(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Seven days after being abducted, the body of a twenty-year-old woman is found on a green patch of grass by the Los Angeles International Airport. She has been left with her limbs stretched out and spread apart, placing her in a five-point human star.
The autopsy reveals that she had been murdered in a most terrible way. But the surprises don't end there.
Detective Robert Hunter, who leads LAPD's Special Section, Ultra Violent Unit, is assigned the case. But almost immediately a second body turns up. Hunter knows he has to be quick.
Surrounded by new challenges as every day passes, Detective Hunter finds himself chasing a monster. A predator whose past hides a terrible secret, whose desire to hurt people and thirst for murder can never be quenched - for he is DEATH.

This is the seventh book in the Robert Hunter series, but it is being released as a standalone.

There is a lot to like about a Chris Carter book - fantastic characters in Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia (who are back together as partners for the first time since book 4 in this series, I think); depraved crimes that make the reader squirm just a little (which is a good thing); a great sense of timing and pacing - you always feel like you are just one step behind the bad guy but you know - you just know - there will be that one clue that will click everything into place; and the endings are generally well thought-out and executed.

And we get all of that in this book. Because that is what Chris Carter does...and he does it very well.

The one thing that did disappoint me in this book (I can't really remember it being an issue before) was that we didn't really get to see the working mind of the detective. It is like there are crimes going on...the detectives are stumped...then suddenly they know what it is and we get the explanation at the end. That was a little disappointing for me.

All in all, though, this is another cracking novel by one of the best in the business.


Paul
ARH