Review: The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

From the author of the acclaimed suspense novels Creep and Freak and whom Jeffery Deaver has praised as a "top of the line thriller writer," The Butcher is a high-octane novel about lethal secrets that refuse to die—until they kill again.
A rash of grisly serial murders plagued Seattle until the infamous "Beacon Hill Butcher" was finally hunted down and killed by police chief Edward Shank in 1985. Now, some thirty years later, Shank, retired and widowed, is giving up his large rambling Victorian house to his grandson Matt, whom he helped raise.
Settling back into his childhood home and doing some renovations in the backyard to make the house feel like his own, Matt, a young up-and-coming chef and restaurateur, stumbles upon a locked crate he’s never seen before. Curious, he picks the padlock and makes a discovery so gruesome it will forever haunt him… Faced with this deep dark family secret, Matt must decide whether to keep what he knows buried in the past, go to the police, or take matters into his own hands.
Meanwhile Matt’s girlfriend, Sam, has always suspected that her mother was murdered by the Beacon Hill Butcher—two years after the supposed Butcher was gunned down. As she pursues leads that will prove her right, Sam heads right into the path of Matt’s terrible secret.
A thriller with taut, fast-paced suspense, and twists around every corner, The Butcher will keep you guessing until the bitter, bloody end.

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

This is one of those books that you just can not believe that the serial killer is someone with power. Though you find out early on who it is. 

I normally like to be guessing until the very very end who the killer is or was, and when I know early on it normally drops my rating down on the book.

But with The Butcher, to me it is a solid 5 star rating. Being as the way The Butcher is connected to the other characters within the story and they have no clue until something is unearthed in the backyard. With this damaging evidence that could bring the serial killer to justice the person who finds it doesn't quite believe his eyes.

We start the book off with a murder occurring which has you already wondering where is this exactly going to go. 

Then we start meeting the characters Matt who is very strong willed and wants to be successful at his restaurant. His girlfriend Sam who writes crime novels, and her latest writing will be about The Butcher who was killed when found by the police. And the Chief who is Matt's grandfather and the person who took down the famous serial killer The Butcher. 

Matt and Sam have a weird relationship they are together but once Matt gets his grandfather's house he starts distancing himself from her. Sam who believes that The Butcher is still alive being as he killed her mother goes on a quest to get answers.  

When Matt finds out the dark truth hidden in the house that he lives in, he lets it get to him. And when that happens his does the unthinkable thing and ends up calling his grandfather for help. 

Now Sam gets the police involved with opening up the case again and the police of course ask the Chief for his advice on things. But is this the best thing to do?

Secrets come out that can damage everyone. Does this keep you on the edge of your seat, umm to me not so much. The gruesome fact not really there except with the cutting of something up. The romance or sex scenes not truly there. Yes there was one part but it was nothing that you have to cover your eyes and go OMG. Overall really good story being told. Different, being as you get to know the serial killer early on but everything unravels to the why and how this person got away with it. Is justice serve? Yes it is for all those involved.  I really like this author and will be checking out the other books written by her to see if they are just as good.

Jennifer Hillier is a full-time novelist who writes about dark, twisted people who do dark, twisted things. If you ask her why she writes such dark stuff, she'll stare at you blankly because she still hasn't figured out a clever way to answer that question.

Born and raised in Toronto and a proud Canadian, she spent five years living in Seattle, which is where she wrote her first novel. She currently splits her time between Toronto and Seattle, and is slightly ashamed to admit that she's way more of a Seahawks fan than a Leafs fan . . . which, she suspects, makes her a bad Canadian.
She loves her husband, her cat Kobe, and Stephen King. Not equally, but close. She's the author of the psychological thrillers CREEP (2011), FREAK (2012), and THE BUTCHER (2014), all published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Her agent is Victoria Skurnick of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency in New York.
She blogs about writing, publishing, and life in general at SerialKillerFiles.com. Check out her official website at JenniferHiillier.org.