Nightlife

The police assume the woman with long, blond hair captured on a surveillance video at a murder scene is a witness. Homicide Detective Catherine Hobbes disagrees with her male colleagues. Hobbes thinks the woman--now missing--may be the perp. Shelly Frasier gives an understated reading, keeping even the most intense moments low-key. While this approach allows the story to generate its own energy, it adds little to the listening experience. The story is consistently satisfying, but with no pause between the final confrontation and the closing scene, the ending seems abrupt. Nevertheless, this sexy psychological suspense offers a chilling look into the mind of a female serial killer. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

September 26, 2005
Serial killer Charlene Buckner—aka Tanya Starling, Rachel Sturbridge, Nancy Mills, and several other monikers—changes her identity each time she commits a murder. By the end of Perry's mesmerizing novel (Pursuit
; The Butcher's Boy
), Charlene has racked up an impressive body count and her own personal Rolodex of bogus names. Yes, as a child she had a slutty mom, and yes, she was abandoned in her late teens, but her life story is hardly the horror show of most fictional serial killers. Perry patiently shows that it doesn't necessarily take child molestation and brutality to create a murderer. "She was just a regular person who had always wanted what everybody else wanted—to be happy." Portland police detective Sgt. Catherine Hobbes investigates Charlene's first kill, Dennis Poole, and follows close behind her, always just a little too late to catch Charlene or save her latest victim, as Charlene moves on to San Francisco, L.A., Las Vegas and other locales, where she pauses just long enough to commit another murder. Hobbes has her own issues, and by the end the two women have grown close not only in proximity but in identity as well. Reinterpreting conventions and confounding readers' expectations with fascinating characters, this is Perry at his best.

August 7, 2006
Perry's latest novel reveals an intricate relationship between a ruthless serial killer and the dedicated detective determined to bring her in. Portland homicide detective Catherine Hobbes is investigating the murder of a computer salesman. Evidence suggests that there may have been another victim—a woman known as Tanya Starling—but Hobbes is soon convinced that Starling is in fact the murderer. What follows is a complex game of cat and mouse as Hobbes pursues a killer without conscience who changes her looks and identity with chameleon-like ease. As Hobbes draws closer to her quarry, the tables shift, and the detective becomes the prey. With a cool, calculated delivery, Shelly Frasier supplies just the right tone for this psychological thriller. Easily flipping from one narrative viewpoint to another, Frasier is especially good when expressing Starling's inner thoughts. The scenes where Starling plans and implements her murders are chilling in their cold pragmatism, yet there are moments, such as when Starling flirts with one of her victims over dinner, that are as charming as any romantic comedy. Nicely produced by Tantor, this audiobook makes for excellent listening. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 29).