Chris Carter Reviews

The Crucifix Killer

After reading Chris Carter's latest book, One By One I couldn't wait to get started on this book, the first in the series. It was enjoyable to get to know Hunter better and also read about Garcia on his first case. I loved the banter between him and Hunter.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the killer in it was one of the most gruesome I've read and for me the more gruesome the better when it comes to books like this. I was kept guessing throughout the book and did not work out who the killer was. The only thing that annoyed me was the ending for this book, in terms of why the killer killed was incredibly similar to One By One, his latest book. Still a fantastic ending and the little twist at the end left me cold. 

Can't wait to read more of the Hunter books and recommend that crime fiction fans check out Chris Carter's books ASAP

The Executioner

After reading hundreds of crime fiction books over the years I am now at the point where a book has to be pretty good for me to even finish it, let alone love it and rate it five stars. It also has to have characters I enjoy reading about and a story that grips me until the very end. This is my third Chris Carter book and all three have fulfilled those requirements. Crime fiction fans who are yet to read a Chris Carter book should stop what they are doing and do so ASAP.

Robert Hunter is a fantastic character. Willing to disobey his superiors but always for the good of the case rather than just because he's an egotistical idiot like so many fictional detectives. His knowledge of pretty much everything however can wear thin. I do like his friendship with Garcia though and after reading One By One (Chris's latest book) it has been enjoyable to go back to the start and read more about these two characters.

The best thing about these books for me however is the killers in them. They certainly are not for the faint hearted. Chris Carter does not fail to come up with the absolutely worst, most gruesome ways to kill people and for me it is just fantastic to read. The book was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. The short chapters as well make for a quicker read and often end on a cliffhanger meaning you will be awake long into the night trying to finish the book as quickly as possible.

Overall Chris Carter has fast become one of my favourite authors in this genre over the past few weeks and after buying the other two books in the series I cannot wait to get started with them. Crime fiction fans should move Carter's books to the top of their to read list.  

The Night Stalker

Having read hundreds of crime books over the years, I find a lot of them now to be boring and predictable and try to mix up my reading by reading other genres. I have also become pretty desensitized to much of what goes on in crime fiction stories which is pretty bad when you consider how terrible some of them can be. That said this is my fourth Chris Carter book (not including the short story) and I can safely say his books are not boring, they are not predictable and they certainly contain scenes of violence that nobody could ever become desensitized to.

Chris Carter is without a doubt one of the best writers in crime fiction today. Quite a sweeping statement but one that I feel is the truth. In a genre like crime fiction there are so many authors to choose from, but only a small percentage of them write stories which are worth reading. Even the old school authors can't seem to write readable books anymore. All too often they rely on the shock factor, or OTT storylines. One such author in particular is like this and their books seem to sell by the bucket load. I don't keep track of sales figures but Carter's books should surely be somewhere near the top. I challenge any crime fiction fan to reccommend me an author better than Chris (and only ones who wrote their first book in the last 10 years).

Chris never fails to come up with the absolute worst ways for his characters to die and, it sounds awful to say, but it does make for one hell of an enjoyable read. You find yourself squirming at the scenes but not being able to stop reading. I started Chris's books with One By One which was pretty horrific (and not entirely original) but it seems his earlier work is where he was his most gruesome. As for the main character Robert Hunter, I like him and he is probably now one of my favourite fictional detectives however he is portrayed as some kind of genius, a child prodigy whose university thesis is mandatory reading for FBI trainees. It usually annoys me having a perfect detective who can solve every crime however it doesn't here because I feel that Hunter is actually quite a realistic and believable character despite this 'perfectness'.

The short chapters mean that this is a hard book to put down. 'One more chapter' more often than not turned into 20 more chapters and before I knew it the book was over. Once again Carter tells a gripping story and it was nice that the person that saved the day wasn't necessarily the person you would expect it to be. Series crime fiction is my favourite crime fiction because you get to know the characters and feel like they are your friends, which means it is always a shock when major characters are killed off early in the book. Usually when a main character finds themselves in danger I don't really care because you know they will survive in the end but Carter strikes me as the type of author that wouldn't necessarily follow this unwritten rule and I wouldn't be surprised if other main characters are killed off in future books.

Overall this was another fantastic read and I am only gutted that I have one more book left to read in the series. I only hope the wait for the next one isn't too long.

The Death Sculptor - REVIEW COMING SOON

One By One

This is without a doubt one of the best crime fiction books I have ever read. And, dare I say it, one of the most enjoyable. From the opening to closing chapter I could not stop reading. I love short chapters, they end so abruptly and usually on a cliffhanger that you really have no choice but to continue reading. Some authors aren't that good with the short chapters, but Chris Carter isn't one of them. He is a fantastic writer and tells one hell of a story.

I read The Hunter a few days ago which is a short story, but it was basically a glorified advert for his books. I didn't need any advert as Carter's books have been on my radar for a few years, I just never got round to reading them. The plot for One By One however convinced me that I needed to start his books ASAP and I started with this book. I was a bit wary at first having not read the previous books but, unlike other books which are part of a series, Carter only mentions a previous book once - he doesn't use whole chapters to tell the reader everything that has happened to the character up till now - and doesn't give away that much of the plot meaning previous books can be read without them being spoilt for the reader here first.

I did love the idea for the book. Hunter is contacted personally and asked to log on to a website where the caller asks Hunter which method he wants the person on the screen to die by. More deaths occur only this time on a website that the people of California can access and vote for their preferred kill method. In the age of reality TV and being able to vote for all kinds of things this was certainly an enjoyable read. A website like this being posted on Twitter and Facebook today would certainly attract thousands of hits and would people vote? I certainly didn't work out who the killer was and I very much enjoyed the ending because it was a surprise. So often in crime fiction the killer is obvious, or is known to the reader early on in the book but books like these are more enjoyable when you don't see twists coming. The killer of this book is probably one of my favourite killers in a crime fiction book.

Overall I reccommend that you read this book. Previous books do not need to have been read in advance although I feel certain parts of the book would invoke more of a reaction from the reader had they established a connection with the characters by knowing more about them. It certainly doesn't take away any enjoyment from the book however if it is your first Carter book.