Hobbes and, Joe Pitt, a PI from LA. They are both brought in when Dennis Poole of Portland is brutally murdered by his girlfriend, Tanya Starling. Hobbes is assigned to the case and Poole's cousin, Hugo, a crime boss in Los Angeles hires Pitt to find the killer and find out why his cousin was murdered.
Tanya, it turns out is a practiced seductress who can get men to do things for her whenever she wants. Tanya is clever enough to never leave any forensic evidence as she goes about seducing and murdering the men she meets. Tanya can easily change her identity and appearance confusing law enforcement and leaving dead bodies all over the Western U.S.
Tanya tantalizes Hobbes with phone calls and other ploys but has an endgame Hobbes and Pitt have trouble seeing. In a sub-plot, Hobbes and Pitt begin an intimate relationship which spices up the story. There are several unexpected twists and turns as the plot unfolds. Perry's writing grabs the reader and makes it difficult to put the book down.
I'm a fan of Perry and "Nightlife" is one of his better efforts. I haven't found any additional books with Hobbes and Pitt but would like to find some. In the meanwhile, I'll enjoy his other efforts.
Read
February 5, 2009Thomas Perry, author of the Edgar Award?winning The Butcher's Boy, the five-volume Jane Whitefield series, and other best-selling novels, has taken typical elements of an ordinary crime thriller and given them an unusual, erotic twist. The New York Times compares Nightlife's psychological impact to that of The Silence of the Lambs and Mystic River: we're not dealing with a stock killer but a rather ordinary young woman turned bad. Critics agree that Perry successfully delves deep inside the female psyche with chapters narrated from both Hobbes's and the murderer's perspectives. A little haphazard storytelling, with characters flitting in and out of chapters, confused some critics, but overall, Nightlife is a smart, engaging read.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
April 8, 2009
This was my first Thomas Perry book, and I was impressed enought to want to pursue his other works, in particular other books with Joe Pitt as protagonist. In Nightlife, the two young women around whom the story revolves are a study in contrasts: Catherine, a dedicated police officer and Tanya, a malevolent sociopath. Each is troubled by her past, each is struggling with total self-reliance and the search for personal peace. The sociopath degenerates steadily as the story progresses, and when she decides to hunt her pursuer and absorb her identity, the tension rises steadily to the climactic moment. The two characters are well drawn out, but the story really "caught" me when the murderous inclinations of the antagonist, Tanya, turn with creepy, disturbing intensity on Catherine. Joe Pitt is present in the story, but the spotlight never wavers from Catherine as the true protagonist. A good read.
July 6, 2011
'Night Life' was my first exposure to Thomas Perry and what an introduction it was! 'Night Life' tells the story of a serial killer a little less true to form and very unassuming whose pursued by legacy cop Catherine Hobbs (long standing family history on the force). Eventually the female serial killer turns on Catherine and becomes the hunter with the results truly startling. I loved the way Thomas made the killer change persona's and craft her victims into accomplices before growing tired and seeking new play things. There was a substantial amount of back story to the core characters all in context to current events woven so tight it didn't detract from the page turning anxiety I felt as I drew closer to the finish line. 'Night Life' ticked all the right boxes for me and I simply could not put it down - a great read from an author I'm keen to read more of. 4 stars.
Read
March 8, 2024OK the weird part is that the killer is a woman, and as we (those of us who haunt the 364.1523s) know, women tend to NOT be serial killers.
There was creepy stuff about identity theft, and I really wanted to read this after Terry basically ignored me for a day and a half while he read this one. As it turns out, he went to high school w/Perry's brother or something like that, which is neither here nor there...
In any case, I like the relationship between Catherine and Joe, although at the end I was ready to throw the book across the room, in the scene where she comes to LAX and sees him waiting at the baggae carousel, etc. But it turned out fine, and I suspect I'll read another one by this guy.
There was creepy stuff about identity theft, and I really wanted to read this after Terry basically ignored me for a day and a half while he read this one. As it turns out, he went to high school w/Perry's brother or something like that, which is neither here nor there...
In any case, I like the relationship between Catherine and Joe, although at the end I was ready to throw the book across the room, in the scene where she comes to LAX and sees him waiting at the baggae carousel, etc. But it turned out fine, and I suspect I'll read another one by this guy.
December 22, 2012
Sgt. Catherine Hobbs a Portland Oregon Detective gets the case of what is probably murder, but there is a near total absence of clues with which to work. L. A. P.I. Joe Pitt is hired by a relative of the victim to identify the killer and travels to Portland and is passed on to Hobbs to find out what she has discovered. Meanwhile the killer has moved on and changed identities and picked up another victim. Hobbs soon discovers that she has a serial killer on her hands and is hot on the trail, but the killer leaves little in the way of clues and soon decides that Hobbs is being a bother and targets her as well. I found it to be a fast paced book and stopped reading only when I could no longer keep my eyes open last night.
December 10, 2016
I loved it! Perfect book for the reader who's looking for fast paced entertainment. Mr. Perry's writing strength is plotting and his characters are fun, too, if you consider serial killers fun, like I do. This isn't a literary masterpiece but it's well done and moves smoothly along. The suspense made me want to peek ahead, but I resisted. The conversations between the killer and her victims fascinated me, so vacant and cookie-cutter. She names emotions in her exchanges but so obviously doesn't feel them. The scenes between the MC /hero and her parents were the opposite, no forthright words about love but lots of read between the lines affection and emotion. Grab a copy of Nightlife, snuggle up in a comfortable chair and fasten your seatbelt.
November 14, 2015
I just finished this book by Thomas Perry which I missed when it first came out. It is quite the story about a female serial killer who grew up in less than good circumstances. Her mother abandoned her when she was a minor adolescent, and the girl was forced to figure out how to live on her own. She had to scrap her plans for college and everything else she had planned to do with her life. Most of the people she killed were men, but she had a fixation on a female FBI agent, Catherine Hobbes, who she basically stalked from one end of the United States to the other. I found the book quite fascinating and at the same time, rather violent. However, it really is a good story.
January 30, 2022
Thomas Perry writes great mysteries, and he paints his killers so beautifully that you almost root for them. So I opened Nightlife (2006) with shivers of anticipation. If you like "police procedurals" and interesting characters, Perry should be on your nightstand. And this is as good a start as any.
The central figures on the police side are Sergeant Catherine Hobbes, a Portland Police Bureau detective, and Joe Pitt, a former investigator for the LA district attorney's office name, now a highly-paid private investigator. On the perp side we have a young woman named Charlene Buckner who has graduated from an unhealthy childhood to become a serial killer with panache.
Pitt is a straight-up fellow who knows lots of low-lifes. Among them is Hugo Poole, a successful crook who comes to Pitt with a problem and a proposal. Poole's cousin, Dennis Poole, has been murdered in his bathtub at his mansion in Portland, Oregon. So far as Hugo knows, Dennis was an honest businessman, so Hugo hires Pitt to go to Portland and to make sure the "shit-kickers" in Portland’s Police Bureau don't screw it up. When he arrives in Portland he meets Sergeant Catherine Hobbes, a very attractive blonde who does her best not to show it.
Hobbes says that when she learned Pitt was coming, she checked him out on Wikipedia. He sounded so good she was thinking of asking him over for a home-cooked meal and to meet her parents. But when she learned that he was working for Hugo Poole she dropped the idea. As she says, "Lips that have kissed Hugo Poole's ass shall never kiss mine." It's not clear if she means her tush or her lips, but he lets it go.
When Pitts and Hobbes go to the scene of the Poole murder he is struck by one thing—after thoroughly scouring the place for hairs, fiber, prints, etc., the only evidence the CSIs found was two long blonde hairs—otherwise,nothing. Pitt finds it mysterious that so little was found in a lived-in house—it's as if the killer(s) did a complete cleaning of the house before leaving. Does the killer work for Magic Maids or some similar house-cleaning service?
Pitt and Hobbes both realize that the trail to a solution leads through those two hairs. And those hairs lead ultimately to the name Tanya Starling, the Portland nom de guerre of Charlene Buckner. But after killing Dennis Poole in Portland, Charlene/Tanya relocated to San Francisco as a brunette named Rachel Sturbridge. After killing an admirer there she relocated to Los Angeles where she became Nancy Mills. At every new location she photoshops copies of her birth certificate, driver's license, and other identifying documents, and when she moves on she leaves behind a dead body. Hobbes and Pitt track her down at each location, but by the time they've done that she has moved on.
Charlene/Tanya/Rachel/Nancy is motivated by two things—being attractive to me and a bit of decent sex, and killing the men attracted to her: she's a female praying mantis of the human species. Of course, this is a poor foundation for a long-term relationship, but Nancy's not looking to the future. She's out for revenge for her childhood, and for the thrill of the kill. In LA she breaks the pattern by doubling up— killing a guy and a nosy woman who lives in the apartment next door.
Will Sergeant Hobbes ever catch up to Charlene? Will Sergeant Hobbes Survive? Will Tanya/Etcetera survive? You know the genre and so you know the answers. But what you don't know yet is that Nightlife is a keeper.
The central figures on the police side are Sergeant Catherine Hobbes, a Portland Police Bureau detective, and Joe Pitt, a former investigator for the LA district attorney's office name, now a highly-paid private investigator. On the perp side we have a young woman named Charlene Buckner who has graduated from an unhealthy childhood to become a serial killer with panache.
Pitt is a straight-up fellow who knows lots of low-lifes. Among them is Hugo Poole, a successful crook who comes to Pitt with a problem and a proposal. Poole's cousin, Dennis Poole, has been murdered in his bathtub at his mansion in Portland, Oregon. So far as Hugo knows, Dennis was an honest businessman, so Hugo hires Pitt to go to Portland and to make sure the "shit-kickers" in Portland’s Police Bureau don't screw it up. When he arrives in Portland he meets Sergeant Catherine Hobbes, a very attractive blonde who does her best not to show it.
Hobbes says that when she learned Pitt was coming, she checked him out on Wikipedia. He sounded so good she was thinking of asking him over for a home-cooked meal and to meet her parents. But when she learned that he was working for Hugo Poole she dropped the idea. As she says, "Lips that have kissed Hugo Poole's ass shall never kiss mine." It's not clear if she means her tush or her lips, but he lets it go.
When Pitts and Hobbes go to the scene of the Poole murder he is struck by one thing—after thoroughly scouring the place for hairs, fiber, prints, etc., the only evidence the CSIs found was two long blonde hairs—otherwise,nothing. Pitt finds it mysterious that so little was found in a lived-in house—it's as if the killer(s) did a complete cleaning of the house before leaving. Does the killer work for Magic Maids or some similar house-cleaning service?
Pitt and Hobbes both realize that the trail to a solution leads through those two hairs. And those hairs lead ultimately to the name Tanya Starling, the Portland nom de guerre of Charlene Buckner. But after killing Dennis Poole in Portland, Charlene/Tanya relocated to San Francisco as a brunette named Rachel Sturbridge. After killing an admirer there she relocated to Los Angeles where she became Nancy Mills. At every new location she photoshops copies of her birth certificate, driver's license, and other identifying documents, and when she moves on she leaves behind a dead body. Hobbes and Pitt track her down at each location, but by the time they've done that she has moved on.
Charlene/Tanya/Rachel/Nancy is motivated by two things—being attractive to me and a bit of decent sex, and killing the men attracted to her: she's a female praying mantis of the human species. Of course, this is a poor foundation for a long-term relationship, but Nancy's not looking to the future. She's out for revenge for her childhood, and for the thrill of the kill. In LA she breaks the pattern by doubling up— killing a guy and a nosy woman who lives in the apartment next door.
Will Sergeant Hobbes ever catch up to Charlene? Will Sergeant Hobbes Survive? Will Tanya/Etcetera survive? You know the genre and so you know the answers. But what you don't know yet is that Nightlife is a keeper.
January 11, 2022
Nos encontramos con un thriller bastante diferente al menos para mi.
Su mayor diferencia es que nosotros "sabemos" quién es, en este caso, la asesina de la historia desde el primer momento y tenemos la oportunidad de crecer con ella y ver la historia desde su punto de vista a medida que la vemos conociendo. Digo "sabemos" porque más adelante nos daremos cuenta de que se trata de una mujer que va cambiando su identidad y personalidad a medida que va pasando la historia, hasta que nos cuenta quién es realmente y cuál es su pasado, que la llevó hasta donde se encuentra en este momento.
Thomas Perry ha conseguido meterse en la mente de una asesina en serie y ha sido capaz de crear una evolución en dicho personaje. Mientras nos va contando el desarrollo del caso vemos como ella aprende, avanza y evoluciona tanto en sus asesinatos, aprendiendo de sus errores, como personalmente.
Es una historia contada desde bastantes puntos de vista, lo que nos ayuda a simpatizar y entender a todos los protagonistas de la historia y a la vez, somos capaces de seguir la línea de la historia de una forma ordenada. Todas las personas que el autor nos presenta, son interesantes y no son planos, lo que implica que tienen un desarrollo dentro del libro, todos sus pasados, en lo que se han convertido, sus personalidades y su conjunto está demasiado bien planteado.
Esta historia tiene tanto sentido y tanta lógica que da miedo. La mecánica que la asesina sigue para cambiar su identidad está tan bien montada y tiene tanto sentido que verdaderamente asusta.
Por otro lado, aunque vaya a leer más libros del autor porque este me ha encantado, recibe 4 estrellas en vez de 5 porque en mi opinión, el final es demasiado tosco y precipitado.
Ha sido una lectura súper amena y adictiva, con una cantidad increíble de blop twists y que realmente te engancha tanto la historia como los personajes. Increíblemente recomendado.
Su mayor diferencia es que nosotros "sabemos" quién es, en este caso, la asesina de la historia desde el primer momento y tenemos la oportunidad de crecer con ella y ver la historia desde su punto de vista a medida que la vemos conociendo. Digo "sabemos" porque más adelante nos daremos cuenta de que se trata de una mujer que va cambiando su identidad y personalidad a medida que va pasando la historia, hasta que nos cuenta quién es realmente y cuál es su pasado, que la llevó hasta donde se encuentra en este momento.
Thomas Perry ha conseguido meterse en la mente de una asesina en serie y ha sido capaz de crear una evolución en dicho personaje. Mientras nos va contando el desarrollo del caso vemos como ella aprende, avanza y evoluciona tanto en sus asesinatos, aprendiendo de sus errores, como personalmente.
Es una historia contada desde bastantes puntos de vista, lo que nos ayuda a simpatizar y entender a todos los protagonistas de la historia y a la vez, somos capaces de seguir la línea de la historia de una forma ordenada. Todas las personas que el autor nos presenta, son interesantes y no son planos, lo que implica que tienen un desarrollo dentro del libro, todos sus pasados, en lo que se han convertido, sus personalidades y su conjunto está demasiado bien planteado.
Esta historia tiene tanto sentido y tanta lógica que da miedo. La mecánica que la asesina sigue para cambiar su identidad está tan bien montada y tiene tanto sentido que verdaderamente asusta.
Por otro lado, aunque vaya a leer más libros del autor porque este me ha encantado, recibe 4 estrellas en vez de 5 porque en mi opinión, el final es demasiado tosco y precipitado.
Ha sido una lectura súper amena y adictiva, con una cantidad increíble de blop twists y que realmente te engancha tanto la historia como los personajes. Increíblemente recomendado.
July 27, 2017
I enjoyed this female serial killer crime fiction novel, but had a few issues. I somehow got stuck in the prose, the narration and description for pages upon pages. I can't remember exactly which scenes were drawn out, but there were several. I wanted more of an unpredictable ending. The relationship between Joe Pitt and Catherine Hobbes seemed contrived and lackluster. Regardless, I really enjoyed the villain, who took on many identities, but was commonly referred to as "Tanya Starling." A female serial killer. How cool! But, I wanted more here. The plot was totally believable and enticing. I just found the side story (the burgeoning relationship between the protagonists) to be quite banal and wanted more F on F action. The burning down of Catherine's house was a good scene, but it wasn't followed up by anything more spectacular. The final scene between the female protagonist and villain was boring. Sorry. I wanted way more. And,if crime fiction and procedure is what you're after, I think Connolly does it better, but that being said, Thomas Perry is very talented and his concocting of his femme fatale villain is on the mark. Anyway, I think this novel had the potential to be extraordinary, but fell short with a fairly ho-hum page turning commercial thriller always striving to get back to the grit. Regardless, the story of Tanya Starling kept my interest piqued as I lounged by the So Cal July pool for several days.
March 14, 2024
I've been working my way through the Thomas Perry backlist - this standalone from 2006 avoided a lot of what I consider Perry's bad habits, enjoyed it a lot, happy to give it five stars.
The primary thing I usually ding Perry for is his weird insistence on giving both law enforcement and the bad guys supernatural powers of observation and intelligence. None of that was on display here.
This book is focused on two women. The bad girl is a psychopath, termed by the police as a serial killer although maybe that's not true in the classic sense. The second is the female police detective working on stopping her.
Always a sensitive subject for a male author to create female characters. If someone calls you out for non-realistic characters of the opposite gender, you don't have much defense, so it is a small act of bravery.
In this case the female characters seemed properly written to me, although like all Perry protagonists, they displayed a very low emotional affect, which colors the whole book.
Anyway, good book, straightforward single plot line, doesn't cheat or break any rules, I liked it.
The primary thing I usually ding Perry for is his weird insistence on giving both law enforcement and the bad guys supernatural powers of observation and intelligence. None of that was on display here.
This book is focused on two women. The bad girl is a psychopath, termed by the police as a serial killer although maybe that's not true in the classic sense. The second is the female police detective working on stopping her.
Always a sensitive subject for a male author to create female characters. If someone calls you out for non-realistic characters of the opposite gender, you don't have much defense, so it is a small act of bravery.
In this case the female characters seemed properly written to me, although like all Perry protagonists, they displayed a very low emotional affect, which colors the whole book.
Anyway, good book, straightforward single plot line, doesn't cheat or break any rules, I liked it.
November 12, 2024
Nightlife is a cat and mouse detective story. Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is trying to solve the murder of a local businessman. One complicating factor is that the victim was the cousin of a Los Angeles mob boss named Hugo Poole. Hugo also wants the killer found but he doesn't want the perpetrator brought in to stand trial. He is looking for a more permanent solution. So Hugo enlists his own private detective. The problem is that this murderer is adept at changing her identity and appearance. She is also talented at finding a new man to be her protector. At least, until she grows tired of him. Turns out that murder is a good way for her to solve problems and it gets easier to do with every new victim. Catherine Hobbes finds that PI Joe Pitt is getting in the way of her manhunt but he is also turning up new information. And there is definitely an attraction between these two rivals. However, the closer that Catherine gets to finding the killer, the more she becomes a problem for her quarry. And she knows how this woman solves problems. This is a good story that probes into the motivation of both the murderer and the homicide detective. Very well executed plot.
January 16, 2021
I'm a big Thomas Perry fan. However, this book was a bit tedious to read. So, I thought about giving it only 3-stars, but I just couldn't do it. Perry is such a fine writer and he creates such interesting and realistic characters and puts them in situations that are so well written with incredibly detailed from the perspective of the story that I never lose interest. In fact it is that detail from the perspective of the character that makes his stories so real and unique.
In this one its a female serial killer who the story follows as she moves through multiple murders and the female detective that becomes her primary foe and tracks her the entire way. Perry makes this story and these characters unique and he gives them and the settings such detail that it doesn't seem like you'll ever read something like it again.
He is truly a gift author.
In this one its a female serial killer who the story follows as she moves through multiple murders and the female detective that becomes her primary foe and tracks her the entire way. Perry makes this story and these characters unique and he gives them and the settings such detail that it doesn't seem like you'll ever read something like it again.
He is truly a gift author.
May 7, 2023
Older Thomas Perry stand alone that actually turned out better than I expected. It's a cat and mouse thriller about a female serial killer and a female detective on her heels. I use the term serial killer very loosely. That's what the book calls her. That's problem number one with the book. She is obviously not a good person. You can try to justify how she turned out this way, but don't make her sympathetic. She should have been more evil. Problem number 2 is the title. It just doesn't fit or give you any idea what the novel is about. Problem #3, great premise but could have been told in a better order and manner. When it started, I thought I was reading another Jane Whitefield novel. Despite all that, it grew on me. The detective is a great character, we even got some bonus cases. Wouldn't mind a follow up for her.
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