I Am Death

March 13, 2017
A surfeit of gratuitous violence mars Carter’s sequel to 2015’s An Evil Mind. Det. Robert Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, who make up the LAPD’s ultraviolent crimes unit, investigate the murder of college student Nicole Wilson, who was abducted from the house where she was babysitting in Laurel Canyon. Wilson was tortured for more than five days before her body was left in a field near L.A. International Airport, a note written in blood saying “I Am Death” stuck down her throat. Soon more victims are tortured, their horrible deaths discussed in lurid detail by the detectives. A parallel story, in which an 11-year-old boy is kidnapped and beaten for years, isn’t much easier to take. References to behavioral psychology and how sociopathy develops add little to the story. A somewhat clever twist at the end can’t salvage the shallow characterizations and banal dialogue. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary Agency.

March 15, 2017
The latest in the Robert Hunter series (An Evil Mind, 2015, etc.), in which the detective with a Ph.D. in biopsychology investigates ultraviolent serial killers for the LAPD.Babysitter Nicole Wilson is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in grisly fashion, and the killer craves credit. He's inserted a note inside the poor woman's throat with -I AM DEATH- written in her blood. This is a direct challenge to those the killer calls the -so-called experts- in the LAPD, who are -supposed to be the best of the best.- Enter Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, who know the killer is not about to willingly stop his spree. -He's defying us to go find him,- Garcia says. Soon, when Sharon Barnard's boyfriend finds the flight attendant's butchered corpse, he vomits at the sight. Meanwhile, the killer kidnaps 11-year-old Ricky Temple, whom no one misses, renames him Squirm, routinely beats and rapes him, and keeps him chained in -the perfect place- the bad guy has found to do his bloody deeds. Hunter and Garcia theorize that the killer is not a born sociopath but one whose evil was created by circumstances. Indeed, the killer wants them to understand that something changed him and turned him into -your perfect predator,- a killer by choice and not by compulsion. Suspense builds nicely as the bodies accumulate, police receive taunting notes, and the killer poses a puzzle. A few of the murder details are exceptionally gross, but hey, no one said serial killers are dainty. It's fast-moving and expertly crafted, and it ends with a zinger. Part of the resolution may confuse readers, though. A solid entry in the British author's series. It's in the same league as Thomas Harris' Red Dragon or Silence of the Lambs, except that it probably won't give you nightmares.

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April 15, 2017
In the seventh Robert Hunter thriller, a detective in the LAPD's two-man Ultra Violent Crimes unit is trying to track down an especially sadistic murderer. How sadistic, you ask? Well, one of the killer's victims died by having her face literally sanded off (by an electric sanding machine). Another, the book's first victim, was apparently killed by being hung upside down, a slow and torturous way to die. Oh, and that victim also had a note shoved down her throat reading: I AM DEATH. Who is the killer, and what is the motive? The Hunter thrillers are popular with their fans, but, surprisingly, not widely known. The author doesn't have the name recognition of, say, Jeffery Deaver or T. Jefferson Parker, two other writers whose books deftly combine, as Carter does, realistically drawn characters, psychological terror, and clever plotting. Here's hoping Carter's latest brings new readers into the fold.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)