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Night #3
The Night Spider
As a twisted killer nicknamed the Night Spider terrorizes the city of Manhattan, targeting innocent women who live in high-rises, retired NYPD Captain Thomas Horn and his detectives are baffled by the absence of clues and must race against time to stop this clever predator before he strikes again. Original.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
John Lutz
242 books303 followersLibrarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Lutz has captivated suspense enthusiasts for over four decades. He has been one of the premier voices in contemporary hard-boiled fiction. His work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. John Lutz published his first short story in 1966 in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and has been publishing regularly ever since. He is the author of more than fifty novels and 250 short stories and articles.
His novels and short fiction have been translated into virtually every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, The Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is the author of two private eye series, the Nudger series, set in his home town of St. Louis, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series suspense novels. His SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay.
Lutz and his wife, Barbara, split their time between St. Louis and Sarasota, Florida.
John Lutz has captivated suspense enthusiasts for over four decades. He has been one of the premier voices in contemporary hard-boiled fiction. His work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. John Lutz published his first short story in 1966 in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and has been publishing regularly ever since. He is the author of more than fifty novels and 250 short stories and articles.
His novels and short fiction have been translated into virtually every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, The Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is the author of two private eye series, the Nudger series, set in his home town of St. Louis, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series suspense novels. His SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay.
Lutz and his wife, Barbara, split their time between St. Louis and Sarasota, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
July 25, 2020
The Night Spider is a pretty good serial-killer thriller. It's well-written, with some casual tag-lines and inside jokes to contrast with the criminal subject matter. Lutz did a clever job coming up with such a ritualistic m.o. for the killer, Mandle. The traumatic childhood stuff worked in convincingly with his spider obsession, as well as his psychosis.
I'd have liked to see more of his youth, more background--what was a messed-up dude like Mandle doing in high school? Well, we get a glimpse of a disastrous teenage date, but that's about it. Nonetheless, the evolution of Mandle's sickness combined with his military training and experience, not only gives a plausible explanation to his nearly superhuman skills, but simultaneously enables his need to kill.
We might say that he got training to go on a private war. Left unsaid, though, is what happened right after he left the military, and before he became the Night Spider. There's all sorts of situations, any social situation, really, where a sociopath would have trouble functioning in (mentally if not overtly). We don't get to know him, except in flashbacks or asides. So we miss a lot of creepy possibilities, not necessarily violent, or even criminal acts, but the trauma such a person might face just dealing with daily life.
I agree with those reviewers who say that there's too many victims. Inevitably, we have to meet a host of new characters, the sudden appearance of which marks them as the next victim. So there's no space to really develop most of the victims as people with this or that personality. I also agree with the comments pointing out how anyone could remain completely asleep while they were being manhandled, not to mention being wrapped up like mummies. I thought this 'process' was going to be explained by Mandle somehow drugging the victims first, but, no.
The main characters are a mixed lot. Mandle himself is only partially filled in, as I've indicated. Among the cops/good guys, Horn is good enough, and Paula, but Bickerstaff was forgettable. Marla is interesting, Nina is ok. Anne should be built up more considering that she's crucial to the plot, but she's in crisis mode the entire time, reacting and dealing with stress. For all the trauma, she never really comes alive.
The questionable types: Kray, and the other Special Forces guys, are done with considerable nuance. Who didn't think that the metal sculptor wasn't involved somehow? Kray's pretty much that guy's opposite--apparently correct and above-board, but completely rotten underneath. The best of the red herrings is Paula's new 'person of interest' (doubly so), Harry. He seemed just a little too eager with Paula to have just a romantic interest in her.
Oh well, he's just that way. On the other hand, I wasn't surprised that Vine was involved. The entire sue-the-hospital subplot, involving Anne as it did, had to be more than a diversion. The other problem with Vine is that he's a non-entity. Aren't serial-killers (even copycats) supposed to be interesting?
In fact, the Special Forces deal (Kray's unit that is), despite its crucial role, wasn't really played out as much as it could've been. I know that would be a different book, still, along with the holes in Mandle's history, we just get a small serving of follow-up. I agree again with those who feel that the book seemingly ended with the discovery of Mandle's corpse.
Lutz threw us into overdrive with the Kray/Vine follow-through, which wasn't at all bad, but I don't think killing off our main character was the best idea. If Mandle is killed at another point, much sooner, or much later, I think The Night Spider might've been more interesting. Maybe if he goes down early on, then there's a string of copy-cat killers (Kray's guys).
That would keep Horn huddled with Marla over those corn muffins.
I'd have liked to see more of his youth, more background--what was a messed-up dude like Mandle doing in high school? Well, we get a glimpse of a disastrous teenage date, but that's about it. Nonetheless, the evolution of Mandle's sickness combined with his military training and experience, not only gives a plausible explanation to his nearly superhuman skills, but simultaneously enables his need to kill.
We might say that he got training to go on a private war. Left unsaid, though, is what happened right after he left the military, and before he became the Night Spider. There's all sorts of situations, any social situation, really, where a sociopath would have trouble functioning in (mentally if not overtly). We don't get to know him, except in flashbacks or asides. So we miss a lot of creepy possibilities, not necessarily violent, or even criminal acts, but the trauma such a person might face just dealing with daily life.
I agree with those reviewers who say that there's too many victims. Inevitably, we have to meet a host of new characters, the sudden appearance of which marks them as the next victim. So there's no space to really develop most of the victims as people with this or that personality. I also agree with the comments pointing out how anyone could remain completely asleep while they were being manhandled, not to mention being wrapped up like mummies. I thought this 'process' was going to be explained by Mandle somehow drugging the victims first, but, no.
The main characters are a mixed lot. Mandle himself is only partially filled in, as I've indicated. Among the cops/good guys, Horn is good enough, and Paula, but Bickerstaff was forgettable. Marla is interesting, Nina is ok. Anne should be built up more considering that she's crucial to the plot, but she's in crisis mode the entire time, reacting and dealing with stress. For all the trauma, she never really comes alive.
The questionable types: Kray, and the other Special Forces guys, are done with considerable nuance. Who didn't think that the metal sculptor wasn't involved somehow? Kray's pretty much that guy's opposite--apparently correct and above-board, but completely rotten underneath. The best of the red herrings is Paula's new 'person of interest' (doubly so), Harry. He seemed just a little too eager with Paula to have just a romantic interest in her.
Oh well, he's just that way. On the other hand, I wasn't surprised that Vine was involved. The entire sue-the-hospital subplot, involving Anne as it did, had to be more than a diversion. The other problem with Vine is that he's a non-entity. Aren't serial-killers (even copycats) supposed to be interesting?
In fact, the Special Forces deal (Kray's unit that is), despite its crucial role, wasn't really played out as much as it could've been. I know that would be a different book, still, along with the holes in Mandle's history, we just get a small serving of follow-up. I agree again with those who feel that the book seemingly ended with the discovery of Mandle's corpse.
Lutz threw us into overdrive with the Kray/Vine follow-through, which wasn't at all bad, but I don't think killing off our main character was the best idea. If Mandle is killed at another point, much sooner, or much later, I think The Night Spider might've been more interesting. Maybe if he goes down early on, then there's a string of copy-cat killers (Kray's guys).
That would keep Horn huddled with Marla over those corn muffins.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2010
RATING: 3.25
He had an abusive childhood, raised by an unstable mother who headed a religious sect which had revival meetings at their home. Whenever these took place, he was locked in a closet, alone with the spiders that would bite him. As an adult, he became a member of a top-secret military group that participated in covert operations. Now that he's returned to civilian life, he's combined all of the elements of his past to become a serial killer. He preys on confident women who live in high-rise buildings, entering their apartments by cutting the glass on their bedroom windows. He then wraps them tightly in sheets while they sleep and stabs them 37 times through the sheets. Each individual assault is not lethal; rather it's a combination of all the stabbings that lead to the victim slowly bleeding to death.
The NYPD is completely flummoxed by the case and call on retired homicide captain Thomas Horn to lead the investigation. He works closely with 2 detectives, Paula Ramboquette and Roy Bickerstaff, to try to follow the clues presented in the "Night Spider's" three killings. Horn is approached by someone from Mr. Spider's past and is finally able to create a profile of the killer (with the aid of a waitress at a diner he frequents who just happens to have been a psychologist), but not before many more murders occur.
Unfortunately for Mr. Lutz, serial killer books have inundated the crime fiction marketplace. It takes something really extraordinary to overcome the reluctance of the crime fiction reader to face yet another serial killer who exhibits all the expected traits of these villains: abusive childhood, sociopathic behavior, etc. The means of killing do make this book unique, but on the whole, it doesn't feel fresh or different.
Mr. Lutz is a fine writer, and I particularly enjoy his Alo Nudger series. He does build a great deal of psychological suspense in THE NIGHT SPIDER, but the book is overly long with too many victims, which dilutes the thriller aspect. On top of that, I just could not buy the killer's modus operandi. I just didn't see how the killer could tightly wrap a sleeping woman in her sheets without waking her up. The book didn't work for me but might for someone who is less jaundiced about the serial killer phenomenon.
He had an abusive childhood, raised by an unstable mother who headed a religious sect which had revival meetings at their home. Whenever these took place, he was locked in a closet, alone with the spiders that would bite him. As an adult, he became a member of a top-secret military group that participated in covert operations. Now that he's returned to civilian life, he's combined all of the elements of his past to become a serial killer. He preys on confident women who live in high-rise buildings, entering their apartments by cutting the glass on their bedroom windows. He then wraps them tightly in sheets while they sleep and stabs them 37 times through the sheets. Each individual assault is not lethal; rather it's a combination of all the stabbings that lead to the victim slowly bleeding to death.
The NYPD is completely flummoxed by the case and call on retired homicide captain Thomas Horn to lead the investigation. He works closely with 2 detectives, Paula Ramboquette and Roy Bickerstaff, to try to follow the clues presented in the "Night Spider's" three killings. Horn is approached by someone from Mr. Spider's past and is finally able to create a profile of the killer (with the aid of a waitress at a diner he frequents who just happens to have been a psychologist), but not before many more murders occur.
Unfortunately for Mr. Lutz, serial killer books have inundated the crime fiction marketplace. It takes something really extraordinary to overcome the reluctance of the crime fiction reader to face yet another serial killer who exhibits all the expected traits of these villains: abusive childhood, sociopathic behavior, etc. The means of killing do make this book unique, but on the whole, it doesn't feel fresh or different.
Mr. Lutz is a fine writer, and I particularly enjoy his Alo Nudger series. He does build a great deal of psychological suspense in THE NIGHT SPIDER, but the book is overly long with too many victims, which dilutes the thriller aspect. On top of that, I just could not buy the killer's modus operandi. I just didn't see how the killer could tightly wrap a sleeping woman in her sheets without waking her up. The book didn't work for me but might for someone who is less jaundiced about the serial killer phenomenon.
February 15, 2013
I listened to the audiobookversion: the narrator (Scott Brick) saved the story for me !
November 16, 2017
Quite a turn in this book, never saw it coming... So glad I don't live in a High Rise Apartment in New York City. Fast paced and another BOOK you don't want to put down till your DONE!!!
April 15, 2015
This I believe is my second John Lutz book to have read. The main characters are different than the previous novel, but they are equally flawed and believable human beings with limitations.
This is another serial killer tale - and it is plausible that the events could happen, if a properly trained demented individual was so in mind to perform the horrible acts depicted in the book.
Lutz provides a surprise ending - I didn't see it coming. All in all this is an interesting book that anyone who likes suspense will enjoy.
This is another serial killer tale - and it is plausible that the events could happen, if a properly trained demented individual was so in mind to perform the horrible acts depicted in the book.
Lutz provides a surprise ending - I didn't see it coming. All in all this is an interesting book that anyone who likes suspense will enjoy.
June 13, 2010
Very poorly researched. It was not a case where 'suspension of disbelieve' could be called for; it was simply unbelievable. It deserves one star, but I really have to hate a book to do that, and, when you love stories, that happens infrequently. Would not recommend to anyone.
April 9, 2020
Pretty mediocre thriller. Kind of a chore to get through to the end, though it was mildly interesting until they caught the killer. (which doesn't end the story)
October 18, 2023
For me the most poignant element of the story was how one spouse can simply just walk out on their marriage. Total abandonment like it was nothing after having been together for decades.
June 16, 2018
There was a good twist in this one that I only had partially figured out, which was refreshing and unusual . I do wish that there was a bit more background on the time in the military or what it was that paved the way for the blood list of the "killer".
August 15, 2018
NYPD Capt. Thomas Horn, ret detective -
Has you climbing the walls. It's the corn muffins that get 'em - every time. Marla, Paula, Bircher Staff - ice fishing. Careful of the web on this read- best keep your lights on.
Has you climbing the walls. It's the corn muffins that get 'em - every time. Marla, Paula, Bircher Staff - ice fishing. Careful of the web on this read- best keep your lights on.
November 9, 2024
A retired cop is called in as an advisor when a serial killer starts a rampage in New York. He is helped by his team as well as some unexpected outside sources. It has some tense moments and some unexpected twists. It caught my attention. Thought it was a good read.
January 30, 2019
Maybe more of a 3.8. I just might have had my fill of serial killers and murder. Must admit I skimmed a bit.
February 19, 2019
A must read for the mystery/thriller fans. I drove 20 miles out of my way so I could finish the book. I did NOT want to turn it off!
Read
May 5, 2023First read from this author. I will search him out. I really enjoyed this book.
Great spin thanks John
Great spin thanks John
November 24, 2024
I enjoyed this one much more than the first two in the series.
March 26, 2025
Good murder mystery. Kept moving along. Not a ton of character development but fun. Good detective murder writer.
August 5, 2025
I'm done ufff
October 9, 2026
Very intense. I was wrong about some of the story which I love.
February 18, 2017
This was a great murder mystery with a significant twist at the end. It made me scared as this murderer chose single women who lived on high floors in large apartment buildings where most women would feel safe from intruders. The characters were well developed too.
September 6, 2010
Summary in thirty words or fewer: An unlikely investigative duo teams up with a retired FBI profiler to catch a killer who wraps his victims tightly before leaving them to bleed to death of stab wounds.
Eh. This book was okay for its genre. The characters had a few interesting points, the story had an unexpected twist, etc. I read this aboard a Canadian Coast Guard ship when I had run out of other reading material, so it served its purpose of keeping me entertained until we returned to shore.
Eh. This book was okay for its genre. The characters had a few interesting points, the story had an unexpected twist, etc. I read this aboard a Canadian Coast Guard ship when I had run out of other reading material, so it served its purpose of keeping me entertained until we returned to shore.
November 14, 2008
This was not my favourite book by John Lutz by a longshot. I seem to enjoy his newer material more, although I have to admit it was still a step up from The Ex. This took me a while to read, although I'm still not sure why it didn't grab me. Atleast it had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming, and I had even guessed something completely different.
November 5, 2009
I would have liked this book if it wasn't the exact copy of his other book. The same plot almost. He hates his mother. He spells out the name of his the cop that is trying to catch him with the first letter of each kill. The ending was a little different but that is about it. I would have given it more stars but I just couldn't because the plot was the same.
November 24, 2010
I hate it when I start reading a book only to realize I've read it before. Bought this without having done the research. This was a good book when it was first published as Night Spider. Changing the title won't make it any better. I really hate it when publishers confuse people by bringing out early works with new titles.
May 13, 2008
This author is a little stuck on a theme in his writing so far. If you can be patient through the first few chapters to differentiate the charactors it improves greatly. Loved the twists and turns of this one.
September 2, 2012
Personally I would rate this a very weak 3 stars. It should have ended sooner. In fact I thought I was done 100 pages before the book ended. I will say that if you like James Patterson then you would probably like John Lutz.
November 29, 2014
This book actually had me waking up in the middle of the night scared of spiders and people trying to get to my room through the window. So I guess it was a good book. But I sure am glad I'm done with it.
March 8, 2016
An ok read, I didn't hate it. The plot was somewhat convoluted in places. It came to an abrupt end that was not really an ending because it went on for several more chapters. Also I wasn't really impressed with the way the relationship played out with Horn and Anne.
August 2, 2016
A killer is about and Assistant Chief Roland Larkin thinks this case will need special help and he calls upon a retired former homicide captain Thomas Horn.
In no time, Horn discovers that the killer is targeting him in addition to the several cruel murders.
A good read - but not a great read.
In no time, Horn discovers that the killer is targeting him in addition to the several cruel murders.
A good read - but not a great read.
January 26, 2008
Scary & suspenseful.
June 7, 2009
For on the edge of your seat suspense try John Lutz, this man spins a tale like you can't believe. I picked this book up and was caught in the web in the first sentance.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews