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Nightwatcher #3
Shadowkiller
Allison Taylor MacKenna feels as though she'sawakened at last from a ten-year-long nightmare.But her darkest hour has yet to come . . .
Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of loving husbandand family, Allison finally feels safe—unaware that astranger's brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life.
For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows:a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.
Now, as Allison's murky memoriesof a troubled childhood creep back to light, a cunning predator who shares her history prepares toenact a horrifying retribution—and won't stop killing untilAllison faces a shocking truth . . .and pays the ultimate price.
Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of loving husbandand family, Allison finally feels safe—unaware that astranger's brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life.
For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows:a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.
Now, as Allison's murky memoriesof a troubled childhood creep back to light, a cunning predator who shares her history prepares toenact a horrifying retribution—and won't stop killing untilAllison faces a shocking truth . . .and pays the ultimate price.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 29, 2013
62 people are currently reading
837 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Corsi Staub
81 books1,891 followersNew York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than ninety novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name. Those books and the women’s fiction written under the pseudonym Wendy Markham have also appeared on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.
Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.
Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.
Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.
Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.
A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.
She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.
Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.
Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.
Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.
Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.
Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.
A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.
She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.
Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
March 23, 2020
When I bought this 2013 paperback at a library book sale, I didn't know it was #3 in a trilogy. The past was explained well enough that I was able to follow along well. Here are the main 3 players: 1) Carrie, who tends bar on a Caribbean Island and steals the identity of a cruise ship passenger. 2) Allison McKenna who has 3 children with 3) Mack. Ten years ago, Allison lived across the hall in a New York apartment building from Mack and Carrie. September 11 happened which brought huge changes. I gathered in the first part of the trilogy that a serial killer lived in that building and in the 2nd book, a copycat killer terrorized them. How much killing can one family have to deal with?
The story is intricate. Flashbacks for all the characters go back in time to ten years ago and to childhoods. Parts of the book were more interesting to me than others. The investigators didn't come along until the last 1/3 of the book but there's a maniacal killer throughout.
The story is intricate. Flashbacks for all the characters go back in time to ten years ago and to childhoods. Parts of the book were more interesting to me than others. The investigators didn't come along until the last 1/3 of the book but there's a maniacal killer throughout.
May 29, 2013
Horrible...skimmed 2/3 of book. It was nothing but unnecessary ramblings by this author. I would give it ZERO stars if possible.
June 17, 2019
Allison has had a life filled with trauma, and unknown to her, it is only going to continue as a presumed dead woman comes back to NYC assuming a false identity. She is hunting Allison for something that happened in the past and things get tense and dangerous as a PI investigates a missing woman in the Caribbean. Very twisty and hops around between present and various past times, telling the story in pieces to pull it all together for the climax. Intense and dark
February 8, 2013
Recieved this book through a Goodreads giveaway***
I entered for this book in the giveway because I was interested in trying Staubs books. I did not realize that this was the 3rd book in a series about 1 couple. If I had, I most likely wouldn't have entered, as I like to start those kinds of series at the beginning. That being said, I did not have any problems with following and understanding what had happenend previously in the series. I liked the main characters. I struggled with the style of the writing. The narative parts of the book seemed distant for some reason, then the dialogue would happen and I would feel connected to the characters, but once the narative started again, I would feel yanked out. It was kind of like Modern Family or The Middle (on TV) where the story is displayed, then it pulls out of a single voice/character narrating. I just couldn't get into the flow of the story. I can see where others would like it, but it just wasn't for me. I did not finish this book.
I entered for this book in the giveway because I was interested in trying Staubs books. I did not realize that this was the 3rd book in a series about 1 couple. If I had, I most likely wouldn't have entered, as I like to start those kinds of series at the beginning. That being said, I did not have any problems with following and understanding what had happenend previously in the series. I liked the main characters. I struggled with the style of the writing. The narative parts of the book seemed distant for some reason, then the dialogue would happen and I would feel connected to the characters, but once the narative started again, I would feel yanked out. It was kind of like Modern Family or The Middle (on TV) where the story is displayed, then it pulls out of a single voice/character narrating. I just couldn't get into the flow of the story. I can see where others would like it, but it just wasn't for me. I did not finish this book.
August 16, 2025
Third and final book of the series, Shadowkiller by Wendy Corsi Staub was a good finish to the trilogy. It brought elements of all three books and tied everything together nicely. I will miss these characters but I am ready to move on to a new author and new genre. I have a new love of audiobooks. Taking care of my mom has kept me at home, cooking and cleaning more. Audiobooks make those chores fun! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 8, 2013
Story Description:
HarperCollins Publisher|January 14, 20132|Mass Market Paperbound|ISBN: 978-0-06-207032-6
From the New York Times bestselling author comes a novel of suspense so terrifying it may make you afraid of the dark…
Allison Taylor MacKenna feels as though she’s awakened at last from a ten-year-long nightmare. But her darkest hour has yet to come.
Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of loving husband and family, Allison finally feels safe – unaware that a stranger’s brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life.
For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows, a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.
Now, as Allison’s murky memories of a troubled childhood creep back to light, a cunning predator who shares her history prepares to enact a horrifying retribution – and won’t stop killing until Allison face a shocking truth…and pays the ultimate price.
My Review:
I didn’t enjoy this novel nearly as much as I have other Staub novels. It seems to me that Ms. Staub is almost trying to rush to see how many books she can pump out in a year or so and this, I personally feel, is affecting her writing immensely. I used to be completely glued to the pages of her books but found this one to be a bit of a yawner to be quite honest and felt it went on and on a bit too long in places, almost as if she is adding words just to lengthen the novel. I was a tad disappointed in this book and wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. However, someone else might pick it up and think it’s the best book they’ve ever read, but after having read every single book Ms. Staub has ever written to date, this one was a complete let down for me.
HarperCollins Publisher|January 14, 20132|Mass Market Paperbound|ISBN: 978-0-06-207032-6
From the New York Times bestselling author comes a novel of suspense so terrifying it may make you afraid of the dark…
Allison Taylor MacKenna feels as though she’s awakened at last from a ten-year-long nightmare. But her darkest hour has yet to come.
Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of loving husband and family, Allison finally feels safe – unaware that a stranger’s brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life.
For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows, a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.
Now, as Allison’s murky memories of a troubled childhood creep back to light, a cunning predator who shares her history prepares to enact a horrifying retribution – and won’t stop killing until Allison face a shocking truth…and pays the ultimate price.
My Review:
I didn’t enjoy this novel nearly as much as I have other Staub novels. It seems to me that Ms. Staub is almost trying to rush to see how many books she can pump out in a year or so and this, I personally feel, is affecting her writing immensely. I used to be completely glued to the pages of her books but found this one to be a bit of a yawner to be quite honest and felt it went on and on a bit too long in places, almost as if she is adding words just to lengthen the novel. I was a tad disappointed in this book and wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. However, someone else might pick it up and think it’s the best book they’ve ever read, but after having read every single book Ms. Staub has ever written to date, this one was a complete let down for me.
January 25, 2014
This book started out good, but for me it fell flat when it went into the past. I got really bored with the story and kept getting confused about the characters. The present tense story was good and what I was really looking forward to reading.
Unfortunately, I waited the entire course of the book for the big scene when the killer finally has Allison in her clutches, but that never happens. I mean, the killer does nab Allison but the scene is a let down. It happens in the final chapter, I like stories where the climax is more action packed and well thought out. It seemed like the author was just trying to get the book over with, to me that was a major let down after pushing myself through the slow past tense scenes. All in all I was let down with this book.
Unfortunately, I waited the entire course of the book for the big scene when the killer finally has Allison in her clutches, but that never happens. I mean, the killer does nab Allison but the scene is a let down. It happens in the final chapter, I like stories where the climax is more action packed and well thought out. It seemed like the author was just trying to get the book over with, to me that was a major let down after pushing myself through the slow past tense scenes. All in all I was let down with this book.
June 25, 2016
By this point in the series you are thinking, really how much life altering events can happen to this family!!! Series work better following the police officers, FBI agents etc. that see crime regularly. This was a good story and I really love the characters, although Allison and Mack's kids appear to be getting whinier, but it felt too far fetched. glad it is the last one sine there is just nothing else this family can endure!
October 25, 2017
Ugh this whole series was awful... mack is so selfabsorbed in spite of what happened to his family in the first 2 books of the series and Allison was sooooo whiney... never talked about her feelings with her husband and just honestly they were not sympathetic chatacters at all.... as for carrie-winona... she wasn't sympathetic either but at least she was less annoying than mack and Allison
February 20, 2013
I just knew from the time I read the first book in the series that Carrie was alive and I was right! I have liked most of the characters in the series but never really 'got into' Mack. However, in this book you finally get to know him and I ended up really liking him.
December 21, 2014
Excellent suspense and story formulation.
February 8, 2025
My Review and Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of Wendy's. Her books are always fun to read and very suspenseful, mystery filled and filled with Intrigue that always ends up being a thriller. She can build her characters throughout her books and build them in memorable ways. Each of her characters flow with a somewhat relatable reality. The reader can always grasp the characters. You become a part of the victims, but also you become a part of the villains.
She can hold the reader to the very end. She fills in tons of gaps making you wait, giving you just enough each chapter to send you to the next chapter. You become like a child wanting to turn the page after page. She gives you just enough to hold you to the edge and then slows down, then speeds up, slows down and then speeds up making you wait until the very end to get the whole story and conclusion of her suspenseful read.
Shadow killer is that way, it mixes all the wonderful trademarks of Wendy's storytelling. She's able to capture the vividness, the disturbing nature of the bad villains and the emotional makeup and reality of the innocent yet mixes the innocent with the guilty in this story.
Allison your main character is stalked and hunted by a woman with many names and a past of mystery and the present with multiple murdered victims. A cat and mouse game are played upon Allison and yet she doesn't even know she is playing.
This mystery is a very interesting book, it flashes into the past, into the present and you as the reader can get confused at times which is kind of one of the negatives about this book is it jumps around where you can get confused. The reader can overlook that because the book is a strong read with interesting characters.
What stands out is the complex villain. An interesting villain. The character driven villain leaves a lasting mark on the reader.
The whole story comes together into a complete interesting woven suspense thriller of a disturbing nature.
Your main villain, the focus point of the story is truly a disturbing and sadistic killer. A twisted little mind that creates the senseless acts of violence and truly is a character that one will remember. The only two downfalls to the story are one of the negatives I mentioned is it can be confusing at times, but the other negative is I felt that the ending was too quick. The reader wanted a greater showdown, but it seemed to just stop giving you a smack in the face. It was as if you spent all your time reading the story waiting for the final showdown between good and bad and then it was just like a smack in the face and it was over with.
Great read, great characters, great sadistic violence but ultimately confusing and a very weak ending. I wanted more. I think the readers of this story will love it. I enjoyed it because I'm a Wendy fan. I just wanted more from the ending. The beginning was awesome, the middle was awesome, the whole buildup to the final showdown was brilliant but then you got nothing which was a total blah moment.
The fans of Wendy like me will like it but if your person that just picks up random books you might be let down.
I enjoyed it, I thought it was a great read, like a state, with its negatives it still was a good read.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
I am a huge fan of Wendy's. Her books are always fun to read and very suspenseful, mystery filled and filled with Intrigue that always ends up being a thriller. She can build her characters throughout her books and build them in memorable ways. Each of her characters flow with a somewhat relatable reality. The reader can always grasp the characters. You become a part of the victims, but also you become a part of the villains.
She can hold the reader to the very end. She fills in tons of gaps making you wait, giving you just enough each chapter to send you to the next chapter. You become like a child wanting to turn the page after page. She gives you just enough to hold you to the edge and then slows down, then speeds up, slows down and then speeds up making you wait until the very end to get the whole story and conclusion of her suspenseful read.
Shadow killer is that way, it mixes all the wonderful trademarks of Wendy's storytelling. She's able to capture the vividness, the disturbing nature of the bad villains and the emotional makeup and reality of the innocent yet mixes the innocent with the guilty in this story.
Allison your main character is stalked and hunted by a woman with many names and a past of mystery and the present with multiple murdered victims. A cat and mouse game are played upon Allison and yet she doesn't even know she is playing.
This mystery is a very interesting book, it flashes into the past, into the present and you as the reader can get confused at times which is kind of one of the negatives about this book is it jumps around where you can get confused. The reader can overlook that because the book is a strong read with interesting characters.
What stands out is the complex villain. An interesting villain. The character driven villain leaves a lasting mark on the reader.
The whole story comes together into a complete interesting woven suspense thriller of a disturbing nature.
Your main villain, the focus point of the story is truly a disturbing and sadistic killer. A twisted little mind that creates the senseless acts of violence and truly is a character that one will remember. The only two downfalls to the story are one of the negatives I mentioned is it can be confusing at times, but the other negative is I felt that the ending was too quick. The reader wanted a greater showdown, but it seemed to just stop giving you a smack in the face. It was as if you spent all your time reading the story waiting for the final showdown between good and bad and then it was just like a smack in the face and it was over with.
Great read, great characters, great sadistic violence but ultimately confusing and a very weak ending. I wanted more. I think the readers of this story will love it. I enjoyed it because I'm a Wendy fan. I just wanted more from the ending. The beginning was awesome, the middle was awesome, the whole buildup to the final showdown was brilliant but then you got nothing which was a total blah moment.
The fans of Wendy like me will like it but if your person that just picks up random books you might be let down.
I enjoyed it, I thought it was a great read, like a state, with its negatives it still was a good read.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
July 9, 2023
This was my first time reading anything by Wendy Corsi Staub and this was the 3rd book in a series. This book was very confusing as the author kept jumping between the past and present and since I had not read any previous ones it took me awhile to determine the relationships of Carrie and Mac. Having said that, I still kept reading to see what would happen next.
Allison and her husband Mac were taking their kids to visit her hometown and brother. However, Mac's first wife Carrie (who supposedly died in the 9/11 terrorist attack) was in fact alive and actually turned out to be Allison's half sister that she did not know she had. Allison was able to overpower Carrie (Winona) and escape. Carrie was determined to make Allison pay for "stealing" her life.
Allison and her husband Mac were taking their kids to visit her hometown and brother. However, Mac's first wife Carrie (who supposedly died in the 9/11 terrorist attack) was in fact alive and actually turned out to be Allison's half sister that she did not know she had. Allison was able to overpower Carrie (Winona) and escape. Carrie was determined to make Allison pay for "stealing" her life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2018
The first book and it is definitely not the last, personally I liked the suspense and the progression of the storyline which makes one as a reader not wanting to stop, definitely addictive. Just one slight discomfort I had with this book is that with the introduction of many characters but it was too brief to leave a certain impression of them in consideration that they are a supporting cast.
All in all, I liked the twist of the story which is indeed disturbing and yet pitiful on why the killer becomes that way, would definitely recommend this book for one who would like a change from romance to a thriller-suspense type of genre.
All in all, I liked the twist of the story which is indeed disturbing and yet pitiful on why the killer becomes that way, would definitely recommend this book for one who would like a change from romance to a thriller-suspense type of genre.
May 1, 2021
Not really sure about the stars because when I started reading this, I didn't realize it was the third book in a trilogy (and I see from reading reviews others had the same problem). I enjoyed it, but it definitely was a bit confusing, until I realized all I had missed. And I did find the different POVs within differing timeframes confusing. But it was a compelling read. I may read the other 2 books in the series.
May 9, 2021
this is, by far, the most intense of the three books in this trilogy. You definitely will be pleased with the way the story ends, however, you have a lot of history left to go through. Allison and Mac thought the story was over. How wrong they were! Someone from their past, you will be totally shocked, is about to change their lives forever! Someone from both of their past, but it is the same person. You will be shocked, when you see how this person is connected to both of them.
June 25, 2019
Allison Taylor and her husband, "Mack" have left New York City for the suburbs. They are leaving the horror of 9-11 behind. Mack's first wife was killed in the Towers. Coming together in the turbulent aftermath, they survive a serial killer. Their new life in the suburbs is normal and happy.
But what if Mack's wife isn't really dead?
But what if Mack's wife isn't really dead?
April 4, 2019
While I loved the first two books in this series, this one had me thinking, "How could there be so many things going on all at once just to spread out between three books?" I did enjoy the twists however, and will gladly read more books by this wonderful author.
January 29, 2022
I think was the best one out of the three. I could not put this book down. I read until I fell asleep & dropped it. Then as soon as I woke up I finished it. Everything flowed so smoothly it was just so easy to read. Another reason Wendi is one of my favorite authors
May 17, 2018
I didn’t realize there was two precious books in this series. I still enjoyed this read.
May 25, 2018
Horror comes back from the ruins of 9/11
August 25, 2020
I love all Wendy Corsi Staubs books but this was one of my favorites. It’s flowed well and ended well. I sort of saw the end coming but loved it anyway. I highly recommend the nightwatcher trilogy.
September 1, 2020
I could not stop reading until finished. Don’t start this book if you have others things to do.
September 14, 2023
Predictable since the first book and not as good as the others.
April 3, 2024
Loved all three books in this series. Two thumbs up!
July 25, 2024
liked it a lot, took a while to finish it but the ending is really good and I really likes the way she writes
January 31, 2025
The ending is just underwhelming, especially after all of the build up.
February 28, 2025
Well written and I enjoyed.
February 26, 2013
My synopsis:
Ten years ago she disappeared. Her coworkers had been killed when the hijackers crashed their plane into the twin towers. The floor she had worked on was one of the first to be hit. She'd had a gut feeling that day that something bad was going to happen, and so she'd skipped work. She'd used the tragedy to mask her escape into obscurity. She'd left behind her old life and the husband who had told her just that morning he was leaving her. She'd never looked back until she'd seen the news report where she realized her former husband had married the woman who lived across the hall from them. The woman who had been Carrie's original reason for moving to New York. The woman whom eleven years earlier she'd planned to seek retribution from. A plan she would resurrect and put back into motion...
My Thoughts:
This was the third book in the Nightwatcher series. A series that has been following Allison Taylor MacKenna. I haven't read the first two books, but man, this poor woman is like a serial killer magnet. After narrowly escaping both the Nightwatcher and another serial killer, she's once again the object of a killer's attention. I didn't feel lost by not reading the first two books, but I am curious now what happened in them. While in this book we know who wants Allison dead, we don't know exactly why until the pieces start to slowly fall into place. While I guessed what the link was between Allison and Carrie, I couldn't wait to get the big picture of all the events which lead up to the suspenseful ending.
The book is segregated into three parts, some of which happens simultaneously. In one section, we get the murderer's point of view. We get into her head and witness first hand the plotting and execution of her plan. We get bits and pieces of scattered memories as the story toggles between the present and the past, and we slowly learn the connection between the two woman and the events that led up to the hate and rage that fills the killer. I almost felt the title should have been the anatomy of a serial murderer, because we got such a close look at the thought process that went behind the murderer's plan. We see what makes her tick, and how she justifies it all in her head.
The second section follows what is going on in the lives of the killer's potential victims, Mack and Allison. It brings us up to speed with where they are, what they're doing, and what their plans are. We get a little insight into how they've been coping with the events which transpired the previous year which put the them all in danger and killed their neighbor.
The third section has us following the detectives assigned to the case. It allows us to witness how the detectives use all the little pieces of information they find and collect to solve the crime and catch the killer. We also see the impact a murder can have on the friends and family of the victims. Additionally, we get insight as to how the crimes affect the detectives and spurs their desire to catch and stop the killer.
Overall this one gets a 3 1/2 out of 5 roses. Plenty of action, drama, and suspense in this one. In some ways, the book reminded me a little of a brain teaser where I tried to piece together a puzzle before all the parts were provided and before time was up (the end).
Ten years ago she disappeared. Her coworkers had been killed when the hijackers crashed their plane into the twin towers. The floor she had worked on was one of the first to be hit. She'd had a gut feeling that day that something bad was going to happen, and so she'd skipped work. She'd used the tragedy to mask her escape into obscurity. She'd left behind her old life and the husband who had told her just that morning he was leaving her. She'd never looked back until she'd seen the news report where she realized her former husband had married the woman who lived across the hall from them. The woman who had been Carrie's original reason for moving to New York. The woman whom eleven years earlier she'd planned to seek retribution from. A plan she would resurrect and put back into motion...
My Thoughts:
This was the third book in the Nightwatcher series. A series that has been following Allison Taylor MacKenna. I haven't read the first two books, but man, this poor woman is like a serial killer magnet. After narrowly escaping both the Nightwatcher and another serial killer, she's once again the object of a killer's attention. I didn't feel lost by not reading the first two books, but I am curious now what happened in them. While in this book we know who wants Allison dead, we don't know exactly why until the pieces start to slowly fall into place. While I guessed what the link was between Allison and Carrie, I couldn't wait to get the big picture of all the events which lead up to the suspenseful ending.
The book is segregated into three parts, some of which happens simultaneously. In one section, we get the murderer's point of view. We get into her head and witness first hand the plotting and execution of her plan. We get bits and pieces of scattered memories as the story toggles between the present and the past, and we slowly learn the connection between the two woman and the events that led up to the hate and rage that fills the killer. I almost felt the title should have been the anatomy of a serial murderer, because we got such a close look at the thought process that went behind the murderer's plan. We see what makes her tick, and how she justifies it all in her head.
The second section follows what is going on in the lives of the killer's potential victims, Mack and Allison. It brings us up to speed with where they are, what they're doing, and what their plans are. We get a little insight into how they've been coping with the events which transpired the previous year which put the them all in danger and killed their neighbor.
The third section has us following the detectives assigned to the case. It allows us to witness how the detectives use all the little pieces of information they find and collect to solve the crime and catch the killer. We also see the impact a murder can have on the friends and family of the victims. Additionally, we get insight as to how the crimes affect the detectives and spurs their desire to catch and stop the killer.
Overall this one gets a 3 1/2 out of 5 roses. Plenty of action, drama, and suspense in this one. In some ways, the book reminded me a little of a brain teaser where I tried to piece together a puzzle before all the parts were provided and before time was up (the end).
April 26, 2013
I can't believe I read this in about 12 hours, reading off and on. This is the third and final book in the Nightwatcher series. In the first book, Allison Taylor meets future husband Mack McKenna when he and his wife Carrie move into her Manhattan apartment building. Carrie is a cold fish and he told her he was going to leave her the very morning of 9-11 then feels guilt for the next decade since she apparently died in one of the Twin Towers during the terrorist attacks. Her ring is found and she worked for a company where everyone died.
When we catch up with Mack and Allison in the second book, they had been married for years and had 3 children- daughters Hudson , 6, and Madison, 4 and a brat of a son JJ who was a year old. They had to battle with the Nightwatcher and by the end, thought they were free forever.
What they didn't know was that Carrie was NOT dead. She had gone to work that day early but left less than half an hour before the plane crashed into her office and chucked her engraved wedding band in the garbage outside. She is a cold, unfeeling woman and planned to dump him anyway. She had told him her family was in the witness protection program but this was a lie.
Actually, she had gone to Florida and been transported to an island in the Caribbean where she worked as a bartender. Since she was supposedly dead in 9-11, she can't return until she can locate and murderer a woman alone who looks like her and who is on a cruise ship. Finally she finds and kills the right candidate, drags her to her room above the bar, sets the bar to explode, and steals the woman's identify, taking her place on the cruise ship on its way back to Miami.
This isn't the first time Carrie has murdered. She had a childhood like Allison's with a father who was on the road most of the time. In fact- he was a bigamist and they had the same dad! He abandoned Carrie at age 17 after stealing her books, her doll, and her toys to give to little Allison. Carrie, pregnant from a rape, kills her mother who thinks she is pregnant by her dad, follows him to where Allison lives and kills him, then later follows Allison to New York. She even kills an old lady so Mack and herself can move into the building with Allison as a neighbor once she and Mack have met and married.
We get a lot of back story here- Carrie's, Mack's and Allison's. We see how Mack and Carrie meet and marry and a lot of things I had wondered about from the other two books. As Mack and Allison take a long road trip to Nebraska to seer Allison's half brother and his wife and kids, Carrie is not far behind with murder on her mind and the retired detective who worked the murder case of Mack's old girlfriend Chelsea is about to get the break he never thought he'd get.
This is a real thriller, full of suspense, mystery, and excitement. I literally couldn't put it down.
Now that the series is over, I have to confess- I can't imagine why any woman would marry Mack. He is fairly cold, distant, and not in any way warm and loving. Allison is something of a fool. Carrie is actually the most interesting of the three. Incidentally, who are those skeletons in the old well? Read and find out.
When we catch up with Mack and Allison in the second book, they had been married for years and had 3 children- daughters Hudson , 6, and Madison, 4 and a brat of a son JJ who was a year old. They had to battle with the Nightwatcher and by the end, thought they were free forever.
What they didn't know was that Carrie was NOT dead. She had gone to work that day early but left less than half an hour before the plane crashed into her office and chucked her engraved wedding band in the garbage outside. She is a cold, unfeeling woman and planned to dump him anyway. She had told him her family was in the witness protection program but this was a lie.
Actually, she had gone to Florida and been transported to an island in the Caribbean where she worked as a bartender. Since she was supposedly dead in 9-11, she can't return until she can locate and murderer a woman alone who looks like her and who is on a cruise ship. Finally she finds and kills the right candidate, drags her to her room above the bar, sets the bar to explode, and steals the woman's identify, taking her place on the cruise ship on its way back to Miami.
This isn't the first time Carrie has murdered. She had a childhood like Allison's with a father who was on the road most of the time. In fact- he was a bigamist and they had the same dad! He abandoned Carrie at age 17 after stealing her books, her doll, and her toys to give to little Allison. Carrie, pregnant from a rape, kills her mother who thinks she is pregnant by her dad, follows him to where Allison lives and kills him, then later follows Allison to New York. She even kills an old lady so Mack and herself can move into the building with Allison as a neighbor once she and Mack have met and married.
We get a lot of back story here- Carrie's, Mack's and Allison's. We see how Mack and Carrie meet and marry and a lot of things I had wondered about from the other two books. As Mack and Allison take a long road trip to Nebraska to seer Allison's half brother and his wife and kids, Carrie is not far behind with murder on her mind and the retired detective who worked the murder case of Mack's old girlfriend Chelsea is about to get the break he never thought he'd get.
This is a real thriller, full of suspense, mystery, and excitement. I literally couldn't put it down.
Now that the series is over, I have to confess- I can't imagine why any woman would marry Mack. He is fairly cold, distant, and not in any way warm and loving. Allison is something of a fool. Carrie is actually the most interesting of the three. Incidentally, who are those skeletons in the old well? Read and find out.
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