Book Review: The Night Stalker

Synopsis:

If the Night Stalker is watching, you’re already dead.

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer’s night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in his bed with his wrists bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.

A few days later, another victim is found to have died under precisely the same circumstances. As Erika and her team begin investigating, they discover a calculated serial killer is stalking the victims before choosing just the right moment to strike. All of the victims are single men with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

As a heat wave descends upon London, Erika must stop the Night Stalker before the body count rises . . . even if it means risking her job. But the victims might not be the only ones being watched. Erika’s own life might be at stake.

Review:

Author Robert Bryndza is British, but resides in Slovakia. His novels have been translated into 29 different languages and sold millions of copies. In the second installment of his series featuring Detective Erika Foster, a native Slovakian, London is in the midst of a sweltering summer heat wave. Erika is called to the scene of a murder. The victim, a local physician, not only had his wrists bound and died of suffocation when a clear plastic bag was placed over his head and tied securely. He had also ingested Rohypnol, commonly known as a date rape drug or “Roofies.” When the next victim — murdered in exactly the same manner — is discovered a few days later, Erika knows a serial killer is on the loose.

Erika is determined to uncover what links the victims — all single men — to their killer. Is it something in their pasts? What is the killer’s motive? As usual, she must deal with administrative short-sightedness and superior officers seeking political expediency. But undeterred, Erika, devoted to her profession and tenacious, will stop at nothing to solve the mystery before the killer claims more victims. And when the killer gets close to Erika, she becomes even more focused.

Author Robert Bryndza introduced the character of Erika in The Girl in the Ice, and follows up that fast-paced thriller with another deftly-plotted mystery. He continues his exploration of Erika’s tragic past and the various ways in which her emotional state fuels her determination. The second anniversary of her husband’s untimely and heartbreaking death is upon her. But she is unwilling to let grief slow down her progress on the case. Indeed, her mourning has taken on new characteristics as time passes, a realization that she examines and with which she must learn to cope.

Bryndza reveals the killer and the motive fairly early in the story, setting up a game of cat and mouse between the tragically deranged murderer and Erika that keeps readers turning the pages at a furious pace. Despite interference and direct orders from her superiors — that she, of course, disregards — Erika places herself in danger in order to catch the killer and save the life of a dear friend and colleague. In the process, the pace never slows and there is no lull in the action until the satisfying conclusion. Despite revealing the killer’s identity, Bryndza throws in a few curve balls to sustain readers’ interest. And supplies an exciting adventure.

The Night Stalker is a worthy successor to The Girl in the Ice.