John Lutz Bundle (77 page)
Authors: John Lutz
It was late the next afternoon when they found themselves driving back to the office in Quinn’s Lincoln. The sun was still hot, and traffic was beginning to build, but Quinn knew the rhythm of movement and alternate routes in the maze that was his city, so they were making good time.
There was still plenty of work to do. It would take them a few days to clear everything out and officially close the file. And of course they’d have to handle the media, though they could put that off for a while, maybe avoid some of it altogether. Just maybe. The media had tumbled to where the office was and would be lying in wait for them there.
“What next?” Quinn asked.
“Goddamned paparazzi,” Pearl said.
“I mean after all of that?”
Fedderman, in the backseat, said, “I’m going back to Florida. Maybe take up fishing again.”
“What about golf?”
“Screw golf.”
Quinn avoided a pothole and smiled. “I hope it works out this time.”
“If it doesn’t, there’s always hunting.”
“You’ve already done that,” Pearl said.
Quinn glanced over at her. “You, Pearl?”
“I don’t golf or fish.” When no one commented, she said, “I think I can get my job back at the bank.”
She thought Quinn might try talking her out of it, maybe even
hoped
he’d try, but he remained silent, staring straight ahead out the windshield. Mister Mt. Rushmore. She understood his silence and it made her angry.
He doesn’t think he needs to talk me out of it. Doesn’t think I can do it. That I can live a quiet life and stay away. The bastard doesn’t understand.
“What about you, Quinn?” Fedderman asked from the backseat.
“Me? I’m a retired cop.”
But Quinn knew better. His retirement wouldn’t last. And neither would Pearl’s job as a bank guard. And Fedderman would be more than relieved to give up fishing.
Pretenders, all of them.
That evening at his hotel, Fedderman told the desk clerk he wanted an early wake-up call and would be checking out in the morning.
While that was happening, Quinn was seated in his leather armchair with his feet propped up on a matching ottoman. He was smoking a Cuban cigar and feeling pretty good.
When Pearl finally got back to her apartment that evening, she downed half a bottle of Pellegrino, then removed her shoes and padded in her stocking feet to the phone.
She pecked out her mother’s number at the assisted living home.
Blood calling to blood.
Lauri and Wormy resumed their relationship, with Quinn’s grudging approval.
Wormy’s sudden fame garnered The Defendants a record company contract, and their CD of
Lost in Bonkers
debuted on the charts as number 473 with a bullet. Wormy remained afraid of Quinn. Quinn never told him he sometimes found himself humming
Lost in Bonkers
when he was in the shower.
Maybe Lauri really would someday be a cop, Quinn thought, while he waited patiently for another phone call from Renz.
He was sure there would be one.
“Brilliant…a very scary and suspenseful read.”
—
Booklist
on
In for the Kill
“Lutz has a thorough command of plot and character, making this another enthralling page-turner.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
In for the Kill
“Lutz can deliver a hard-boiled p.i. novel or a bloody thriller with equal ease…. The ingenuity of the plot shows that Lutz is in rare form.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
on
Chill of Night
“Lutz keeps the suspense high and populates his story with a collection of unique characters…an ideal beach read.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
Chill of Night
“John Lutz knows how to make you shiver.”
—Harlan Coben
“John Lutz is one of the masters of the police novel.”
—Ridley Pearson
“A major talent.”
—John Lescroart
“I’ve been a fan for years.”
—T. Jefferson Parker
“John Lutz just keeps getting better and better.”
—Tony Hillerman
“Lutz ranks with such vintage masters of big-city murder as Lawrence Block and the late Ed McBain.”
—
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Lutz is among the best.”
—San Diego Union
“Lutz juggles multiple storylines with such mastery that it’s easy to see how he won so many mystery awards.
Darker Than Night
is a can’t-put-it-down thriller, beautifully paced and executed, with enough twists and turns to keep it from ever getting too predictable.”
—reviewingtheevidence.com
“Readers will believe that they just stepped off a tilt-a-whirl after reading this action-packed police procedural…. John Lutz places Serpico in a serial killer venue with his blue knights still after him.”
—
The Midwest Book Review
on
Darker Than Night
“John Lutz knows how to ratchet up the terror…. [He]propels the story with effective twists and a fast pace.”
—
Sun-Sentinel
(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) on
The Night Spider
“Compelling…a gritty psychological thriller…Lutz’s details concerning police procedure, firefighting techniques, and FDNY policy ring true, and his clever use of flashbacks draws the reader deep into the killer’s troubled psyche.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
The Night Watcher
“John Lutz is the new Lawrence Sanders.
The Night Watcher
is a very smooth and civilized novel about a very uncivilized snuff artist, told with passion, wit, carnality, and relentless vigor. I loved it.”
—Ed Gorman in
Mystery Scene
“A gripping thriller…extremely taut scenes, great descriptions, nicely depicted supporting players…Lutz is good with characterization.”
—
reviewingtheevidence.com
on
The Night Watcher
“For a good scare and a well-paced story, Lutz delivers.”
—
San Antonio Express News
“Lutz knows how to seize and hold the reader’s imagination.”
—
Cleveland Plain Dealer
“
SWF Seeks Same
is a complex, riveting, and chilling portrayal of urban terror, as well as a wonderful novel of New York City. Echoes of
Rosemary’s Baby
, but this one’s scarier because it could happen.”
—Jonathan Kellerman
“Lutz is a fine craftsman.”
—
Booklist
on
The Ex
“A psychological thriller that few readers will be able to put down.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
SWF Seeks Same
“Tense and relentless.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
The Torch
“The author has the ability to capture his readers with fear, and has compiled a myriad of frightful chapters that captures and holds until the final sentence.”
—New Orleans Times-Picayune
on
Bonegrinder
“Likable protagonists in a complex thriller.”
—
Booklist
on
Final Seconds
“Lutz is rapidly bleeding critics dry of superlatives.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“It’s easy to see why he’s won an Edgar and two Shamuses.”
—
Publishers Weekly
In for the Kill
Chill of Night
Fear the Night
Darker Than Night
The Night Spider
The Night Watcher
The Night Caller
Final Seconds
(with David August)
The Ex
Available from Kensington Publishing Corp. and Pinnacle Books
Women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision, for they are both surrounded by enemies.
—James Stephens,
The Demi-Gods