Chris Carter has an uncanny ability to tap into the zeitgeist: his crime novels, which verge on slasher horror, manage to satisfy fans of multiple genres at once. His infinitely detailed descriptions of gruesome crimes fill readers with both a shudder and a morbid curiosity. And just when you think Carter is merely rewriting the same book over and over again, the American author delivers An Evil Mind, a true monument to human depravity. Hunting Evil is the sequel to this work.
Experiments of a serial killer
In the preface to Hunting Evil, Chris Carter himself suggests starting with the preceding novel, a recommendation that’s hard to disagree with. Without the context of the sixth installment (see An Evil Mind) of the Robert Hunter series, this book is far less impactful.
Without this background, as you progress through the pages of Hunting Evil, you might mistakenly believe that Lucien Folter is just another annoying, attention-seeking, and thus particularly irritating, subtype of serial killer—a mere clown, so to speak.
You couldn’t be more wrong. An Evil Mind makes it clear that this elusive human chameleon, who aspires to create an encyclopedia of serial killers, is the devil himself!
And now he’s free again. And he’s out for revenge on Hunter.
Lucien Folter is Becoming Annoying
Hunting Evil is not like the other Hunter crime novels that feature a shocking murder followed by a police investigation. This book is more of a chase thriller. The pursuit of the escaped convict initially offers relatively little excitement.
After all, if you were an escaped convict, you wouldn’t be calling the cops to taunt them and let them track you down. Of course, if you’re a master of disguise and makeup, maybe you would. But even then, the whole thing still somehow feels childish.
Robert Hunter in the Crosshairs
For Chris Carter’s book to finally take off, Folter’s game needs to become a two-player one. In most Carter novels, it seems like a cheap shot that a serial killer, supposedly preoccupied with urgent tasks, would waste his time prank-calling and messing with Detective Hunter.
In this case, however, it works, because it’s rooted in the characters’ past relationship. Lucien Folter has a score to settle. And Hunter has even more to pay back.
In Hunting Evil, you’ll need to wait a bit for the thrills—and they operate differently from what we’re used to. The killer puzzles and the relentless race against time are so engrossing that you barely notice Carter’s usual tricks, such as overly extended scenes and the constant repetition where characters painstakingly retell the events of the PREVIOUS scene in detail to others.
It’s a Wonder Hunter Isn’t a Nervous Wreck by Now
When you read a Robert Hunter novel, depression becomes your constant companion. No homicide detective has ever suffered as much as poor Hunter. (Well, maybe Harry Hole—see The Knife.) Eventually, almost every serial killer in Los Angeles seems to develop an insatiable urge to drag unfortunate Hunter, or his partner Detective Garcia, into their twisted games.
It’s no wonder, then, that the detective duo keeps losing loved ones along the way.
And what do you think Robert Hunter does when he learns that the most dangerous villain of his career, his personal nemesis, the embodiment of Satan himself, is coming to Los Angeles to exact revenge?
I’ll tell you: nothing.
He calmly goes on a date with Tracy, the hot redhead who is the first serious relationship he’s had in years.
Isn’t that nerve-wracking!?
Summary
Hunting Evil is the sequel to Chris Carter’s most sinister book, but it doesn’t quite reach the same level. In terms of evil, it falls short. This thriller, which features only traces of the usual carnage and investigation, navigates different waters: it forces its heroes into a deadly cat-and-mouse game. But it’s no less thrilling for it. What’s noticeably missing, though, is the pervasive dark atmosphere that usually permeates Carter’s books. Perhaps it’s because when taken to extremes, even murders lose their impact after a while.
Rating: 7.8/10
Hunting Evil by Chris Carter
485 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster Ltd
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See the preguel of Hunting Evil:
An Evil Mind