Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately it’s not for me. Did not finish @ 9%.

The Santero and Rein characters made the book good. There could have been more included to make the Thriller angle more thrilling. It was just enough though.


I'd like to thank Netgalley for this free copy to read and review.

This is a brilliant start to what I hope is a very long series by Schaffer. Great view of cops and the situations they deal with.

Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

The Thief of All Light by Bernard Schaffer
Santero and Rein #1

Murder mysteries with serial killers are not uncommon but this one is uncommonly good. After starting to read I could not put it down. The Santero – Rein team had the rookie wannabe detective eventually teaming up with an older scarred detective no longer on the police force and the two together was one that I “got” and enjoyed watching. The serial killer was devoid of humanity and if there was anything that I might have liked to see more of it would have been his backstory but…sometimes it doesn’t really matter what the backstory is as no matter what it was it would not justify the deeds perpetrated.

The idea that evil is dark, might have a face, is alive, can see and pull on a person and that doors are involved to let it in or keep it out…not really personification…but the way it was presented here resonated with me. The fact that good people may have to access that evil to find and put away evil people and the impact it can have on the ones that capture such evil was also interesting and resonated.

Carrie Santero is relatively new on the job and her boss often sees her more as a daughter than a rookie cop. Her boss, Bill Waylon, is strong and fair and a great person to act as her leader. They get along well and seem to see eye to eye though sometimes he is more friend than boss. There are a few more interesting characters in the detective section that no doubt will appear again in future books…as will perhaps Thome – son of Rein who calls Waylon “uncle”. And then, there is Jacob Rein. Rein and Waylon were once partners who put away a heinous serial killer. Rein has dropped off the radar for a number of years but is pulled in again when a serial killer appears that takes Carries best friend Molly and Molly’s daughter captive. From that point on there is a race to the finish that may or may not be what the reader hopes for.

Did I like this book? Definitely
Would I like to read more in this series? Of course
Is this a new-to-me author I will read again? Without a doubt

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

This thriller was fast paced and action packed! The author did a good job of providing a lot of action to this book without sacrificing the quality of the plot or characters.

I just could not get into this book. It was extremely well written but the story was just average for me. I think the rookie cop and the seasoned professional storyline is a bit overdone now. I really thought this would be my kind of book- a killer that modelled himself on famous serial killers. But it just wasn't for me, although I see that plenty of people have enjoyed this book. Maybe just not the right time for me to read it.

thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Well done serial killer thriller. I liked Carrie, who definitely is over her head with this case, and Jacob, who comes back to help her. While the basic plot line is not surprising, Schaffer makes good use of his law enforcement background and does well with the characters. My quibble with this, as with some others in the genre, is that things go a little far. At the same time, however, he did keep me turning pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm curious where the series will go, given how it has started off.

The Thief of All Light
by Bernard Schaffer
4 stars for this thriller! many thanks to the author and publisher who provided a copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this novel even though it felt like it was 2 books in one. I recommend it for those who like character based mysteries. I hope the author turns it into a series.

The rookie female cop teaming up with an older traumatized male detective to solve crimes is a formula done to death both in tv and books. The only thing setting these stories apart now is the quality. And here the quality is definitely present, mainly in form of a particular authenticity the author brings from his work as a police officer. Actually it’s quite impressive how many books he has written considering his occupation, but then again some manage their time more optimally than others. So this is your basic serial killer procedural thriller, not a mystery because you know the killer, but there is a certain amount of suspense as Santero and Rein are rushing to beat the clock and apprehend him. Not just any killer, an omnikiller, someone who tries to emulate other well known serial killers’ techniques. Santero is the rookie, Rein the gruff older former detective living his life as a way of serving out a penance for a crime he committed. She offers him a chance to redeem himself, he offers her his expertise. Voila. Crime solved. The setting is Podunk PA, because middle of nowhere is the best place for someone to hide their sociopathic tendencies, although apparently there’s still a library. What is it with killers and libraries? Hadn’t Se7en covered that territory? Santero and her kindly protective chief of police and her white trash bff alone weren’t compelling enough, but once Rein showed the book picked up significantly and from then on it moves along swimmingly, well paced, expertly detailed and with some very lively realistic dialogue. Nothing particularly stunning or original, just a formula done well, but that’s pretty good in and of itself and provided some seriously decent entertainment. Also seriously graphic at times too, so proceed with caution. Anyone in the mood for a cops chasing serial killer story would enjoy this. Decent introduction to what’s likely to be a new series. I’m not into series, so I’ll just think of this as a standalone, since technically book #1 nearly always is. Thanks Netgalley.

As a teen, Carrie Santero harbored an obsession for serial killers, the nastier the better, but all that changed when she came face to face with that same type of evil. Now, Carrie is a cop trying to make her way up to detective, she wants to catch these human monsters and put them behind bars forever. She gets her chance right away, with an unbelievably nasty killer, who mimics some of history’s most notorious serial killers. He’s so diverse and uses so many different m.o.’s, he’s impossible to profile and has been dubbed an “omni” killer. The only hope of catching him is bringing former detective, Jacob Rein, a brilliant but tortured detective on board. Schaffer is a cop, and it shows in his writing (I’m married to a cop), he knows the language, the politics, the graveyard humor and the stress these officers face. And he’s created one of the scariest killers I’ve ever read about