The Night Season

by Chelsea Cain

Thrillers

St Martin's Paperbacks - 2011

337 pages - 9, 99 $

En Français ici

Why this book

Again, because I met the author at the QuebeCrime festival. As I had already bought a lot of book form male authors, I wanted to try a feminine approach of the thriller.

Summary

He captured the Beauty Killer, one of the most deranged serial killers in the country. Now, Portland police detective Archie Sheridan faces a different kind of killer—a brutal rain season that has flooded the Willamette River, claiming several lives. As water levels rise, so does the fear. Because some of the victims didn’t drown—they were murdered.

The first body contains a rare poison. Three others prove to be murders as well. And with each gruesome discovery the medical examiner uncovers, Archie begins to realize he has not escaped his nightmares—even with his deadliest enemy behind bars. The flood has washed up old skeletons from the past. And a ruthless new serial killer rules the night…

The story without revealing it

Archie Sheridan, still traumatized from his encounter with The Beauty Killer, tracks another serial killer who takes advantage of the flood of Portland and the incessant rain to sow corpses. He is assisted by Susan Ward, a journalist dedicated to the dead and other creepy weird with a knack for finding herself where she should not be.

What I think of it

Really good! I finished it at 2:00 in the morning, because I have not been able to close it earlier promising me to finish it the next day. I had to know how it would end. It's nervous, it moves all the time, the characters are well drawn. The trap at the end is a little déjà-vu, but that does not stop the stress up a notch. This is also the strength of Chelsea Cain, you know that something will happen and you can not let go of the book!

In addition, the atmosphere is very present throughout the book, without tons of description - which is cool as I usually hate them. Here the flood of Portland brings a landscape and a creepy atmosphere (I've never been so happy to be warm under my duvet while Archie and Susan were drenched in a downpour .. .)

Let's be brief

A writer to discover. It seems that the first three books are in sequence, but this fourth installment can be read without having read the others, although there are some references - that make you want to read the beginning of the series - in the story. A reference that I'll keep for my next purchase and I would definitely recommend for anyone who loves a good captivating thriller.