The Executioner [Robert Hunter #2]

The Executioner by Chris Carter

Age: Adult
Category: Crime & Mystery
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: When the remains of a decapitated priest are found on the altar steps of a church in Los Angeles with the head replaced by that of a canine there’s only one duo they’re going to call - the team that managed to catch the horrifying Crucifix Killer. When the forensic team find a bloody number three written on the priest’s chest. Due to the religious elements and the different components of the crime scene, Hunter believes that Garcia and he are on the tail of a ritualistic killer. However, the bodies start to mount up and Hunter has to reevaluate his original hypothesis as this killer isn’t sticking to the same MO. No, he seems to be killing the victims in the way that they fear the most. Their deaths are literally their worst nightmares. But how could the killer possibly know such personal information about each of his victims that for as far as he can see have no possible link?

After such an amazing debut in “The Crucifix Killer”, I was more than happy to take the leap of faith with Carter into the second novel following Garcia and Hunter’s investigation. Just as the first one, the crimes committed are shockingly grisly that keep you up late at night hooked to every last word written on the pages in front of you. My favourite part of Carter’s writing is that even though he does use a crime novelists favourite trick of a the red herring, they’re not just carelessly thrown in like some novels. They’re all cleverly thought out and leave you thinking that this whole thing could be over (slightly before you want it too!) but then when the twists are revealed at the end... gobsmacked is literally the only word I can use to describe the feeling I got when I learnt who the killer was in this novel.

So settle down, get yourself a nice hot cup of tea and follow Hunter and Garcia as they chase down a killer who literally scares his victims to death...