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(CP) - Just when you think the serial-killer genre has been done to death, so to speak, along comes a writer like Thomas Perry to put a chilling new twist on it.
In this case he sets up two intriguing female protagonists.
Tanya is a cold-blooded killer of the black widow variety. She befriends eligible and impressionable young men and more often than not dispatches them in the bedroom, usually with a bullet through the head.
She began her cross-country killings in Portland, Ore., and that's where homicide detective Catherine Hobbes catches the case and begins to track Tanya, first to Los Angeles, then across the U.S. The problem is, Tanya has become a master of disguises and identities, changing her hair, looks and driver's licences, always one step ahead of the law.
But just when Hobbes thinks she's lost the trail, Tanya does an about-face and returns to Portland - coming after the detective. Along the way, the lady cop picked up not only this deadly enemy but also an ally in private eye Joe Pitt who is also on the case.
It will come as no surprise that Hobbes and Pitt begin with an uneasy alliance that evolves into something more. After all, we're talking fiction here and both characters are not only stalwart and capable, but hotties, too.
Perry brings it all down to a nail-biter of a climax as, with murderous intent, Tanya stalks the detective who has been on her tail all along. Will she succeed? Will Pitt arrive in time to save Hobbes? Will he even have to? Like a roller-coaster ride, you're pretty sure it's all going to end well but that doesn't make the trip any less heart-pounding.
Nightlife
By Thomas Perry (Random House)
© The Canadian Press, 2006
