Fourth Book, First Place
Review by Kim Cantrell
I’ve been there from the very beginning; from the time author Chelsea Cain introduced readers to the jaded, tough Portland, Oregon, Detective Archie Sheridan and the beautiful, intelligent serial killer Gretchen Lowell.
Oh, and I better not forget, the rainbow-child journalist Susan Ward.
While Cain’s previous three books center around the skewed relationship between Lowell and the detective/victim tracking her down, her newest book focuses on a new story entirely with the same characters her fans love (less so much Gretchen, of course).
The Night Season begins with the 1948 flooding of Vanport, a public housing community on the outskirts of Portland. (True story, by the way, for those of you interested) Then fast forwards to present day; raining nonstop, the Willamette River is threatening to overtake downtown Portland.
As residents work together in an effort to save their city, a serial killer is on the loose and it isn’t Gretchen.
This killer’s weapon of choice: a blue-ringed octopus.
Yep, you read that right. An octopus.
Chelsea Cain has a wicked imagination and she puts it to work with The Night Season. creating one of the most page-turning suspense thrillers on bookshelves today. And you’ve got to give her kudos and applause for a plot that works in historical fiction, freshwaster flooding, and saltwater creatures and turns into one well-explained, smooth-flowing narrative.
Now that’s talent!
I thought Cain’s other books were great, but this is my favorite so far, by far. SK Gretchen is interesting, but getting a little old, so I vote “like” for more cases featuring Archie and the gang without “The Beauty Killer.”
Besides, Gretchen looks like a clique after the ocotopus guy.
When you’re needing a little break from true crime but just can’t go cold turkey, I strongly recommend reading any of Chelsea Cain’s books, but especially The Night Season.
Add The Night Season to your Fiction Reading List!
