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Four years ago, Frank Quinn uncovered possible corruption in the homicide unit. Suddenly he was accused of violently raping little Anna Caruso, and Internal Affairs turned its attention on him. Given the choice of a quiet retirement or a public trial with damning evidence against him, Quinn took retirement. Now there is a serial killer stalking New York, someone who stalks married women, leaving them expensive presents, food, and roses until the night when he inevitably kills the couple. The men die first, quickly. The women are tortured to death. A cop named Rentz, who wants to be chief of police, offers Quinn a chance to rehabilitate his reputation by solving the crime. He warns, though, that Captain Egan, the man who framed Quinn, also wants the job and will stop at nothing to get it. There is only so far Rentz can protect Quinn, he warns, and if the case is unsolved, nothing will save him. What follows is a particularly tense chess game played out in public relations. Every time Rentz wins Quinn some good news reports, Egan releases something else damning. The Night Prowler keeps on killing, furious that someone dares challenge him. And Anna, who truly believes that Quinn attacked her even though she never saw his face, buys a gun. Their stories are peppered throughout with flashbacks to the saga of a foster boy named Luther Lunt, whose life connects to theirs in ways that not even the reader will expect. Like most of the Lutz 'Night' titles, this is mostly about a serial killer. But he juggles multiple storylines with such mastery that it's easy to see how he won so many mystery awards. DARKER THAN NIGHT is a can't-put-it-down thriller, beautifully paced and executed, with enough twists and turns to keep it from ever getting too predictable. I particularly like how he wrapped up the ending; only one thread is left dangling. One of the subplots about sadomasochism relies too heavily on stereotypes, but the rest of the book is so riveting that this can be overlooked. Anyone who likes a hardboiled thrillers and fast-paced whodunits will love DARKER THAN NIGHT.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, December 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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