The Night Caller
John Lutz Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Night Caller
" Kensington, Oct 2001, 6.99 400 pp. ISBN: 0786012846 Living alone in Manhattan, Ezekiah “Coop” Cooper feels lonely. He retired from the NYPD due to cancer, which is currently in remission. His wife divorced him and has become an environmental activist. His daughter lives and works in New Jersey, but though they love one another they rarely share anything personal. That is why Coop is happy to be seeing his child Bette in the family bungalow in Breezy Point. When he arrives, he finds the most horrid scene. Someone murdered his daughter. A few days later, Coop talks to his former partner on the force, Art Billard to learn what the police know. Next he travels to New Jersey to talk to Bette's associates and friends. Ultimately, he meets mystery writer Deni Greene who believes a serial killer has murdered Bette. Coop reluctantly accepts a partnership with the unfeeling author, who will use anyone including a wrongfully locked up convict in Florida to attain her goals. However, neither one knows how dangerous THE NIGHT CALLER actually is, but they will soon find out. Though readers will need a humongous leap of faith as to how Deni put together her belief in a serial killer, THE NIGHT CALLER remains a powerful thriller. The story line is loaded with action, but it is Coop who makes the tale sing, as the audience will empathize with his plight. John Lutz has written a powerful novel that grabs reader attention from the beginning and keeps readers wondering whether the hero or the villain will triumph. Harriet Klausner Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
"Cancer survivor, divorcee, father, and ex-cop, Ezekiel "Coop" Cooper had no direction in life. Finding his murdered daughter changed all that. He was now dedicated to finding Bette's killer. As unseemly as it may be, Coop reluctantly teams up with a crime writer in the hopes they will bring the killer to justice more quickly. Coop soon realizes he has made a mistake, as the so called writer ends up revealing their identities to the killer himself. Meanwhile, the killer doesn't stop his murder of young ladies despite being the hunted. Soon, he hunts Coop and those close to him, as they have gotten closer to the killer than they realize." Tracey Ray, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Night Caller

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%

Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given - Challenging
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50%
Special suspect? - chronically deranged person
Murder of certain profession? - "All in the family" murder
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator - police procedural, American - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - mastermind - doctor
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - deluded - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount - an above average amount
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique - missing body parts/abilities

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - use of artificial tools - actual description of sex
Unusual forms of death - decapitated - perforation--bullets - blunt clubbing (like seals)
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - significantly more descript than dialog

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John Lutz Book Review