Nightlife: A Novel

Nightlife, $24.95 US, is destined to become a New York Times Bestseller. This fourteenth Thomas Perry novel finds homicide detective Catherine Hobbes on the trail of a missing blonde woman. When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his Oregon home, police find nothing at the murder scene except several long strands of blond hair, hinting that a second victim may be involved. In the course of her investigation Catherine finds that hotel security tapes -- from the vic's vacation in Aspen -- reveal a Tanya Starling was seen entering Dennis Poole's room. But Tanya may as well be a ghost. The phone number she registered with is out of service, that account closed. The number matches a fancy high-rise apartment with a lake view of Chicago and the tenants have moved out, leaving no forwarding address. Going over all the evidence, Catherine relies upon inner determination to solve the homicide for the Portland police department -- and locate Tanya -- but she becomes ambivalent when Hugo Poole hires an investigator from L.A. named Joe Pitt to run a competing inquiry. Catherine and the big lummox form an uncomfortable working relationship, but she doesn't really favor the private detective's attention, since she's got unresolved issues stemming from an eight-year old divorce. Her pursuit of the mystery blonde is rendered more difficult because Tanya is a chameleon who changes her appearance, her location, and her name at will. In fact, Tanya changes her identity as frequently as normal people change clothes. Tanya was originally Charlene Buckner. After she was Tanya, she was Rachel Sturbridge. It's particularly chilling that the woman Catherine is tracking has become so mobile, that she can move around the country effortlessly, undetected. The detective and the investigator chasing her across Oregon to California then Arizona come to realize that a string of apparently isolated murders are actually tied together, and they circumstantially implicate Tanya Starling. As the body count rises, the investigative duo comprehend that she's not another victim in mortal danger. Instead, the gruff but trusting Joe concedes that she's not running from a vicious killer. Then Tanya arranges an attempt on Catherine's life. Lethal characters like Tanya Starling will give male readers `the willies.' You'll think twice before you go looking for a missus in a bar again, after reading this narrative about a nubile serial killer. I really enjoyed the chapters that were set in San Francisco, the descriptions of the bars, nightclubs, and business establishments. Perry also ratchets up the tension by giving bay area tourist David Larson a near `after dinner' date with death. It goes without saying Tanya can't linger in one place for long, so she flees and starts over again as Nancy Mills in Woodland Hills, while Hobbes and Pitt are just one step behind. When Nancy is recognized as Tanya, and is cornered in a mall by a San Fr

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!!

She's young, beautiful, intelligent, knows how to wrap men around her thumb and, when she feels like it, murder them. Her name is Tanya, Rachel, Nancy, whatever she wants it to be. She blends in almost invisibly in Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Flagstaff or any town. But she has a nemesis, another womam, a detective with the Portland Police Bureau. Two women inextricably linked by destiny to clash. Both of them, however, exist in complex worlds that author Perry brings alive with great vividness. Hugo Poole is on his way to a meeting, an important meeting. He has to cross a dry riverbed in Los Angeles where he is intercepted by a local tough guy, demanding protection money from Hugo. The tough guy shortly learns that compared to Hugo, he isn't very tough at all. Hugo meets with Joe Pitt, a legendary investigator with the DA's office who has hung out his own shingle now as a private eye. Pitt has no interest in doing anything for Hugo Poole because Hugo is one of LA's biggest crooks. It's a family matter, Hugo explains, his cousin has been murdered in Portland, Oregon and Hugo wants Pitt to see if the police are doing a competent investigation. Thus over the corpse of Dennis Poole do the main characters come together. The woman of many names, known as Tanya for the moment. Hugo Poole, the very distant cousin who is not a nice guy and does not play by the rules. Joe Pitt, the PI who is a living legend and Catherine Hobbes, a Portland Police detective. Pitt and Hobbes don't quite hit it off, but they don't rip each other apart either. There's something there for both of them, but Hobbes has a troubled past, which author Perry puts forth beautifully, making Hobbes a very sympathetic, believable character. Tanya has a past too, one that she keeps at bay by killing people. She is intelligent, learns as she goes along and stays ahead of the police. Tanya too is a complex, frighteningly believable character. Hobbes wants Tanya so she can get a killer off the street. Tanya wants Hobbes so she can get the perceived source of her unhappiness out of her life. The two women are worthy and very dangerous adversaries and Perry's pages practically turn by themselves. The other characters float in and out of the pages adroitly, never staying too long; just long enough to allow Tanya and Hobbes to approach their destiny. And their destiny is what leaves me with a problem. It comes so swiftly that it at first feels anti-climatic. But at the same time it is lifelike: sudden and conclusive. Perry's novels are exotic, complex and chilling. His classic is "The Butcher's Boy." "Nightlife" is a new classic. Jerry

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.

Man oh man! This one is creepy. Perry spins an entrancing story about a female serial killer, Charlene Buckner, who really racks up a body count, and the Portland police detective Catherine Hobbs who is trying to track her down. Buckner is the woman of a thousand faces, or really a thousand names. She slips town and creates a new identity after each kill. This is not a Black widow story, this lady enjoys the kill! Perry takes us into the warped mind of this killer and we find things we don't expect. Sgt. Hobbs goes through her own transformation as follows the killer across the western United States. I won't ruin the ending but Perry does not follow the conventional thriller/suspense mold. The surprises are not cheap but thoughtful, and the writing is tight and compact, yet full of nuance. Perry's unconventional way of plotting makes for an above average genre read.