Tag Archives: thriller

Hillier Ups the Creepy Factor in The Butcher

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Jennifer Hillier, author of Freak, Creep and her latest, The Butcher; splits her time between Seattle and Toronto. That qualifies her for space on my blog about discovering Washington State. I read thrillers almost exclusively and hers have been some of my favorite.

The Butcher definitely has to be her best work to date. The most notorious killer in Seattle history, according to the book jacket, was the Beacon Hill Butcher. But he has been shot and killed. Or has he?

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Recent murders show signs of the same modus operandi as the Butcher. Maybe it’s a copy cat? Or maybe the sheriff, who has now retired, got the wrong guy.

Sam is researching a book about the Butcher. She has an unsettling suspicion that he may have killed her mother. Her boyfriend, Matt, a chef entrepreneur and grandson of the sheriff, makes a very disturbing discovery when he moves into his grandfather’s (the sheriff) house.

I won’t reveal anymore because I want you to read the book. Hillier draws brilliant, life-like characters with everyday flaws. I can only imagine what her plotting diagram looks like during the writing process. Because she makes some swift turns with her plots, ones that keep you guessing. The story reads smoothly without excess back story and without unnecessary description.

And I absolutely love her descriptions of real places in Seattle.

I highly recommend all her books, but The Butcher has to be her best.

You can follow her on www.jenniferhillier.org.

 

 

 

Kevin O’Brien’s Unspeakable

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One of my favorite thriller writers has a new book out titled “Unspeakable.” In it, a child actor (Collin) realizes that when he’s hypnotized another person emerges, a very dark, sinister and dangerous boy who lived 50 years before. While Collin sleeps, his friends become murder victims. Could he have done it unknowingly? That lays the foundation for fires, stabbings and untold unpleasantries.

 

Once again O’Brien, who lives in Seattle, has made me sleep with the light on. And this book contains more than 500 pages so the bulb burnt out a couple of times. A silhouette was lurking in the shadows on many of these pages. And I heard creaks around the house long after everyone, including the dogs, were deep into their slumber.

kevin obrien's unspeakable

But that’s what makes the suspense real and why I’m such a thriller fan and especially an O’Brien devotee. My friend wants him to write faster so we’ll have more to read. I don’t know if faster would be better, because now he pens some terrific stuff.

What I also found appealing about this book was the author’s accurate portrayal of the atmosphere in Seattle during the days of the World’s Fair in 1962. How could someone who isn’t old enough to remember Century 21 write such precise details of the culture we experienced then? I worked at the Fair and my coworker’s daughter had a date with Elvis Presley when he filmed his movie here. I may have dated “Wade” from Unspeakable, but escaped before I became a liability. You’ll have to read the book to find out about that reference.

I highly recommend you pick up this paperback original or put it on your Kindle or Nook. Feel the tension for yourself.

Envy, A Thriller for Young Adults

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Several renowned thriller authors have taken their first step into the young adult genre recently. One of those lives right here in Washington and is one of my favorite writers, Gregg Olsen.

Gregg signed my copy of Envy in Maple Valley. Check his web site for other places he is signing books.

The time this New York Times best selling author spent writing true crime has paid off in his fiction work because you realize that the plots could have happened. Olsen’s first YA Envy is the first in a series of “Empty Coffin” novels. Since working with children in a school setting, I’ve always said that you have to keep kids attention with every paragraph of a book. They won’t settle for long descriptions, careless plots or flawed character profiles. When their interest wanes, they put the book down and never pick it up again. In my opinion, an author has to be the best kind of writer to appeal to the YA readers.

Olsen does this superbly in Envy. It’s the story of what can happen when cyberbullying goes way too far. It’s about twin girls with unusual powers. Coincidentally, Olsen has twin girls. It’s set in the very lovely town of Port Gamble, Washington. Maybe the town will hold “Empty Coffin” tours like Forks does “Twilight” tours. Coincidentally, Olsen lives in a small rural town in Washington, just not Port Gamble.

I love reading good YA’s because I have the attention span of a gnat. And this one, kept me turning pages well after midnight, but also checking to make sure the doors were securely locked.

Good for reluctant teen and tween readers and also great for adults who won’t tolerated slow-moving plots.

Do you read young adult novels?

Heather Larson writes about the Pacific Northwest from her office in Tacoma, Washington hoping she can entice you to visit or share your own memories of the region and read books by Washington authors, who are some of the very best.