Gallery of the Dead is book 9 in the Robert Hunter series, this is in the list of series that I always want to read. Robert Hunter is a detective for the LA PD, he heads up the Ultra-Violent Crimes Unit
Detective Hunter and his partner Detective Garcia are called out to a violent crime scene, the most shocking crime scene of their career. This say something as they are the Ultra-Violent Unit detectives so they are used to more of the violent crime that humans can do to other humans. The below quote from the book sums up how bad this crime scene is.
“Thirty-one years in the force and in those years I have seen way more than my fair share of crazy, but if before I die I’m allowed to choose just one thing I could unseen…’ His chin jerked in the direction of the house’.”That right in there would be it.’
Not even 24 hours into the case, and the FBI show up this is the Killers third victim in three different states. Now Hunter and Garcia must team up with the FBI to catch a killer, where state boards do not matter when you a hunting for the perfect Gallery of the dead.
Gallery of the Dead is for me the most gruesome book in the series to date, this killer had me gripped as I didn’t know what he was going to do next to his victims. You can tell that Chris Carter has a background in criminal psychology, as his killers are more complex and realistic than in other crime fiction.
This book is the first time bother Hunter and Garcia have worked a joint investigation with the FBI, this added another great element to the book. Although they are meant to be working together there is a competition going on between the FBI agents against the detectives about who will solve the case. Garcia sarcastic comments to the Special Agent Fisher, give a break to the seriousness of the crimes.
I didn’t like Agent Fisher from the get go, she embodied to negative image of the FBI agent acting superior to local detectives. She is smart and very capable, she makes some great finds in the case. But she doesn’t stack up against Hunter, Hunter is a genius but doesn’t act like he is better than any other agent or detective. I think this is why I keep coming back to these books, Hunter is a unique genius detective, he is all about solving the case and getting justice not the praise that comes with it.
This book is not for the faint hearted, the crimes are gruesome but if you like gruesome I would give this book a read. The book is fast-paced and I didn’t want to stop reading it, the book has an amazing twist in it which I would not of expected. The reason behind the crimes is fascinating and makes me glad that I am a twin so not so unique.
I enjoy Chris Carter writing styles, and the short chapters. Although with the short chapters I spend a lot of time just saying just one more chapter, and one chapter is never enough.
I give this book 5 out of 5
The book is out now, and if you would like to know more about the author you can click HERE.
Thanks for reading
Gem x
