The Butcher

Written by Jennifer Hillier

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491510551

Jennifer Hillier

Jennifer Hillier is the USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of Things We Do in the Dark, Little Secrets, Jar of Hearts, Wonderland, 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.  

Reviews for The Butcher

[Lindsey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book kept me guessing and held my attention all the way through!! So so goooood!!!!!!

[David Wilkins · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Narrator’s character voices were the absolute worst ive ever heard. To the point where it negatively impacted the dialogue. Terrible job. Book and story were good, however. Wish I read it rather than listened

[Lynne Ward · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was well narrated, developed at a good pace. Lots of suspense, although some details are very gruesome. It is about a serial killer after all. It’s a good book!

[Christine Schneiderman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn’t put this book down! There were a couple parts that were graphic and hard to stomach but overall the book was excellent!

[Chandra DeMichieli · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book is good so far, but the narration is so god awful it's absolutely cringey to listen to. It's mediocre narration - up until he decides to change his voice for different genders... Then it's downright absurd. A long time ago I heard a comic make fun of a transgender woman in the most offensive voice possible... And that's the closest I can come to describing this guy's terrible "voices". It's distracting and dispicable and it makes the entire book tough to listen to. And it certainly takes away from any empowerment, let alone humanity, the author may have meant for the female characters. They've become basically cartoonish, and that essentially spoils the novel for me. Which is a shame because it seems like a good series, I just really don't know if I can stomach much more of the "silly, absurd lady" voices. Too bad

[John Water · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable with lots of surprises. This book does NOT suck donkey balls. Read it and you will get it.

[Danae Giacchino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So well done! A little vulgar, but thats accurate to the personality if the characters and story line. So many twists and kept me wanting more and more!

[Randi Howser · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’m not usually fond of third person point of view storytelling but I must say this book was well written. In the beginning, the plot seemed a little unbelievable, but hey, coincidences are real. Especially in small towns. I was captivated and loved the ending… this author always delivers.

[Courtney Sifford · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good read.. that chief man something else. Had my attention throughout the listen.

[C LM · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good spin at the end, but with someone being as sick & narcissistic as the main character, it didn’t shock me!

[Cheryl Spencer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great story, but the multiple 30 second skips were infuriating. Missed some good parts

[Wanda Schaefer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Don’t even THINK you’ll guess the ending! Great story and GREAT narration! This is a MUST READ!

[Erin Lastimosa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good audiobook! The plot was so wild! The plot twist was chef’s kiss

[Marie Farley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a very good book kept me interested right to the very end !! Can’t wait to listen to more books by this author ?

[Jennifer Rogers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kept my interest and narrator did well. Would recommend it

[cindy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the story line, but the ending was boring. The insane amount of times GD was dropped in the book, made it feel like Hillier had a bet to see if she could insert it a certain amount of times.

[cole23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Yeahhhh lol I won’t be revisiting this book again smh lol. Very uncomfortable lol

[Jennifer Shammas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A steady development and satisfying, although a little predictable, ending. Would read more by this author.

[Adriane Guzman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book was fabulous!! The story had me hooked immediately.
The narrator was horrible. At least with the female voice.
Normally I won’t finish a book that has that horrible of a narrator but the story was so good, I dealt with it

[Amanda Bowman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many twists & surprises-just when you think you've figured out the plot, it takes a sharp turn!! Fabulous read (or listen!)

[Emmanuel Rex · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was entertaing enough, but there's a lot of forced coincidences that make the reading/listening feel forced, generic, and patched up.
Predictible, and no room for guessing, although a review—likely fake—said it'll keep you guessing until the end; it will not. Is not that kind of book. The author purposely let's you know who the 'Butcher' is in the second chapter—he's a main character.
Worth reading/listening to pass the time, but nothing I would pay for, or gift anyone.

[Shawna · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars. The former chief of police is moving into assisted living and leaving his home to his grandson. Matt is doing well with opening his own restaurant and a successful food truck business. Soon after Matt moves into his grandfather's house, he finds something that will change everything for him and unleash a series of events that change his whole life. The narration I did not love but the story was solid and full of details and twists even though the killer is announced at the beginning of the book. Good story

[Meghan McClendon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As usual a great story by Jennifer Hilliar. The only reason I didn't give 5⭐ is because I didn't really like the narrator.

[Elizabeth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Started very very strong in the first chapter. Slowly declining after. Narration made the female characters seem stupid and petty. Ending felt kind of pointless. The one twist was pretty interesting. But that was about it.

[Sarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. It was very interesting to see how it played out.

[Desiree Kaslavage · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was so confused going into this book because some places said this is the last in the Creep trilogy, I while other places (GRs) doesn't say that. After reading it, I realized it could be considered the final book, but you don't need to read the rest. It's more of a spin off, where events from Creep/Freak are mentioned. This was my last book by Jennifer Hillier that I had to read, and that makes me sad because I love her books so much. I enjoyed the "twists" to this story but they were kind of predictable.

[Kathy Esdale · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My suggestion is to have multiple readers it’s annoying when some of the voices for different characters are wack. The story is really good though and the twist are well done.

[Jim Wiggins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The spidery web of Family relationships, with each of the select family persons, with their own story told. Easy to be sucked in this marvelous fiction. JKW

[katerina p · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good book with a lot of suspense and characters. Kept my interest the whole time

[Kalen Hyppolite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved the story! The narrator’s voice did make it hard to continue listening, I really hated the “voice” of Matt and Literally every woman he tried to sound like. However I just had to finish!