Darker Than Night Book

After some online research, I've learned that John Lutz is the author of more than 35 novels and 250 short stories and articles. If my counting is correct, this book is his 33rd novel. This is the first of his books that I've read.

I read this as an ebook, and it had some formatting problems. Within chapters, there were changes in setting and character, but actual breaks in the typesetting weren't there. It was irritating to go from one paragraph to the next, then realize everything was different. That meant backtracking and rereading and interruption in the flow were regular occurrences.

I think this book has unrealized potential. If many of the extraneous details were edited out, the 548 pages would be greatly reduced and a stronger book would result. For instance, in one scene, a detective walks into a renovation in process and it is described in minute detail including that a worker was wielding a "red-handled hammer"!

The most enjoyable sections for me were those that involved Frank Quinn. Falsely accused and ejected from the police force, he also lost his family and his home. When given a second chance, he grabbed it and ran. I was rooting for him! Pearl, a member of his team, had an attitude that got on my nerves, but she was a good cop.

Throughout the book, the murderer is called The Night Prowler. Then we come to the reveal. What a disappointment it was to be told "whose real name is..." At the end there were status updates for various characters, many of them so uninvolved in the plot they should have been forgettable.

If this book is typical John Lutz, I have no desire to read his other books. I will have to pay attention to the number of pages and read at least one more to find out, but I'm in no hurry. I'd give this book 1 star, but Quinn by himself lifts it to a 2.