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Homicide detective Robert Hunter was never convinced that they caught the real Crucifix Killer, and now he is proved right when bodies start appearing…

The Crucifix Killer is the first book in the Robert Hunter series of crime thrillers. Be warned: they are very gruesome!

Wow! The book begins with a cliffhanger! Hunter receives a call from the killer who claims to have taken his rookie partner Garcia. He races to the location and faces a terrible dilemma. The timeline then pings back a few weeks to show how the cat and mouse game between Hunter and the Crucifix Killer has developed.

Hunter wasn’t keen on being assigned a new partner after the death of his old one, especially one with no homicide experience. But Carlos Garcia proves his worth and the pair share a determination to stop the sadistic killer. I really liked both detectives but couldn’t get the fear out of my mind based on the opening chapter and where the book was heading.

The style of writing is easy to read and the descriptions are graphic and disturbing (I loved them!) The characters come to life through their dialogue and the plot races along. Some chapters show us the victims and this increase the readers’ anticipation as we wait to see what sadistic acts the killer has in mind.

The Crucifix Killer is a gory, tense and fast paced crime thriller, and I can’t wait to read the whole series!

Book blurb:

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death.

All the skin has been ripped from her face – while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that’s impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true?

Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining.

A man is found crucified. Kat Frank convinces her boss to let her team including an AI to take on the investigation…

Leave No Trace is the second book to feature DCS Kat Frank and her AI entity Lock. I absolutely LOVED the first book (In The Blink of an Eye) so this one had a lot to live up to!

Following on from multiple successes, Kat Frank is keen to take on a live case. The discovery of a crucified man is the opportunity she has been looking for, but also a huge responsibility. Lock has many positive attributes but lacks the nuances that define human perspective.

I loved being reunited with Kat and Lock. Poor Kat is a little lonely. A widow, her son has now departed for university so her job takes precedence. She is still a little sceptical about the use of AI but acknowledges the benefits in certain circumstances. Meanwhile Lock struggles to balance its programming against direct orders which contradict it.

I enjoyed the style of writing with a mix of chronological accounts of the police investigation, transcripts of police interviews, and a few chapters from the perspective of the killer. The beginning of the book was a little slow paced but by the end I literally couldn’t put it down, reading faster and faster as the chapters shortened to highlight the fast paced plot developments.

Leave No Trace is an engaging crime thriller in a totally unique series.

Book blurb

From the bestselling author of In the Blink of an Eye comes a gripping thriller that pits algorithms versus experience, logic versus instinct, and one undetectable killer versus two extraordinary detectives.

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of a hill in the British midlands, AIDE Lock—the world’s first AI Detective—and Detective Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case. When a second body is found the police issue an extraordinary warning to local males aged between 30 and 40 years old:

• Avoid drinking in pubs
• If you must go to a pub, do not leave alone
• And definitely do not leave a pub with a stranger

With the national media and local men in an uproar, Kat and Lock have to combine their instincts and algorithms to catch the killer before they can strike again.

In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, Annie is already worried about her fifteen year old daughter Isla. But worry turns to fear when she is blackmailed for a thousand pounds a month to keep her daughter alive. She can’t go to the police so can she track down the blackmailers herself…?

Your Child Next is a psychological thriller set in the UK.

Annie is sent a fake video of her daughter’s funeral with a warning to pay up or her death will become reality. Michael is grieving for his late wife and notices a standing order for £1000 going to an account in the Cayman Islands. He swiftly cancels it and then his son is targeted by a hit and run driver. Coincidence? Annie thinks not and tries to convince Michael of the danger he and his son are facing. Together they try to track down the blackmailers to protect their own families and potentially others.

Poor Annie has a terrible ex. Grant really pushed my buttons and didn’t have a single redeeming feature. His attitude is so unhelpful while Annie is in crisis and panicking about Isla’s safety. Isla herself is also not helping the situation by following simple instructions to keep her safe. I liked the way that the authors showed the parent and teen perspectives as I remember the frustration at wanting more independence but now as a mum I understand the worry!

The chapters are quite short and the plot rattles along quickly with some shocking events. I really enjoyed the book overall although it did stretch my disbelief to breaking point. The ‘baddies’ are just so bad (even though we are made aware of their tragic personal history). Or maybe I am too trusting in human nature to believe in such villainous characters!

Your Child Next is a tense, dramatic and engaging thriller.

Book blurb:

THEY’VE FAKED YOUR CHILD’S DEATH. AND IF YOU DON’T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT, THEY’LL MAKE IT A REALITY.

Things have been difficult for Annie since her husband left; her teenage daughter, Isla, has become a ghost of her former self. Annie’s terrified that Isla might do something desperate, and she’ll lose her, too. So when Annie receives a video of herself crying at Isla’s funeral, her blood runs cold.

Confused and horrified, Annie races upstairs to check on Isla, who is alive and well. The video has been faked. But who sent it and what do they want?

One dark truth soon becomes clear: Annie is the latest in a string of parents being blackmailed, and Isla will be killed if Annie goes to the police or if she fails to give the sender what they want. Annie has a deadly choice: comply with the demands, or try to unmask the dangerous criminal.

Your Child Next is a thrilling and unputdownable novel that asks you how far you’d go to protect the ones you love. Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Steve Cavanagh