The Executioner by Chris Carter

Genre: Crime

Series: Robert Hunter #2

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Find the author: Website | Facebook

Buy the book: The Book Depository

Source: Bought

He knows what scares you to death....

Inside a Los Angeles church, on the altar steps, lies the blood-soaked, decapitated body of a priest. Carefully positioned, legs stretched out, arms crossed over the chest, the most horrifying thing of all is that the priest's head has been replaced by that of a dog. Later, the forensic team discover that, on the victim's chest, the figure 3 has been scrawled in blood.

At first, Detective Robert Hunter believes that this is a ritualistic killing. But as more bodies surface, he is forced to reassess. All the victims died in the way they feared the most.
Their worst nightmares have literally come true. But how could the killer have known? And what links these apparently random victims? Hunter finds himself on the trail of an elusive and sadistic killer, somone who apparently has the power to read his victims' minds. Someone who can sense what scares his victims the most.
Someone who will stop at nothing to achieve his twisted aim. (backcover)

Robert Hunter is back. Our nearly perfect detective, together with his partner Garcia. To be honest I've come to like Garcia better then Hunter because Hunter just is a little bit to perfect for my taste (a second pair of handcuffs????)
But that said this is yet again a great written crime novel. It's dark and gritty. And definitely isn't for the faint hearted. The crime scenes are graphically written and there is a seriously sadistic serial killer on the loose. 
  
Just as in the Crucifix Killer we get two serial killers for the price of one in this book. In the Crucifix Killer the 'secondary murderer' really added nothing much to the story but this time this 'secondary murderer' is woven well into the story. Although I wasn't all that fond of the psychic part which came with this part of the story.

The story is fast paced and had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. With the events taking place and the short chapters it is really hard to put the book down. And even though the motive is revealed halfway through the story the identity of the killer was a surprise for me. I would not have guessed that and Chris Carter even had me fooled at one point. The plot was well thought out and the motive of the killer is a global, social issue which makes it that even though this is a sadistic serial killer this makes him human.


I really enjoyed this second installment of the Robert Hunter series and I'm looking forward to reading more from Chris Carter.


My rating: 4/5