A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff's Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery – a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years.
The suspect claims he is a pawn in a huge labyrinth of lies and deception – and he will now only speak to Detective Robert Hunter . . .
I'm thrilled to be taking in part in the Chris Carter blogathon, with the spotlight on a different book each month. This time it's the turn of An Evil Mind, the sixth book in the Robert Hunter series. Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for my digital copy of the book and to Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for inviting me to take part.
I love it when authors take risks and surprise me, particularly in a long-running series. Chris Carter does exactly that in An Evil Mind, which is why it's probably my favourite book in the series so far. This time, Robert Hunter's partner, Carlos Garcia is away on a much-needed break and as much as I look forward to the developing dynamic between the pair, seeing Hunter have to cope with all that is thrown at him during the course of this excellent thriller, without his usual sidekick is absolutely fascinating. Chris Carter has also given me a bit of a problem because there are so many twists here, I really don't want to give anything away!
Hunter is also due a vacation and is almost headed to Hawaii when fate intervenes. The opening chapter of the book finds a local sheriff's usual Wednesday visit to a truck-stop diner in Wyoming nearly end in tragedy but although a terrible accident is averted, a horrifying discovery heralds the start of a far worse nightmare. Two young women have been brutally murdered but the killer has taken drastic steps to ensure identifying them will be a huge challenge. Readers don't discover exactly why until a little later, when the FBI, who have a suspect in custody but have been unable to persuade him to talk, call on Robert Hunter in LA. Hunter's PhD thesis paper, entitled An Advance Psychological Study in Criminal Conduct, written when he was only twenty-three years old became mandatory reading at the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) but despite its head, Adrian Kennedy trying many times to recruit Hunter into his team, he has never succeeded. However, when the man being held in a small cell deep underground inside the FBI Academy complex in Quantico finally utters seven words, "I will only speak to Robert Hunter", our protagonist cannot resist becoming involved in an investigation which sees him officially 'on loan' to the FBI as a Special Agent.
What follows is a dark, emotionally devastating novel which, as well as being a pulse-racing thriller, is also a compelling, thought-provoking exploration into the nature of evil. Hunter and his temporary partner, Special Agent Courtney Taylor interview a self-confessed killer who is highly intelligent, loves to play mind games and demands quid pro quo answers himself before he will reveal all the sickening details about the scores of murders he has committed, and so comparisons to Hannibal Lecter are inevitable. This killer's motives are arguably even more disturbing than Lecter's however, and the pleasure he often seems to derive from his horrendous revelations is as unsettling as the heinous crimes themselves.
Robert Hunter is psychologically tortured here more than ever before and as we learn more details about his tragic past, Chris Carter cleverly presents him with a moral dilemma which isn't answered until the final chapter. After the murderer stuns them with yet more grim disclosures, the pair face a dramatic race against time and the overwhelming sense of foreboding engendered here is almost unbearable. There is a thin line between horror and crime fiction in all of Chris Carter's books but the claustrophobic tension and graphic fear he creates in An Evil Mind is particularly visceral.
An Evil Mind is an outstanding psychological thriller which, despite the identity of the killer being known almost throughout, is still an addictive, shockingly serpentine read that I tore through with my heart in my mouth and my pulse racing. That this creepily insightful examination of evil is also deeply moving is even more impressive. Very highly recommended.
An Evil Mind is published by Simon & Schuster, purchasing links can be found here.
Check out some of the other blogathon posts, details are below.
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