The Blue Hour - Hardcover

Parker, T. Jefferson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786862882 ISBN 13: 9780786862887

Publisher: Hyperion, 1999

Synopsis

The "ace suspense writer" ("Chicago Tribune") returns with an explosive new thriller that pits an unlikely team of detectives--who become an even more unlikely pair of lovers--against a ruthless serial killer.

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Reviews

The plot may sound familiar, but surehanded thriller writer Parker (Where Serpents Dance) proves ever-surprising in his latest novel, the story of an unusual pair of police protagonists and a serial killer stalking beautiful women in California's Laguna County. Tim Hess is a retired cop, fighting lung cancer, who's called back to active duty to find the diabolical killer who "signs" his murders by eviscerating his victims. His boss and partner in the investigation is an attractive, brusque detective named Merci Rayborn, who quickly dismisses the lone suspect in the case, a paroled, chemically castrated Romanian rapist living under virtual house arrest in an apartment complex near the latest crime scene. Hess stays on the rapist's trail, though, tracking an embalming machine that may be part of the killer's bizarre m.o., but by the time the clues come together, Merci is in murderous hands. Parker places his building blocks with meticulous precision, balancing the feisty yet somewhat melancholic interaction between Hess and Rayborn with a terrifying portrait of a psychopath, although the physical relationship between the two cops does seem a bit forced. The details of the crime are presented with judicious authority as Parker consistently underplays the more sensational aspects of the homicides to keep the narrative unpredictable and dynamic, making it far more gripping than the average serial-killer thriller. Author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Parker's seventh California thriller (Where Serpents Lie, 1998, etc.) leads with a bright new twist: the hero is Tim Hess, a retired, divorced, and childless cop with an apparent death sentence of cancer hanging over him as he goes about tracking down a serial killer. Meanwhile, hes keeping company withand taking orders fromgood-looking, right uppity Detective Merci Rayborn, who can be one big pain and has already marked her way up the ladder of promotions. The two of them want to find the Purse Snatcher, a kidnaping slayer of beautiful Laguna County women. But since there are no bodies, only the womens purses lying in blood, might they still be alive? As often happens with Parker novels, the main plot has familiar echoes, but that hardly matters when the reader is guaranteed a richly metaphoric and suspenseful ride to the end, especially as Hess's deepening passion for Merci gives him ever more reason to live. It's safe to say that Parker has never before come up with as moving an ending as he unwinds here, while titillating us along the way with a psycho whose only fault is his irresistible fixation on giving gorgeous women eternal beautyjust as the hormone treatments he's been given to reduce his sexual cravings have given him a pair of breasts. Ah, Parker in top form. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Parker serves up another Orange County, CA, police procedural, this time pairing retired expert cop Tim Hess with brash young detective Merci Rayborn. They're an unlikely team fighting a nasty serial killer who abducts wealthy, attractive women, eviscerates them, and then apparently saves their bodies. What is even more unlikely is that a 70-year-old retiree fighting lung cancer could take orders from and work effectively with an ambitious woman half his age. But not only do they work well togetherAthey find themselves falling in love. Parker's seventh thriller (after Where Serpents Lie, LJ 1/98) has enough chills and twists to keep the pages turning, but the real story here is the surprising love match that Parker manages to pull off with realistic characters and true emotion. This will be another hit for Parker's fans and will appeal to Michael Connolly's as well. Recommended for all fiction collections.ARebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tim Hess retired from the Orange County Sheriff's Department a year ago, before they found the tumor and took out two-thirds of his right lung. Now he's back as a full-time consultant. He must find a serial killer dubbed the Purse Snatcher by the media. Hess is paired with Merci Rayborn, an ambitious second-generation cop. This mismatched pair have only the slightest bit of forensic evidence, so they turn to a former FBI profiler and even conduct an unsettling "background" interview with a sexual predator who may be able to offer insight into the motive of the killer. Once again, veteran Parker draws us deeply into the lives of those immersed in the dark side of humanity, as either perpetrators or cops. Parker will keep you up one night reading and awake three more cowering under the covers, waiting for the bogeyman. Wes Lukowsky

Edition details

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786862882
• ISBN 13: 9780786862887
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368