The Caller by Chris Carter

Well, we're up to book eight in our Chris Carter blogathon, as it's another delve into the dark. You really don't want to answer the phone to The Caller! Many thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me into the tour. I read from my own bought copy of the book. 

The Blurb

Be careful before answering your next call. It could be the beginning of your worst nightmare.

After a tough week, Tanya Kaitlin is looking forward to a relaxing night in, but as she steps out of her shower, she hears her phone ring. The video call request comes from her best friend, Karen Ward. Tanya takes the call and the nightmare begins.

Detectives Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia are thrown into a rollercoaster of evil, chasing a predator who scouts the streets and social media networks for victims, taunting them with secret messages and feeding on their fear.

 

My Review

Eight books in and I'm still standing! I will admit, though, that I mainly read these books in the daytime, and will only read them in the evening if someone else is in the house. They're great books, but they are very graphic and pretty terrifying - and I scare easy! 

Chris Carter's imagination is something else! A brand new villain, and some brand new methods of murder! Whilst the crimes committed in these books are undeniably utterly terrifying, they are also hugely creative, and I admire that. 

In The Caller, every crime that the perpetrator commits has a terrible, life changing effect on two people, rather than just his obvious victim. And he leaves no evidence. At all. Hunter and Garcia keep reaching dead ends as they can find no obvious connection between the victims, nor any clear motive for the crimes, and his methods change every time. The crimes, as in previous books by this author, are very, very dark. They are also graphic. This is not a book for everyone. I like my crime dark but there were parts of this book that were a bit too much for me, and I had to skip a few paragraphs. 

But I love Robert Hunter, and find him fascinating. I also like his relationship with his partner Carlos - it provides a few much needed lighter moments. But their trust in each other is lovely to see, and his much Carlos has grown through this series, how much he's learned, is great. There is quite a lot of 'technical' stuff, science and psychology, but I found it all fascinating. And it's never presented in a boring way. 

I'm not going to say any more about the plot than is in the blurb for fear of spoilers but as always the investigation is satisfyingly twisty. What struck me, again, is the sadness in the story, the heartbreak, life changing events, behind all the violence and crime. The Caller is another great entry in this collection. Roll on book 9! 

The Author

Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and Criminal behaviour in the USA. As a member of the District Attorney's Criminal Psychology team, and working together with the Police Department in numerous cases, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions. He now lives in London, UK.