The crucıfıx Kıller

“Hello… Detective Hunter speaking.”

“Hello, Robert, I have a surprise for you.”

It’s been so long since I read anything outside of romantasy, so I had an amazing time with this one 🤩🤩 Our MMC, Detective Robert Hunter, is a homicide detective who spends most of his time investigating brutal serial killer cases. He’s already going through a lot, and the traumatic nature of his job doesn’t make things any easier.

But his somewhat stable life completely shatters when he and his new partner, Carlos Garcia, are assigned a case that reopens one of the most disturbing investigations of his career 😫😫 The problem? Hunter and his former partner already caught the infamous Crucifix Killer… and he’s dead. Or at least, he’s supposed to be. Now the nightmare has started again, and Hunter has to find this heartless killer as soon as possible.

One of the most important things for me in crime books is how real the main characters feel. I want to see their internal and external struggles—their fear, hesitation, and emotional reactions. I don’t want emotionless robots 🤖🤖 Their job is brutal, and no matter how used they are to it, I need to feel that weight. That’s actually why I never fully enjoyed Sherlock Holmes books 🤷🤷 But this book? It delivered exactly what I was looking for, and that’s a big reason why I loved it so much.

I absolutely adored Robert 😍😍 He felt so human. He’s clever, depressed, a little sassy—and at the end of the day, just a man with a high IQ and incredible observational skills. He’s basically a genius in criminal psychology, and his doctoral thesis is now required reading at the FBI. How cool is that? I 😎😎 He’s trying to do his job while also attempting to maintain some kind of normal life, and I’m really excited to learn more about his past in the next books.

“You’re my partner. If I’m going after the bad guys, you’re coming with.” Garcia smiled. “Thanks, Robert.”

Carlos Garcia, Robert’s new partner, was so lovable 🥰🥰 His devotion to his wife, his little obsessions with his desk and paperwork—it all made me smile. He and Robert worked so well together, and I really enjoyed watching their partnership develop. Also, funny story: for the first few chapters, I thought Garcia was a woman… thanks to my obsession with Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds 🤣🤣

As for guessing the killer—I had two theories, and one of them was right. But honestly, it was more of a lucky guess than actual deduction 🤔🤔 Still, I loved how everything came together after the reveal. The way the story and the murders connected was really satisfying 💯💯

The author, Chris Carter, is apparently a criminal psychologist, and you can feel that expertise in the writing 🧐🧐 The chapters are very short, and the pacing is so good that you end up devouring half the book without even noticing. But fair warning—the autopsy scenes and some victim POV chapters are very graphic. We’re talking mutilation, torture, skinned bodies… it gets intense 😨😨 So if you’re sensitive to that, be careful. Personally, I found the technical details fascinating and really well done.

If you love Criminal Minds and want something fast-paced, dark, and gripping, this book is definitely for you. See you in the next book’s review 👋👋