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chk_chk_books 's review for:
Night Watcher
by Daphne Woolsoncroft
What a tale! It combines one of my favorite things- true crime/spooky podcasts- and one of my favorite tropes- protagonists knows something is wrong and has to take matters into her own hands. A little wordy but you get what I mean. Nola feels very real; the trauma of what happened to Mia, her babysitter, shaped her entirely (I know the semicolon might be a red flag to some but I'm an English major, I must use them). The things we experience as a child can truly follow us throughout our lifetime. You can feel Nola's desperation to have someone, anyone believe her that the past had come back to haunt her, but of course the people that could actually make a difference dismiss her and label her as paranoid. Rather than admit defeat, Nola strengthens her resolve, certain other people will get hurt if she doesn't stop the Hiding Man. Even though we didn't get a ton of chapters from Jack's perspective (the detective in charge of the latest murder and the Hiding Man case as a whole), I loved seeing his take on everything. He's certainly no Spender Reid when it comes to profile possible suspects, but you can see how much his failings hurt him and what it could cost him if he allows himself to get lost in a case. He admits to his past mistakes and tries to correct them by overcoming his own personal biases and looking at things more critically. Making the PPB look a little foolish is... accurate to say the least. Source, Oregonian.
The audiobook was excellent, both Hellen Laser and Will Collyer bringing the characters to light. And a book set in Oregon? Sign. Me. Up. I love some Oregon recognition. We can be scary too, I swear! I had never heard of Daphne's podcast before reading this book but for a debut novel, she did quite well. I'm excited to see what else she might come up with!
Okay, now we're getting into spoiler territory for the sake of discussion so run along now if you're not don't want the ending spoiled for you!
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I was certain he was a red herring from the beginning. If anything, he could have been Mia and Jackie's killer, but that would take the plot to other places. For the drama, he could have taken the Hiding Man's place only for the Hiding Man to reemerge years later, outraged at the imposter. Again though, completely different story. He hasn't changed at all either. He still goes out on late night benders at his big age and what weirdo leaves their phone at home? If I was Nola, ties would be cut, numbers would be blocked. "Thanks for nothing Dad! I begged for your attention as a child and when it came down to you doing the right selfless thing, you didn't." I am not nearly as forgiving as she is.
I also feel vindication since it was pretty obvious the man Nola ran into at Powell's was indeed the Hiding Man. 99% of the time, nothing happens in books without a reason and the reason was to establish his presence to the reader and Nola. I'm sure most people picked up on that though.
Their final encounter was equal parts horrific and... fast? Many books I read like this have a very drown out, lengthy scene of monologuing, grand standing, a breathless confession, usually leading to the death of the suspect. Daphne gets straight to business though. The entire book was a build up to this point and life itself happens fast. He did the same thing he did to all the other women, except this time his intended target knew him for what he was; a psychopath that got off on tormenting others psychologically, but still entirely human. No longer the scared child, Nola is able to defend herself, do everything she can to survive. Ed clearly underestimated her resolve, her desire to live and to see him dead. If he hadn't been so caught up in his hairbrained scheme to frame Nola's dad, he honestly might have won. He let his desire for revenge cloud his judgment and it got him killed.
(You would think that him being named the Hiding Man, Nola would think that he might be, well, hiding in her house but whatever)
I felt very accomplished in my own profiling on who the Hiding Man could be, moreover why he stopped in the first place and what made him start up again. Obvious answers being he died, he went to jail for something else, or something in his life made him stop killing. As he said, a family will do that to you (not entirely true for many serial offenders but that was the case for him). The 'trigger' of his family being killed made it all clicked into place and while might have been more emotional if he had been someone close to Nola, it's scary to think that a stranger could harbor so much hate for you just from one conversation 20 years prior.
The audiobook was excellent, both Hellen Laser and Will Collyer bringing the characters to light. And a book set in Oregon? Sign. Me. Up. I love some Oregon recognition. We can be scary too, I swear! I had never heard of Daphne's podcast before reading this book but for a debut novel, she did quite well. I'm excited to see what else she might come up with!
Okay, now we're getting into spoiler territory for the sake of discussion so run along now if you're not don't want the ending spoiled for you!
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
Spoiler
Personally, I feel like Nola let her dad off easy. Sure, it's not technically one of his fans turned out to be a deranged killer, but he is responsible for how he treats people. Shit dad, shit husband, all made even shittier human being because he refused to be honest with the police after two of his affairs partners were literally murdered. He didn't want to upend his life? Are you kidding? Police don't tell your spouse you cheated unless they suspect your spouse, it's not their place otherwise. And his wife found out afterwards anyways, so WHY HIDE IT?I was certain he was a red herring from the beginning. If anything, he could have been Mia and Jackie's killer, but that would take the plot to other places. For the drama, he could have taken the Hiding Man's place only for the Hiding Man to reemerge years later, outraged at the imposter. Again though, completely different story. He hasn't changed at all either. He still goes out on late night benders at his big age and what weirdo leaves their phone at home? If I was Nola, ties would be cut, numbers would be blocked. "Thanks for nothing Dad! I begged for your attention as a child and when it came down to you doing the right selfless thing, you didn't." I am not nearly as forgiving as she is.
I also feel vindication since it was pretty obvious the man Nola ran into at Powell's was indeed the Hiding Man. 99% of the time, nothing happens in books without a reason and the reason was to establish his presence to the reader and Nola. I'm sure most people picked up on that though.
Their final encounter was equal parts horrific and... fast? Many books I read like this have a very drown out, lengthy scene of monologuing, grand standing, a breathless confession, usually leading to the death of the suspect. Daphne gets straight to business though. The entire book was a build up to this point and life itself happens fast. He did the same thing he did to all the other women, except this time his intended target knew him for what he was; a psychopath that got off on tormenting others psychologically, but still entirely human. No longer the scared child, Nola is able to defend herself, do everything she can to survive. Ed clearly underestimated her resolve, her desire to live and to see him dead. If he hadn't been so caught up in his hairbrained scheme to frame Nola's dad, he honestly might have won. He let his desire for revenge cloud his judgment and it got him killed.
(You would think that him being named the Hiding Man, Nola would think that he might be, well, hiding in her house but whatever)
I felt very accomplished in my own profiling on who the Hiding Man could be, moreover why he stopped in the first place and what made him start up again. Obvious answers being he died, he went to jail for something else, or something in his life made him stop killing. As he said, a family will do that to you (not entirely true for many serial offenders but that was the case for him). The 'trigger' of his family being killed made it all clicked into place and while might have been more emotional if he had been someone close to Nola, it's scary to think that a stranger could harbor so much hate for you just from one conversation 20 years prior.