The Butcher

May 26, 2014
Hillier (Freak) squanders an intriguing premise with poor plotting and lackluster characterization in this disappointing psychological thriller. In 1985, Capt. Edward Shank of the Seattle PD made his reputation by apprehending the Beacon Hill Butcher, a serial killer who terrorized the Pacific Northwest. In the present, soon after Shank’s grandson, Matthew, discovers highly unsettling evidence regarding the case among the retired police chief’s papers, the murders resume. Hillier trots out a series of disturbing crimes—rape, dismemberment, incest, sodomy—but her writing fails to get any horror across. The killer, meanwhile, remains a concept rather than a well-rounded character. Sluggish pacing undermines the suspense, while much of the novel focuses on an entirely predictable love triangle and a subplot about Matthew’s reality TV ambitions. Although the high body count and the gore may attract some readers, the story fails to deliver on its initial promise. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg.

May 1, 2014
Hillier's prose is unadorned, but, as she ably proved in her debut (Creep, 2011), she has a fine knack for creating hideous killers. This time she turns the formula whodunit on its head. The prologue sets the scene: in 1985, the Beacon Hill Butcher, whose signature was to remove the left hand of his young female victims, was shot to death by police under the command of Captain Edward Shank. The incident made Shank a hero and propelled him into a lengthy term as chief of police. Skip ahead 30 years. Shank, now a dapper, alert 80, still lauded for his role in the Butcher case, is about to move to a retirement home. He's anxious, yet almost gleeful, about starting a new chapter in his lifewhich he begins by killing his wife. For years Chief has fooled everyone, including his son, Matt, and Matt's girlfriend, Sam, who is convinced there's more to know about the Butcher. As it turns out, the coldly rational, sadistic Shank has plans for his new life that are apt to prove Sam right. A tense, suspenseful, thoroughly creepy thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)