The Butcher - by Jennifer Hillier (Paperback)

About the Book

"Thirty years ago, police chief Edward Shank killed the most notorious serial killer in Seattle's history: the Beacon Hill Butcher. Now eighty years old and retired, he's given his high-maintenance Victorian home to his grandson, Matt, and settled into a quiet life at the nearby Sweetbay Village Retirement Residence. While renovating, Matt discovers a crate buried in the backyard that holds a secret so terrible, it threatens to ruin all their lives if it ever gets out. Especially that of Sam, his girlfriend, whose mother was killed when she was only two years old. Matt struggles with his dark family secret as Sam's obsession with solving her mother's murder grows. A true crime writer now working on a book about the Beacon Hill Butcher, Sam has always suspected her mother was one of his victims, even though she was murdered two years after the Butcher was killed. But then new victims begin to turn up, and the more she digs into the old murders, the more dangerous it gets... Turns out, the truth is closer to home than she ever could have imagined"--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

In this "skillfully penned tale of murder and cover-up that will keep readers enthralled until the powerful finish" (Fresh Fiction), family secrets and a serial killer from the past converge in this electrifying thriller.

In 1985, Edward Shank famously gunned down the Beacon Hill Butcher, ending the serial killer's reign of terror over the city of Seattle. But now in his eighties, Edward's action-packed glory days are long behind him. The decorated former Seattle police chief has given up his high-maintenance Victorian home to his grandson Matt for a quiet life at the nearby Sweetbay Village Retirement Residence, where mac-n-cheese Wednesdays have become the highlight of his week.

Though it's hard to watch his grandfather get older, Matt is thrilled to inherit the large house he grew up in. Already an accomplished chef with a popular restaurant and a TV show in the works, Matt's dream life is finally within reach...until he discovers a crate buried in the backyard that holds a secret about his grandfather so terrible, it threatens to ruin all their lives if it ever gets out. Especially his girlfriend Sam's, whose mother was killed when she was only two years old.

As Matt struggles with his dark family secret, Sam's obsession with solving her mother's murder continues to grow. A true crime writer now working on a book about the Butcher, Sam has always suspected her mother was one of his victims, even though she was killed two years after the Butcher was supposedly gunned down.

But when new victims begin to turn up, their murders eerily similar to the Butcher's all those years ago, Sam realizes she might be right. The more she digs into the old murders, the more dangerous it gets...and the truth is closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

"A tense, suspenseful, thoroughly creepy thriller" (Booklist), The Butcher sinks its teeth in you from the very first page.

Review Quotes

"The Butcher is a clever, twisted thriller about genetics, faith, and death . . . The greatest thing about The Butcher is its uncanny ability to trump the narrative conventions of the conventional serial killer novel over and over again . . Jennifer Hillier's prose remains fast paced and immensely readable as her content becomes quirkier and more cerebral with every novel."--Dead End Follies

"[A] rapid-fire thriller of dark, unsettling proportions with some very surprising twists. With the turn of each new page, the suspenseful plot is tense and gripping...a skillfully penned tale of murder and cover-up that will keep readers enthralled until the powerful finish. Thriller fans should not miss The Butcher!--Fresh Fiction

"[Freak] freaked me out - in a good way. In a word, "frightening." Jennifer Hillier creates a truly scary killer in Abby Maddox, the female version of Hannibal Lecter - smart, cunning and wickedly evil. I was engrossed on page one, couldn't put the book down and breathless at the ending. Be prepared for a late night's reading. Then sleep with the lights on - if you can. This one blew me away."
--Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of Murder One

"As she ably proved in her debut (Creep, 2011), [Hillier] has a fine knack for creating hideous killers. This time she turns the formula whodunit on its head... A tense, suspenseful, thoroughly creepy thriller."--Booklist

"Hillier writes beautifully horrific stories... Readers will be immersed until the final page, thanks to the velocity at which this unique thriller is told."--RT Reviews (Top Pick)

"Hillier's third thriller fairly shudders with tension. [She] sends her reader into a labyrinth of creepy twists and grotesque turns...The secrets of the past refuse to keep quiet in this disquieting, taut thriller."--Kirkus

"Jennifer Hillier is the master of suspense!" --Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Once I got started I couldn't stop reading, and I confess to having sweaty palms a few times. A thrill ride that will have your attention from start to finish! This one is 4.5 stars."--Suspense Magazine

"Replete with plot twists and surprises, The Butcher is an engrossing tale that piques the reader's interest immediately and then holds on to it like an angry pitbull."--NJ Journal of Books

"Wholly entertaining...I was hooked throughout...A devilishly dark read."--Raven Crime Reads (UK)

About the Author

Jennifer Hillier is the USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of Things We Do in the Dark, Little Secrets, Jar of Hearts, The Butcher, Freak, and Creep. A Filipino Canadian born and raised in the Toronto area, she spent eight years in Seattle, which is where all her books are set. She now lives in Oakville, Ontario, Canada with her husband and son. Visit her on the web at JenniferHillierBooks.com.