Nightlife by Thomas Perry

 

(pb; 2006)

 

From the back cover

“When the cousin of Los Angeles underworld figure Hugo Poole is found shot to death in his home in Portland, Oregon, homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is determined to solve the case. But her feelings, and the investigation, are complicated when Hugo simultaneously hires Joe Pitt. As Joe and Catherine form an uneasy alliance, the murder count rises. Following the evidence, Catherine finds herself in a deadly contest with a cunning female adversary capable of changing her appearance and identity at will. Catherine must use everything she knows, as a 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.”

 

 

Review

Nightlife, like Perry’s best writing, is a near-impossible-to-set-down, tautly penned and edited police-procedural thriller, with well-developed characters worth rooting for or hissing at (even the emotionally immature/defensive, cold-blooded killer,Tanya Starling, aka Charlene Buckner, aka other names, can be sympathized or at least understood, given her fully realized backstory). That Perry provides effective character motivations imbues the resulting violence, all of it masterfully edited and written, with an impressive, reads-fresh, character-sourced intimacy, even as he sidesteps certain action-thriller tropes, and an ending that deftly blends key-character trepidation and hope into a “would love to see these characters again” finish. Top-notch book, top-notch author.