The Night Stalker

Rating: 

What’s it about?

If the Night Stalker is watching, you’re already dead…

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer’s night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.

A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer – stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike.

The victims are all single men, with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

As a heat wave descends upon London, Erika will do everything to stop the Night Stalker before the body count rises, even if it means risking her job. But the victims might not be the only ones being watched… Erika’s own life could be on the line.

You can purchase a copy of this book on AmazonUS / AmazonUK.

This is the sequel to The Girl in the Ice, which I reviewed before.

Review

I was really impressed with Robert Bryndza’s first novel, The Girl in the Ice, introducing us to DCI Erika Foster. Would he be able to deliver a second book up to par with the first? Well the answer is YES ! Erika Foster is back and now I know for sure, she’s definitely here to stay. I’m confident that if you enjoyed The Girl in the Ice, you’ll love this one too. He’s consistent in his work and he has by now not only already a very enjoyable and familiar writing style but a steady cast of brilliant characters with Erika Foster in pole position.

He practically takes our breath away when describing the exact motions in how a respectable doctor is murdered. It was detailed and very descriptive and you could easily visualize the horrid nature of what was happening in that moment (you might want to check under your bed too after reading this). From these very first few pages I was totally engrossed in the story and I couldn’t wait to see how it was going to unfold. 

In the previous novel I knew rather early on who the murderer was and in this novel it was no different, but only because he chose for an entirely different approach, i.e. he reveals the identity fairly soon. The focus in this novel is therefore more about the uncovering of the motive and the process of catching this serial killer. He put a lot of work in the development and setting of this character and I quite liked how we got to know what was ticking this killer off. I was also happy to find out that, even though the identity in this novel is not kept as a secret for very long, it didn’t release the tension one bit.  It gets even more interesting and threatening when the murderer zooms in on Erika Foster and it all gets up close and personal. Erika doesn’t know who’s reaching out to her and I could feel myself urgently willing her to find out the killer’s identity right up until the end of the book.

My only qualms are that I didn’t really warm up to Peterson quite yet but I’m willing to wait for the third novel to see what he’s worth. Also, am I the only one who saw a little flaw in chapter 73 and some kind of plothole in the following chapters or did I miss something? Not that it’s a real problem in the novel and it certainly doesn’t take away the joy of reading in any way, so don’t let that hold you back from reading The Night Stalker.

This was an exciting, fast-paced novel and I really want to continue to read this series!

I received a free copy of this book from the publicist through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Advertisement