A serial killer dubbed the Eastside Creeper infiltrates a home, lies in wait, and then strikes in a brutal and ruthless manner killing women, men, and children. He is a remorseless monster playing out his fantasies and terrorizing a city, leaving residents wondering WHAT WAITS FOR YOU in the dark.
The second LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel mystery starts out with two officers responding to the scene of a horrific crime involving an elderly couple. The couple has been brutalized and mutilated and the monster is still in the home with a claw hammer. The officers don’t escape unharmed, and the city’s police force goes on high alert. Academic turned Detective, Tully Jarsdel has a knack for solving unusual crimes. His unique perspective and intelligence allow him to see things in a different way. When Jarsdel is assigned to the special Creeper Task Force to solve the crimes, he finds himself immersed in tracking down the killer’s motivations, movements, and methods. When the Creeper kills a task force member’s wife, it becomes more personal and Jarsdel realizes the killer’s modus operandi may be changing. Or are the players changing?
There is some really compelling writing occurring in this novel and it pulls you in immediately with a horrific crime. Tully Jarsdel is an interesting character with a fresh perspective on the police procedural, but in some instances, he can be off-putting. We are reminded of his intelligence, however, his actions do not substantiate a brilliant mind and the task force is the most ineffective task force in solving a crime. The plot meanders a bit by veering into Dr. Alisha Varma’s character and her inventions to curb crime. Special lighting and engineered benches that reduce crime are all interesting topics, but her relationship with Tully and her own ego and self-destruction is a little distracting. I would have liked to see a deeper dive into the psyche of the Eastside Creeper and his backstory. Too many side plots weakened the main mystery. In the end, we are given a conclusion, but not many answers.
In WHAT WAITS FOR YOU, Schneider definitely knows how to bring on the chills and create horrific villains. There are some gripping moments in this novel with good solid writing and suspense building. It is multi-layered with a unique perspective but it does lack focus. I look forward to reading the next in the series to see how Tully evolves.
The nightmare descends on a Tuesday. An elderly couple's home is transformed into a scene straight out of a horror film, their mutilated bodies the only clue left behind by the killer—and they are only the unlucky first in a series of impossible murders. Soon dubbed the Eastside Creeper, the murderer stalks Hollywood, camping out undetected in his victims' homes until he's ready to strike. After killing, he vanishes like smoke.
Considered an expert in the grotesque, Detective Tully Jarsdel lands this seemingly unsolvable case. Jarsdel, an academic-turned-cop, is intrigued by the Eastside Creeper. His methods are vicious, his path untraceable—nothing about this killer makes sense. But as the murders become more gruesome and the clues more inscrutable, widespread panic sets in. And amid the terror-induced chaos, Jarsdel's unconventional methods may be the only thing left between a killer and a city about to descend into chaos.
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