blog tour, books, reviews

Blogathon: The Death Watcher – Chris Carter

The 13th adrenaline-packed Robert Hunter thriller and Top Ten Sunday Times bestseller.

When a routine autopsy on what looked like a straightforward hit-and-run leads the LA Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Carolyn Hove, to discover some puzzling inconsistencies, she calls in Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Not only did Dr Hove discover that the death wasn’t caused by a hit-and-run, but she also found indications that the victim had been severely tortured prior to death.

What no one realises is that what Dr Hove has stumbled upon is just the tip of the iceberg and it will lead Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, on the trail of a twisted and clever killer who hides in plain sight. A serial killer no one even knew existed – a killer who has always operated under the radar, expertly disguising every gruesome murder as an accidental death.

But with no leads as to why the victim was targeted, the investigation comes to a standstill, until another body is discovered with an alternative cause of death.

What becomes clear is that this serial killer isn’t going to stop – unless Hunter and Garcia can get to him.

But how do you investigate a murder when you have no victims? How do you catch a killer who leaves behind no crime scene? How do you stop a ghost who no one can prove even exists?

My thoughts: Thirteen books into this dark but compelling series, I am still completely hooked. This case might be Hunter and Garcia’s strangest yet.

Because their medical examiner is brilliant, she spots a few things that prove their hit and run victim is nothing of the sort – he died from hypothermia. In Southern California, in summer. Now I have actually spent summer in Orange County, south of LA and it is hot. So, so hot. There’s just no way you could get that cold unless you were locked in a freezer. And nobody does that voluntarily.

While Hunter and Garcia are trying to figure out whodunnit and why. There’s another body that appears, again the supposed cause of death doesn’t match the evidence on the body. A body that was donated to the students at a medical school, training to be medical examiners.

Slowly, the brilliant detective duo, veterans of dozens of baffling cases, put together what links the victims and what might the killer be thinking.

Chris Carter is a brilliant writer, and was a criminal psychologist, and really knows how to build suspense and a sense of real danger, which once again Garcia and Hunter find themselves in.

This blogathon has been just tremendous to be part of and I cannot wait to see what Carter writes next.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: Genesis – Chris Carter

A killing like no other.
A killer more twisted than he’s ever seen before.
A case that will test him to the limit.
Has Robert Hunter finally met his match?

‘Do you believe the Devil exists, Detective?’ the officer at the end of the line asks. ‘Because if you don’t . . . I’m sure you will once you get here.’

Robert Hunter is called to the most vicious crime scene he has ever attended. It is made even more disturbing when the autopsy reveals a poem, left by the killer, inside the body of their victim.

Soon, another body is found. The methods and signature of the murder differs, but the level of violence used suggests that the same person is behind both crimes. Hunter’s fears are confirmed when a second part of the poem is found.

But this discovery does more than just link the two killings – it suggests that this is the work of a serial murderer.

With no forensic evidence to go on, Robert Hunter must catch the most disciplined and systematic killer that he has ever encountered, someone who thrives on the victims’ fear, and to whom death is a lesson that needs to be taught.

From #1 Sunday Times and multi-million copy bestselling author, Chris Carter, comes the most compelling and ruthless Robert Hunter thriller yet.

My thoughts: Called to a truly gruesome murder Hunter and Garcia find even their stomachs turning, and they’ve seen some grim things.

As this case unfolds, they’re truly stumped, there appears to be absolutely no connection between the victims, and no explanation as to the motive driving the killer. Each crime scene is even more disturbing than the last and the MO is different each time, the only link is a line of some sort of poem left with each victim. But it isn’t something that was published, so it continues to leave them puzzled. Until Hunter spots something in a crime scene that might just help them solve this one…

Another disturbing, and awful, but ingenious case. A sort of sins-of-the-father reasoning and a murderer who wants to deliver a lesson that no one will forget.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: Written in Blood – Chris Carter

A serial killer who will stop at nothing…
 
The Killer
His most valuable possession has been stolen.
Now he must retrieve it, at any cost.
 
The Girl
Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like any other.
But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins.
 
The Detective
A journal ends up on Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose.
And if Hunter can’t stop him in time, more people will die.
Starting with Angela.
 
If you have read it
You must die

My thoughts: Hunter and Garcia are back. And this time they’re drawn into a case that puzzles them. Someone left a serial killer’s diary in the mailbox of the head of the forensics unit. It was hand delivered and is very disturbing. It seems to chronicle the killings of a deeply disturbed individual who hears voices compelling him to carry out increasingly violent and vile murders.

Hunting firstly for whoever dropped it off, they meet Angela, a streetwise pickpocket who is now in way too deep as the killer knows she took his book. The LAPD need to keep her safe, as a witness, and now a vulnerable target for a monster.

But they also need to find the killer and stop him before he takes another life. The diary reveals more and more details of his life, of why he does what he does. And the pair of detectives are disturbed. Especially after he contacts Hunter directly. He wants his diary back. Or more will die. Including Angela.

This is another tense and unnerving case for the Ultra Violent Crime Unit. A killer without remorse, who sees his kills as just another day at the office, and a victim Hunter feels responsible for.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: Hunting Evil – Chris Carter

Every story has a beginning . . . 

They met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from the prestigious Stanford University. They met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter has become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Lucien Folter has become the most prolific and dangerous serial killer in FBI history.

The FBI caught Lucien. He’s been in prison for years. But Lucien has just escaped. And he’s angry. He’s going to make the person who put him away suffer.

That person . . . is Robert Hunter.

And every story must come to an end . . . 

My thoughts: If you’ve been reading this series too, you will maybe remember Lucian Folter from An Evil Mind, formerly Hunter’s college roommate, now the most dangerous and prolific serial killer the FBI has ever encountered. 

If not, you’re about to meet possibly the most evil man around. He’s deadly and completely devoid of care, he kills to study death and the only person who might be able to get inside his mind and stop him is Hunter. Lucian currently hates Hunter and wants him dead for his part in catching him last time, so this is very personal. 

As the two men circle one another, each trying to out think the other, the body count rises. Can Hunter recapture this monster or has he finally met his match? 

Assisted as always by his partner, Garcia, as well as the FBI and a federal marshal, Hunter needs to stop Lucian before he kills anyone else, or Hunter himself.

Totally gripping and horribly shocking, this really ups the ante by making it incredibly personal to Hunter, not just because this is his city, but because people close to him are in danger and Lucian Folter won’t just stop and go away.  

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: Gallery of the Dead – Chris Carter

‘Thirty-seven years in the force, and if I was allowed to choose just one thing to erase from my mind, what’s inside that room would be it.’

That’s what a LAPD Lieutenant tells Detectives Hunter and Garcia of the Ultra Violent Crimes Unit as they arrive at one of the most shocking crime scenes they have ever attended.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, the detectives find themselves joining forces with the FBI to track down a serial killer whose hunting ground sees no borders; a psychopath who loves what he does because to him murder is much more than just killing – it’s an art form.

Welcome to The Gallery of the Dead.

My thoughts: Another macabre case for Hunter and Garcia sees them this time teaming up with the FBI to find a serial killer working across state lines.

This killer kills without cruelty, his victims don’t suffer, and then he removes their body parts. The LA victim that Hunter and Garcia are dealing with has had almost all her skin, hands and feet removed. On the only patch of skin left on her back is carved a message in Latin.

As they work through the victims, it becomes apparent that their killer is collecting, now they just have to find him and what connects their victims.

It’s dark and sinister, like all of the cases the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crime Unit specialise in and despite the initial resistance, the FBI agents find Hunter’s insights vitally important to solve the case.

Hunter also finally has a personal life, in the form of a very attractive psychology professor who shares his taste in whisky and wins him over. Shame Garcia is late for dinner with his in-laws again!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: The Caller – Chris Carter

After a tough week, Tanya Kaitlin is looking forward to a relaxing night in, but as she steps out of her shower, she hears her phone ring. The video call request comes from her best friend, Karen Ward. Tanya takes the call and the nightmare begins.

Karen is gagged and bound to a chair in her own living room. If Tanya disconnects from the call, if she looks away from the camera, he will come after her next, the deep, raspy, demonic voice at the other end of the line promises her.

As Detectives Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia investigate the threats, they are thrown into a rollercoaster of evil, chasing a predator who scouts the streets and social media networks for victims, taunting them with secret messages and feeding on their fear.

My thoughts: The murders in this latest instalment of the Hunter & Garcia books are really grisly. The killer calls the best friend, the husband, the sister, of his chosen victim and forces them to play a horrific game, before killing their loved one in front of them, via video call. There’s nothing they can do to stop him, and each murder is extremely brutal.

Hunter and Garcia can’t find the link between the victims, they seem to have been chosen completely at random, and they have no idea who the killer is. They’re in a race against time to stop him from taking more lives, but when it seems the victims could be anyone, how can they predict where he might strike next?

Hunter also gets a bit of a personal life, meeting the lovely psychology professor in the UCLA library and connecting over their love for Scottish whisky. It’s nice to see Hunter off duty for a change, obviously, his brilliant mind is searching for the killer, but all the previous books have him just working and not sleeping, this gives us another side to his character.

Another edge-of-your-seat, twist-you-won’t- see-coming read, with writing that keeps you hooked (or at least it does me).

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: I Am Death – Chris Carter

In this pulse-pounding thriller from bestselling writer Chris Carter, criminal behavior psychologist turned LAPD detective Robert Hunter finds himself engaged in a brutal game to the finish with a ruthless opponent. But no matter what moves Hunter makes, death is coming….

At the Los Angeles International Airport, the body of a twenty-year-old woman is discovered. The autopsy reveals that she had been tortured and murdered in a most bizarre way—but the surprises don’t end there. The killer likes to play, and he left something behind for the cops to find.

LAPD Detective Robert Hunter is assigned to the case but almost immediately a second body turns up. Surrounded by new challenges as every day passes, Hunter finds himself chasing a monster—one with a dark past and whose desire to hurt people and thirst for murder can never be quenched.

My thoughts: After the vacation that wasn’t, Robert Hunter returns to LA to be faced with a new case, another gruesome and violent one. He and Garcia are called out to a body by the airport, the victim was brutally tortured to death, and she won’t be the last.

Taunting the detectives by leaving the message I AM DEATH with each poor victim, the duo feel like they’re getting nowhere, until the killer makes a mistake that will bring Hunter to his door. 

Another shocking and gripping case for Hunter and Garcia – there’s a method of murder in this one that actually succeeded in making me flinch, I am pretty unshockable most of the time. The story has a dual narrative, with a clever twist, and the identity of the killer, and their motivation is something you won’t see coming.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: An Evil Mind – Chris Carter

A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the sheriff’s department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery: a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing, and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years.

The suspect claims he is a pawn in a huge labyrinth of lies and deception—but can he be believed?

The case is immediately handed over to the FBI, but this time they’re forced to ask for help from ex-criminal behavior psychologist and lead detective with the Ultra Violent Crime Unit of the LAPD, Robert Hunter. As he begins interviewing the apprehended suspect, terrifying secrets are revealed, including the real identity of a killer so elusive that no one, not even the FBI, had any idea he existed…until now.

My thoughts: Robert Hunter, possibly the best detective the LAPD has, is about to take his first holiday in…well, forever, when the FBI come calling. They’ve picked up a murderer, and the only words he’s said in the four days they’ve had him are to ask to speak to Hunter.

Flown to Quantico, Hunter discovers the man in custody is someone he used to know. His college roommate to be precise. And he’s possibly the most disturbing killer the FBI, and Hunter, have ever met. He leads them on a merry hunt all over the country to find the remains of his victims. Somehow he’s flown under the radar for 25 years, killing across various states, in various ways, never sticking to one type of victim.

Hunter is horrified, especially as this monster has killed those close to Hunter, from a mutual friend at college, to someone Hunter has never recovered from losing.

This might be his most personal and most horrifying case ever. Each piece of information revealed leads us to a new twist in the tale. What’s clear is that this killer is like no one Hunter or the FBI have dealt with before.

Drawing on his own experiences as a criminal psychologist, Chris Carter has crafted a truly chilling monster in this installment of Hunter’s story.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: One By One – Chris Carter

‘I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?’

Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD’s Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address – a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn’t want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option.

Forced to make a sickening choice, Hunter must sit and watch as an unidentified victim is tortured and murdered live over the Internet. The LAPD, together with the FBI, use everything at their disposal to electronically trace the transmission down, but this killer is no amateur, and he has covered his tracks from start to finish.

And before Hunter and his partner Garcia are even able to get their investigation going, Hunter receives a new phone call. A new website address. A new victim. But this time the killer has upgraded his game into a live murder reality show, where anyone can cast the deciding vote.

My thoughts: Another gripping and stomach churning case for detectives Hunter and Garcia, this time with a killer who is manipulating them with technology. Turning death onto a reality show, where the audience votes on the method of execution.

Of course that audience probably believes they’re watching something staged, not real deaths. But Hunter and Garcia know differently and they are racing to shut this horror show down.

Hunter’s insomnia, always an issue, means he can’t let go of the things he’s seen and now countless others are watching murder happen in front of their eyes, whether they believe it’s real or not. The killer is exploiting new technology and people’s inability to look away.

Bringing in the FBI and their own advanced tech in order to try to track and locate the killer, and the site of his home made nightmare, is deemed necessary, even as it causes resentment. Hunter doesn’t really enjoy collaboration or being told what to do. But even he can see that the LAPD doesn’t have the resources to do this on their own. But it’s still his case, and he will find the killer. 

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blogathon: The Death Sculptor – Chris Carter

‘Good job you didn’t turn on the lights . . .’ A student nurse has the shock of her life when she discovers her patient, prosecutor Derek Nicholson, brutally murdered in his bed. The act seems senseless – Nicholson was terminally ill with only weeks to live. But what most shocks Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Robbery Homicide Division is the calling card the killer left behind.

For Hunter, there is no doubt that the killer is trying to communicate with the police, but the method is unlike anything he’s ever seen before. And what could the hidden message be?

Just as Hunter and his partner Garcia reckon they’ve found a lead, a new body is found – and a new calling card. But with no apparent link between the first and second victims, all the progress they’ve made so far goes out of the window.

Pushed into an uncomfortable alliance with confident investigator Alice Beaumont, Hunter must race to put together the pieces of the puzzle . . . before the Death Sculptor puts the final touches to his masterpiece.

My thoughts: Another creepy and chilling killer for Hunter and Garcia to find, LA seems to attract the worst monsters. This one is turning his victims into strange flesh sculptures. Hunter knows there’s a message here, but he needs to figure out what it is so they can solve the case.

They’re asked to work with DA’s investigator Alice Beaumont on the case, she’s an interesting addition to their partnership and brings a different perspective to the case.

It’s a race against time to figure out what the killer is saying with his disturbing artworks, keeping the reader guessing as to how exactly the detectives are going to solve another case before anyone else gets killed.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.