Janet Maslin
It takes a little while to realize how successful Nightlife will be, because the book's early chapters brim with all-but-extraneous male characters. Mr. Perry brings on a gangster, a fall guy whose pistol shoots 10 bullets ("11 was a bad number for Steve Rao") and an obligatory leading man: charming, gambling, flirting private eye Joe Pitt, who takes a shine to Catherine. But these secondary figures never divert energy from the book's true battle of wits between smart, intuitive women. Once Tanya has started to kill and then to repeatedly change identities, Catherine must start learning how to read Tanya's mind.
Publishers Weekly
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). (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The creator of comic thrillers such as Metzger's Dog and the disappearing acts in the Jane Whitefield series returns with his 14th novel, a brutal though somewhat hollow tale of a serial killer. In contrast to most serial killers, Tanya Starling is a woman, and she has no signature MO except that most of her corpses are male. The victim of her mother's emotional abuse and men's abandonment, Tanya takes on and sheds identities and hair color willy-nilly as she moves from man to man, becoming stronger with each murder. Her nemesis is another relentless woman, Portland detective Catherine Hobbes, who tracks her to LA and back and nearly becomes a victim herself. The novel veers back and forth between Tanya and Catherine, with occasional side trips to Joe Pitt, a former police investigator, now private, who provides the romance in Catherine's dull personal life. The characters never really come to life, however, and the plotline itself has a static quality despite the identity and venue changes. Disappointing. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/05.]-Francine Fialkoff, Library Journal Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A police detective tracks a resourceful serial killer in Perry's latest nail-biter (Dead Aim, 2002, etc.). Although she's lived off wealthy men for a long time, Tanya Starling never killed any of them until doing in Dennis Poole. But she's embarked on a fearsome learning curve. Fleeing from Portland to San Francisco, she assumes a new identity as Rachel Sturbridge, methodically destroys every trace of Tanya Starling and takes off for Los Angeles when the Bay City gets too hot. As Nancy Mills of LA, she has no scruples about killing a bank manager who knew her as Tanya, or the medical-supplies salesman she picked up for a good time, or the neighbor who recognizes her from a videotape taken outside the salesman's building. When will her suddenly murderous career end? Det. Sgt. Catherine Hobbes of Portland Homicide succeeds in tracking her down the coast but keeps coming up just inches short. Meantime, Dennis's cousin Hugo, a crooked businessman who won't sleep easy until he's sent a message that nobody messes with his family, has hired raffish Hollywood private eye Joe Pitt to work with Catherine. The two develop a wary mutual respect, but when Catherine sends Joe packing, Hugo raises the stakes by replacing him with Calvin Dunn, an enforcer whose clear brief is to kill Nancy Mills, not turn her over to the police. The entry of this wild card turns a two person cat-and-mouse game into a deadly free-for-all, with Perry in top form as he skillfully prevents readers from seeing around every curve. It's not until Nancy's very last disguise, after she's hidden in the least likely place imaginable, that the tension runs along familiar genre lines. The hints of romance are less than convincing,but the agonizingly detailed pairing of two determined women, complicated by the intrusion of a freelance killer, is masterful.
From the Publisher
"Thomas Perry is, quite simply, brilliant. And as each book comes out he becomes more so." —-Robert B. Parker
