The Killing Season by Mason Cross

Presumed Dead, the fifth book in the Carter Blake series by Mason Cross is published on Thursday, and has its launch in Glasgow tonight. This is a series I love, and I will be writing about both the launch and the new book in the next few days. But in the meantime, I thought I would share my review of the first in the series, The Killing Season. This was the first book review I ever wrote!

The Blurb:

'The first thing you should know about me is that my name is not Carter Blake. That name no more belongs to me than the hotel room I was occupying when the call came in.'

When Caleb Wardell, the infamous 'Chicago Sniper', escapes from death row two weeks before his execution, the FBI calls on the services of Carter Blake, a man with certain specialised talents whose skills lie in finding those who don't want to be found. A man to whom Wardell is no stranger.

Along with Elaine Banner, an ambitious special agent juggling life as a single mother with her increasingly high-flying career, Blake must track Wardell down as he cuts a swathe across America, apparently killing at random. But Blake and Banner soon find themselves sidelined from the case. And as they try desperately to second guess a man who kills purely for the thrill of it, they uncover a hornets' nest of lies and corruption. Now Blake must break the rules and go head to head with the FBI if he is to stop Wardell and expose a deadly conspiracy that will rock the country.

Slick, fast-paced and assured, The Killing Season is the first novel in the gripping new Carter Blake series.

My Review:

'The first thing you should know about me is that my name is not Carter Blake.' What a fantastic opener! Carter Blake is a fantastic hero. Flawed, but brilliant, and inherently good. Women want him (or maybe that's just me!) and men want to be him.

Here he is on the trail of Caleb Wardell, a fantastic baddie - so well portrayed by the author.

Blake is an expert in finding people who don't want to be found, and the FBI reluctantly bring him on board to help them find Wardell. The story follows the journey of Blake and the FBI hunting down Wardell, sometimes together and sometimes with Blake on his own following his gut feelings. The story twists and turns and keeps us hooked right until the explosive end. I don't want to say too much, because you should read it!

The whole book is very descriptive and cinematic. Somebody is missing a trick not making this into a movie. I'm thinking Matt Damon for Blake and Tom Hardy for Wardell, but they're maybe a bit mainstream. But someone should definitely make a film of it!

Basically you should buy it and read it! I couldn't fault it - a brilliant hero, a well described baddie, and a great story. I don't want to give anything away, but this is an awesome debut, and promises much more to come. Read it!

You can buy The Killing Season on Amazon UK, Amazon US and in all good bookshops.