Highest Praise for
John Lutz
“John Lutz knows how to make you shiver.”
—Harlan Coben
“Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster of a tale.”
—Jeffery Deaver
“John Lutz is one of the masters of the police novel.”
—Ridley Pearson
“John Lutz is 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 Ed McBain.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Lutz is among the best.”
—San Diego Union
“Lutz knows how to seize and hold the reader’s imagination.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“It’s easy to see why he’s won an Edgar and two Shamuses.”
—Publishers Weekly
Chill of Night
“Since Lutz can deliver a hard-boiled P.I. novel or a bloody thriller with equal ease, it’s not a surprise to find him applying his skills to a police procedural in Chill of Night. But the ingenuity of the plot shows that Lutz is in rare form.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Lutz keeps the suspense high, populating his story with a collection of unique characters who resonate with the reader, making this one an ideal beach read.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A dazzling tour de force…compelling, absorbing.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A great read! Lutz kept me in suspense right up to the end.”
—Midwest Book Review
Night Kills
“Lutz’s skill will keep you glued to this thick thriller.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Superb suspense…the kind of book that makes you check to see if all the doors and windows are locked.”
—Affaire de Coeur
In for the Kill
“Brilliant…a very scary and suspenseful read.”
—Booklist
“Shamus and Edgar award–winner Lutz gives us further proof of his enormous talent…an enthralling page-turner.”
—Publishers Weekly
Fear the Night
“A a tense, fast-moving novel, a plot-driven page-turner of the first order…a great read!”
—Book Page
“A twisted cat-and-mouse game…a fast-moving crime thriller…Lutz skillfully brings to life the sniper’s various victims.”
—Publishers Weekly
Darker Than Night
“Readers will believe that they just stepped off a Tilt-A-Whirl after reading this action-packed police procedural.”
—The Midwest Book Review
Night Victims
“John Lutz knows how to ratchet up the terror…. He propels the story with effective twists and a fast pace.”
—Sun-Sentinel
The Night Watcher
“Compelling…a gritty psychological thriller…Lutz draws the reader deep into the killer’s troubled psyche.”
—Publishers Weekly
“John Lutz is the new Lawrence Sanders. The Night Watcher has enough twists to turn you into a raging paranoid by page thirty. I loved it.”
—Ed Gorman, Mystery Scene
ALSO BY JOHN LUTZ
*Urge to Kill
*Night Kills
*In for the Kill
Chill of Night
Fear the Night
*Darker Than Night
Night Victims
The Night Watcher
The Night Caller
Final Seconds (with David August)
The Ex
Available from Kensington Publishing Corp. and
Pinnacle Books
MISTER X
JOHN LUTZ
PINNACLE BOOKS
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
For Don Mackey
and Vernon Shults
Contents
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part II
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Part III
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter