SF short story about a shapeshifter serial killer and a police detective (who we learn later is also

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SF short story about a shapeshifter serial killer and a police detective (who we learn later is also

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1d_h
Lug 10, 2010, 9:39 am

I'd say it's been at least fifteen years since I've read it.

The main character is presented as a normal police detective, investigating/following a serial killer known for leaving his victims as savaged corpses.
I believe he tracks him down to some warehouse, and the killer taunts him for a while, and when they meet, the killer turns out to be some shapeshifter who takes on the form of monsters. The detective remains unimpressed, and after they fight for a while, he reveals that he is a shapeshifter as well, and a far more experienced one, too.
He kills the other one by taking on an amorphous form, completely enveloping the other and suffocating him that way.

2MyriadBooks
Lug 10, 2010, 10:11 am

That description sounds familiar to me, and I might I might have read it too. Let me see if I can think of the the title or any details. Hmm...

3d_h
Lug 10, 2010, 10:40 am

Huh, found it:
It was Hardshell, by Dean Koontz.

4MyriadBooks
Lug 10, 2010, 10:57 am

Huzzah!

5lquilter
Apr 10, 2012, 10:18 pm

touchstone fairy Hardshell

6RowanTribe
Apr 11, 2012, 2:23 pm

Short stories are always harder to find it seems - for anyone interested, this story is also in Strange Highways which was released as a MMP in 1996.