Review: The Hunter

The Hunter by Chris Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Chris Carter since I picked up The Crucifix Killer a few years back. Since then, I have jumped at each new Robert Hunter book, needing another fix. The entire time, The Hunter has sat on my to-read list. Earlier this year, I received an Amazon gift card – and, you guessed it. The Hunter was purchased and my need to read the book would finally be fulfilled. Unfortunately, I found myself buried under advance reads and forgot I’d purchased The Hunter. In my mind, I went back to the state of ‘need to purchase’.

My misinformed state was fixed when my Kindle decided to have a temper tantrum. Sadly, my Kindle is known to misbehave. Fortunately, through trying to get my Kindle working again I stumbled upon The Hunter sitting buried in my Kindle library. Joy ensued. A lot of joy, in fact. The excitement I had felt in the past whenever I thought about this short story was doubled when I realised I owned it. Aware of how often I find myself buried under advance reads, I jumped straight into The Hunter.

The Hunter is an extremely short read, one you can complete in under an hour, but it is a great little read. It may not have the twists and turns we’re accustomed to seeing in a Chris Carter book, it may not be as dark as the full-length novels, but it is the perfect story for any fan of Robert Hunter. Throughout the books we’ve got to know Hunter, we’ve slowly chipped away at his life and personality. In The Hunter we get to see how it all began.

The Hunter is more about detailing the issues Robert Hunter faced on his first case and less about some big evil tormenting the city. It makes it the perfect read for fans of the series, although I would not recommend using it as an introduction to Robert Hunter. The full impact of this little story comes from already knowing Robert Hunter. To read this story without having read The Crucifix Killer will leave you unaware of the amazing heights Chris Carter can reach – so much so, this almost feels like fluff in comparison to the main Robert Hunter books. Fluff in the sense it is not an overly grizzly tale, not in the sense that this is bad (in case the four stars failed to show you that).

Overall, well worth a read if you’re a Robert Hunter fan.

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