The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

The Beacon Hill Butcher is one of Seattle's most infamous serial killers. Edward Shank is the local hero who took him down, killing him and ending his violent murder streak. 

Sam has been dating Edward's grandson for some time now. And she knows his aspirations as a chef are important. But she longs to take their relationship to the next level. At the very least, she'd like to move in with him when his grandfather leaves him his old house!

And Sam has aspirations of her own. She believes that the Beacon Hill Butcher wasn't caught all those years ago. In fact, she believes her own mother may have been one of his victims—even though her murder occurred a full two years after Edward caught and killed the suspected murderer. 

Sam has been researching the killings and thinks there's more to the story. And neither Edward or Matt pay her much attention in that regard, certain that Edward's story from all those years ago is the end. 

But that's before Matt begins renovating his grandfather's home. 

Here we have a serial killer, a stressed out chef who doesn't know the half of his family secrets, and the daughter of a murder victim desperately trying to get justice for her mom. That they all collide in a weirdly coincidental way means nothing good will can really come of it!

Sam is all around a great main character. And she shares the narration with Edward and Matt. So not only do we see from her point of view as she investigates the Beacon Hill Butcher, we also see from Matt's and Edward's perspectives as well.

And Hillier isn't afraid to delve into dark and disturbing corners of the human psyche. You should know that going in. But her careful attention to detail really does suck you into the story completely!

In The Butcher Jennifer Hillier has created a disturbingly dark serial killer novel that explores exactly what happens when the real killer is able to evade capture for decades! 

She also explores the trickle down effect on the family members of the investigators, the victims, and the killer himself. 

This is a super fast-paced read—the kind you shouldn't start at bedtime without being prepared to read straight through!

Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!

Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Sheila Tao would appear to have it all. In fact, she’s recently engaged and planning a wedding to a man she loves very deeply. 

But Sheila has secrets. First and foremost is her sex addiction, which she’s been working on for three years. Second is the affair she’s been having with one of her teaching assistants. 

She knows it’s time to come clean to her fiancé. But she’s afraid it’ll mean losing him. She’s certain, though, that it’s time for her affair to end. Unfortunately, her lover doesn’t agree!

The good folks over at Simon & Schuster just recently rereleased Jennifer Hillier’s debut, Creep, and I figured what better time to read it :)

I have to admit that while I’ve been familiar with Hillier’s name for a while, I only just started reading her during The Covid Times with her latest, Little Secrets. But of course I knew I had to read more once I’d finished that one!

Creep is a pretty dark read. And, I should mention, the first in a duology (followed by Freak). 

When we meet Sheila, she’s about to end her affair with her TA Ethan Wolfe. It’s an affair that we learn began in the wake of hearing of her father’s death. Obviously, given that we learn that Sheila is a regular attendee of Sex Addicts Anonymous and in therapy as well, the death of her father was a bit of a breaking point for her. She’d been doing well until then, and had even become involved seriously with her now fiancé. But...

Sadly though Sheila is a well respected psychology professor, she missed some key clues as to Ethan’s personality. 

Ethan is not willing to let Sheila go. And he makes that abundantly clear!

Sheila is a hard character to actually like. Which is not to say that I didn’t empathize with her. Reading her story, though, is like watching a horror movie: you’re yelling at her the whole time not to do the thing she’s about to do!

She does feel very real as a character, as well. Her issues make her vulnerable to Ethan and his ilk. They also lead to a very real problem in her relationship. And this is a big part of her story. Even if she hadn’t been cheating, even if she hadn’t crossed paths with a sociopath, even if she hadn’t strayed off the path of recovery that she’d been working so hard to uphold, she still knowingly keeps key information from her fiancé. And that was always going to be a problem for her. 

Of course her relationship issues with her fiancé are just a small part of the plot :)

I really enjoyed the twist ending in Creep! Of course, reading it now as opposed to when it originally released, I was well aware that there was a sequel and the whole time I was reading I was wondering how the story would continue. I can’t say that I didn’t have my suspicions, but I was still very pleased with how the story played out!

If you haven’t read Hillier yet, now is the perfect time to start! The rerelease of Creep is out now—I’d also recommend scooping up a copy of Freak alongside it because you’re definitely going to want to dive straight in!

Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Just over a year ago, Marin's four year old son disappeared. They were shopping at a crowded market in the days before Christmas and Marin lost him. Cameras show that he was led away by someone in a Santa Claus outfit, carrying a lollipop he'd been begging his mother for only moments before. 

Marin has lived with the guilt ever since. 

Then a PI Marin hired to help find her son reveals that Marin's husband is having an affair. After losing her son, Marin is determined not to lose her marriage as well. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to keep her husband devoted to her. 

Little Secrets is a super fast read. I started on audio and switched back and forth between that and the physical so that I could read through as fast as possible! No childcare has definitely affected reading time and audiobooks from Libro.fm have been an even bigger part of my reading life of late than even before!

We meet Marin on the morning her son is kidnapped. And then we jump forward, sixteen months later. Marin attends a support group for parents who have missing children but otherwise she's tried her best to put her life back together.

Oh, and she's hired a PI that she hasn't told her husband about.

So when she gets a call from the investigator asking to meet, she assumes it means something regarding her son's disappearance has turned up. Boy is she wrong!

The thing is, Marin isn't really all that shocked to learn that her husband has cheated. In fact, she almost blames herself for the distance. Which is sad considering she already blames herself for their son's disappearance. But her solution for the problem...well, it's an avenue most people wouldn't take themselves!

Hillier does a great job of exploring Marin and her emotions. And she does a really good job illustrating just how many different layers there are to actual people. Marin's choices are certainly questionable, but it's easy to empathize with her even if you (hopefully) don't agree. And she's not the only character Hillier gives voice to as the story continues.

Like I said, it's a super quick read and an intense one as well. Perfect for summer hammock reading :)

Order it from BookBar!