Community Reviews
I am just flying through this series! As I write this, I've already plowed through 27% of the next one in the UNSUB series.
Real talk - this one is my least favorite of the series so far. Will that be the case for you other crime junkies out there? Probably not. Unless you're an addict like me who has read a zillion books on serial killers, watched all the movies, specials and documentaries that exist on them as well. There is a ton of statistics and long conversations that are straight info dumps of serial killer characteristics and such.
I also breathed a huge sigh of relief at the end because this is the first book in which Meg Gardiner didn't kill off my favorite character, lol. It's funny because I don't like the main character, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix, but I enjoy reading about her. It's always a secondary or tertiary character that I latch onto and Meg has without fail given them gruesome ends - until this one. Fingers crossed they make it through the next one as well...
A full non spoiler video discussion regarding my experience with THE DARK CORNERS OF THE NIGHT will be posted soon on my BookTube Channel!
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Amanda L., Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., Ashley E. & Mel
Real talk - this one is my least favorite of the series so far. Will that be the case for you other crime junkies out there? Probably not. Unless you're an addict like me who has read a zillion books on serial killers, watched all the movies, specials and documentaries that exist on them as well. There is a ton of statistics and long conversations that are straight info dumps of serial killer characteristics and such.
I also breathed a huge sigh of relief at the end because this is the first book in which Meg Gardiner didn't kill off my favorite character, lol. It's funny because I don't like the main character, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix, but I enjoy reading about her. It's always a secondary or tertiary character that I latch onto and Meg has without fail given them gruesome ends - until this one. Fingers crossed they make it through the next one as well...
A full non spoiler video discussion regarding my experience with THE DARK CORNERS OF THE NIGHT will be posted soon on my BookTube Channel!
A heartfelt thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for their support towards my enthusiasm for reading and reviewing!
Special thanks to my highest level Patrons: Ev, Amanda L., Sharon, Andrew, Star, Kate, Gail, Amanda F., Tara, John, Ann, Chad K., Ashley E. & Mel
Meg Gardiner's third book in the Unsub series again features Caitlin Hendrix, a former Bay Area, California detective who joined the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, supplied the idea this installment. Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles and San Francisco neighborhoods when he committed home invasion robberies, rapes, and murders in the mid-1980s. He ultimately earned nineteen death sentences, but died in San Quentin State Prison in 2013 while still awaiting execution.
Stated simply, The Dark Corners of the NIght is terrifying . . . in the best possible way. The book is dark and richly atmospheric, the settings vitalized by Gardiner's lushly descriptive prose. She sets scenes with details that evoke the mysteriousness and attendant fear of the wee small hours in which the crimes take place. An unsub enters family homes in low-crime neighborhoods where security is, in some manner, lax. There are not home security systems or dogs. Once inside, the parents wake up and discover him before they are murdered in cold blood, their bodies mutilated. But he spares the children. He leaves behind graphic messages and tableaus with which he declares his dominion over his victims. He ensures that the children see him and forces them to repeat mantras back to him such as "I am beyond good and evil," telling them he is the Midnight Man before leaving the youngsters traumatized and orphaned.
Caitlin and her colleagues collaborate to understand his preparation, the similarities of the crime scenes, and motivation. He's an outlier, but his knowledge of the neighborhoods he haunts, habits of his victims and, more particularly, police procedures not generally known to members of the public help the team assemble a profile that provides clues to his identity. He is stealthy and determined, and as the number of victims escalates, so does the pressure to catch him.
Caitlin is a compelling, empathetic character. It is not necessary to read the first two installments in the series in order to enjoy The Dark Corners of the Night because Gardiner provides enough background for readers to appreciate Caitlin's experiences and fears. Her flaws are intriguing and provide context as she scrambles to identify and apprehend the killer before he can strike again. The case is extremely disturbing and brings into question Caitlin's ability to withstand the stress of trying to stop such a brutal killer without losing her precarious equilibrium in the process. The Midnight Man is the darkest perpetrator she has ever encountered, and Caitlin battles inner demons, as well as the criminal at large. As the story progresses and the killer's identity is revealed, Caitlin's self-doubt ramps up the tension, consistent with Gardiner's philosophy that the primary focus of her books should be on "the investigators — the people who dedicate themselves to putting away as many of these criminals as possible. . . the people who are taking on this burden on all of our behalves, to apprehend unsubs and bring them to justice and try to make the streets or the night at least briefly safer." Toward that end, Gardiner's cast of eccentric supporting characters, including Caitlin's fellow law enforcement professionals, also keep the action moving and interesting. FBI Unit Chief C.J. Emmerich, the man who recruited Caitlin and is her boss, returns and plays a pivotal role as she grapples with the emotions the case evokes. Particularly endearing is twelve-year-old Hannah Guillory, the witness who is determined not to become another victim.
After Gardiner discloses the murderer's identity, as well as his incentive to kill, the book's already quick pace accelerates as Caitlin, et al. desperately rush to apprehend The Midnight Man and prevent him from claiming more victims. Gardiner deftly sets the final showdown at a downtown Los Angeles redevelopment project. The four-block site of abandoned office buildings and hotels scheduled to be demolished and replaced by loft apartments, office towers, and shopping areas provides the perfect backdrop against which Gardiner's characters encounter enhanced dangers as they close in on the killer. Caitlin engages in a treacherous, winner-take-all strategy to apprehend the murderer.
Gardiner succeeds spectacularly at creating a compelling, frightening mystery that is completely absorbing and highly entertaining. The Dark Corners of the Night is sure to keep readers up late, telling themselves, "Just one more chapter" . . . hopefully, with the doors and windows locked, the home alarm system armed, and all of the lights on!
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Stated simply, The Dark Corners of the NIght is terrifying . . . in the best possible way. The book is dark and richly atmospheric, the settings vitalized by Gardiner's lushly descriptive prose. She sets scenes with details that evoke the mysteriousness and attendant fear of the wee small hours in which the crimes take place. An unsub enters family homes in low-crime neighborhoods where security is, in some manner, lax. There are not home security systems or dogs. Once inside, the parents wake up and discover him before they are murdered in cold blood, their bodies mutilated. But he spares the children. He leaves behind graphic messages and tableaus with which he declares his dominion over his victims. He ensures that the children see him and forces them to repeat mantras back to him such as "I am beyond good and evil," telling them he is the Midnight Man before leaving the youngsters traumatized and orphaned.
Caitlin and her colleagues collaborate to understand his preparation, the similarities of the crime scenes, and motivation. He's an outlier, but his knowledge of the neighborhoods he haunts, habits of his victims and, more particularly, police procedures not generally known to members of the public help the team assemble a profile that provides clues to his identity. He is stealthy and determined, and as the number of victims escalates, so does the pressure to catch him.
Caitlin is a compelling, empathetic character. It is not necessary to read the first two installments in the series in order to enjoy The Dark Corners of the Night because Gardiner provides enough background for readers to appreciate Caitlin's experiences and fears. Her flaws are intriguing and provide context as she scrambles to identify and apprehend the killer before he can strike again. The case is extremely disturbing and brings into question Caitlin's ability to withstand the stress of trying to stop such a brutal killer without losing her precarious equilibrium in the process. The Midnight Man is the darkest perpetrator she has ever encountered, and Caitlin battles inner demons, as well as the criminal at large. As the story progresses and the killer's identity is revealed, Caitlin's self-doubt ramps up the tension, consistent with Gardiner's philosophy that the primary focus of her books should be on "the investigators — the people who dedicate themselves to putting away as many of these criminals as possible. . . the people who are taking on this burden on all of our behalves, to apprehend unsubs and bring them to justice and try to make the streets or the night at least briefly safer." Toward that end, Gardiner's cast of eccentric supporting characters, including Caitlin's fellow law enforcement professionals, also keep the action moving and interesting. FBI Unit Chief C.J. Emmerich, the man who recruited Caitlin and is her boss, returns and plays a pivotal role as she grapples with the emotions the case evokes. Particularly endearing is twelve-year-old Hannah Guillory, the witness who is determined not to become another victim.
After Gardiner discloses the murderer's identity, as well as his incentive to kill, the book's already quick pace accelerates as Caitlin, et al. desperately rush to apprehend The Midnight Man and prevent him from claiming more victims. Gardiner deftly sets the final showdown at a downtown Los Angeles redevelopment project. The four-block site of abandoned office buildings and hotels scheduled to be demolished and replaced by loft apartments, office towers, and shopping areas provides the perfect backdrop against which Gardiner's characters encounter enhanced dangers as they close in on the killer. Caitlin engages in a treacherous, winner-take-all strategy to apprehend the murderer.
Gardiner succeeds spectacularly at creating a compelling, frightening mystery that is completely absorbing and highly entertaining. The Dark Corners of the Night is sure to keep readers up late, telling themselves, "Just one more chapter" . . . hopefully, with the doors and windows locked, the home alarm system armed, and all of the lights on!
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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