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A review by _onemorechapter_
The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
๐ป.๐พ: Murder, Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence and Torture
๐ญWe meet again with Inspector Erika Foster and her investigation group as they take a new challenge - the case of a serial killer who leaves his victims naked, suffocated, with a bag over their heads, in their beds. The nocturnal hunter moves slowly, watching his victims and waiting for the right moment to strike. What do his victims have in common?
This time we find out the identity of the killer early on, which undermines the tension but it gives us a chance to explore that character a little more and see what is driving their urge to kill. The methods used and reasons behind victim selection were all superbly described and even had me feeling a little empathy toward our killer, which I suspect is no easy task for a writer!!
Bryndza follows the same formula as in the first book and this makes the 85 short chapters a quick read but the plot is also predictable and formulaic. In this book, we get to learn more about Foster and the raid that claimed the life of her husband, a trauma from which she has never been able to recover. The damage has been done and each and every day the battle she fights with her demons colours her work and her reputation. We also learn more about Petersen who has been a little bit of a closed book throughout the first story and are treated to a little more of the โsofter?โ side of Foster as her friendship with pathologist Isaac is developing throughout the story.
I am a huge fan of detective/murder thrillers and police procedurals. Normally I devour police procedurals; I love the camaraderie and the dark sense of humour that detectives - by their admission - often have when doing constant battle with the darker side of life.
However, I wasn't as completely bowled over by 'The Night Stalker' as I expected it to be. I think the problem was that I didn't really warm to the character of Detective Erika Foster. I found her to be detached from the rest of her team, rather cold at times, aloof and often adopting a rather superior manner and tone and I just couldn't take to her at all. She still remains stubborn and most of the time I thought: โErika can't be that stupid.โ ๐คฆ๐ปโ
Furthermore, I was disappointed with the scene at the end. I can't stand Oakley and Marsh runs on thin ice with me lots as well. Sparks, really, are you joking? In both cases the wrong person would be tried and hung out to die in prison for a crime they didn't commit and they promote him.๐คฆ๐ปโ
Moreover, there are too many inconsistencies and things do not make sense. For instance, flood lights coming on early evening in June? Dr Munroโs wife is called Marie, then Claire? Nils ร kerman is then Nils ร ckerman? Dr Munroโs death is being investigated. Whilst this is being done, they say that the longest day is tomorrow, and then it will start to get darker again. However, later on, they say that his death was on the 27th of June, which is almost a week after the longest day so there is a problem with the timeline here. I could go onโฆ.
In addition, we already know that Erika smokes a lot. We do not need to read the details about her drags and her cigarette butts on every page. Gets tedious. Also, some characters are not believable and too one-dimensional. Sparks and Oakley are portrayed as far too stupid and horrible to be realistic. Nobody that dumb would make it that far in the police force (or so I hope). Nobody would disregard such obvious evidence and go down a completely different route. Not believable.
And finally, there are too many similarities in the two books. Erika gets suspended and taken off the case which is instead given to the stupid and narrow-minded Sparks. Erika gets attacked and very nearly killed by the culprit(She should learn basic self-defence it's irritating anyone can undermine her easily๐คฆ๐ป). She solves the case but all the glory goes to Sparks who did nothing apart from being dumb. The plot was ok for the first book, but the author should try not to repeat the exact same pattern in each novel.
Think of something else next time!
Overall, For me, not feeling empathy with any of the characters, particularly the main detective, affected my reading pleasure and there was no real nail-biting tension in the story for me. It was an easy enough read and the writing style, together with the short chapters made it an enjoyable enough read and it did sustain my interest through to the conclusion.
๐.๐ I read another book with the same title by an Author "Chris Carter" and DAMN that was a book doing justice to the title and What a great read!
In comparison to that this book doesn't even stand a sliver of chance but if I am not comparing then it is a decent read!
๐.๐.๐ Peterson and Erika?? In the coming book?? HMMMM.... Let's see how this is going to turn out!
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ.5
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.17 (29245)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
๐ธ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐: Detective Erika Foster (Book 2)
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: Yes!!
๐ญWe meet again with Inspector Erika Foster and her investigation group as they take a new challenge - the case of a serial killer who leaves his victims naked, suffocated, with a bag over their heads, in their beds. The nocturnal hunter moves slowly, watching his victims and waiting for the right moment to strike. What do his victims have in common?
This time we find out the identity of the killer early on, which undermines the tension but it gives us a chance to explore that character a little more and see what is driving their urge to kill. The methods used and reasons behind victim selection were all superbly described and even had me feeling a little empathy toward our killer, which I suspect is no easy task for a writer!!
Bryndza follows the same formula as in the first book and this makes the 85 short chapters a quick read but the plot is also predictable and formulaic. In this book, we get to learn more about Foster and the raid that claimed the life of her husband, a trauma from which she has never been able to recover. The damage has been done and each and every day the battle she fights with her demons colours her work and her reputation. We also learn more about Petersen who has been a little bit of a closed book throughout the first story and are treated to a little more of the โsofter?โ side of Foster as her friendship with pathologist Isaac is developing throughout the story.
I am a huge fan of detective/murder thrillers and police procedurals. Normally I devour police procedurals; I love the camaraderie and the dark sense of humour that detectives - by their admission - often have when doing constant battle with the darker side of life.
However, I wasn't as completely bowled over by 'The Night Stalker' as I expected it to be. I think the problem was that I didn't really warm to the character of Detective Erika Foster. I found her to be detached from the rest of her team, rather cold at times, aloof and often adopting a rather superior manner and tone and I just couldn't take to her at all. She still remains stubborn and most of the time I thought: โErika can't be that stupid.โ ๐คฆ๐ปโ
Furthermore, I was disappointed with the scene at the end. I can't stand Oakley and Marsh runs on thin ice with me lots as well. Sparks, really, are you joking? In both cases the wrong person would be tried and hung out to die in prison for a crime they didn't commit and they promote him.๐คฆ๐ปโ
Moreover, there are too many inconsistencies and things do not make sense. For instance, flood lights coming on early evening in June? Dr Munroโs wife is called Marie, then Claire? Nils ร kerman is then Nils ร ckerman? Dr Munroโs death is being investigated. Whilst this is being done, they say that the longest day is tomorrow, and then it will start to get darker again. However, later on, they say that his death was on the 27th of June, which is almost a week after the longest day so there is a problem with the timeline here. I could go onโฆ.
In addition, we already know that Erika smokes a lot. We do not need to read the details about her drags and her cigarette butts on every page. Gets tedious. Also, some characters are not believable and too one-dimensional. Sparks and Oakley are portrayed as far too stupid and horrible to be realistic. Nobody that dumb would make it that far in the police force (or so I hope). Nobody would disregard such obvious evidence and go down a completely different route. Not believable.
And finally, there are too many similarities in the two books. Erika gets suspended and taken off the case which is instead given to the stupid and narrow-minded Sparks. Erika gets attacked and very nearly killed by the culprit(She should learn basic self-defence it's irritating anyone can undermine her easily๐คฆ๐ป). She solves the case but all the glory goes to Sparks who did nothing apart from being dumb. The plot was ok for the first book, but the author should try not to repeat the exact same pattern in each novel.
Think of something else next time!
Overall, For me, not feeling empathy with any of the characters, particularly the main detective, affected my reading pleasure and there was no real nail-biting tension in the story for me. It was an easy enough read and the writing style, together with the short chapters made it an enjoyable enough read and it did sustain my interest through to the conclusion.
๐.๐ I read another book with the same title by an Author "Chris Carter" and DAMN that was a book doing justice to the title and What a great read!
In comparison to that this book doesn't even stand a sliver of chance but if I am not comparing then it is a decent read!
๐.๐.๐ Peterson and Erika?? In the coming book?? HMMMM.... Let's see how this is going to turn out!
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ.5
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.17 (29245)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Police Procedural
๐ธ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐: Detective Erika Foster (Book 2)
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: Yes!!