The Crucifix Killer

This is going to be a very hard book for me to review. Why? It's so darn good I'm not sure I can write anything that will do it justice. I'll give it my best try though.

LA Homocide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself facing the work of a killer from his past. Not so amazing, until you realise that the killer was caught and executed years ago. A copycat killer then? Or is the unthinkable actually true? Did he catch the wrong person? Did someone die unnecessarily? The mark, a double-cross carved into the back of each victim's neck is the psycopathic signature of the Crucifix Killer.

Hunter is a man in turmoil and I felt every ounce of his guilt, rage, frustration and lust with every twist and turn brought to the case. From the first short chapter where we are thrown right into the action, I was hooked. Chapter three threw me back 5 weeks to before THAT phone call. Very quickly I felt for Hunter, even though a couple of times I felt like slapping him for listening to his heart and not his head.

Each chapter left me on tenterhooks wanting to know more (and with seventy chapters to get through the book is very quickly paced. It left me breathless with anticipation!) I didn't guess the killer until just before being revealed but, with hindsight, the seeds had been cleverly and discreetly planted along the way. The cover is fantastic enough as it is, until you realise exactly what it is, then you may well cringe and/or heave.

This book is so well written you can picture it in all too clear an image. Sometimes a bit too clear for my stomach. It deserves to be snapped up quickly by a production company and made into a film or, at the very least, a TV series.

As this is the first Robert Hunter book I'm left wanting more. Not because there wasn't enough, I'm just plain greedy. Chris Carter is definitely one to watch for the future.