Hunted by Monty Marsden.
Seven years ago, psychiatrist Dr Claps assisted police in capturing Giacomo Riondino, a man accused of abducting, torturing and murdering two women. On arrest, tests had revealed that Riondino suffered from a rare and disturbing psychiatric condition and was sectioned.
Six years later, Riondino is on the run after escaping from a rehabilitation centre, leaving a trail of bloody murders in his wake.
It is now a case for expert profiler Dr Claps and Commissioner Sensi to work together to track Riondino down before he kills again. Time is running out and the killer may be much closer than he seems...
I really enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. 4*.

Great story by Monty Marsden. Really thrilling read, great characters and an enjoyable story. Highly recommend to others!!

Riondini is a killer.. locked up in a psychiatric hospital. 6 years after being caught he escapes leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. i really liked the sound of this book but i struggled with it. there is a fair bit of medical explainations which broke the story up. thank you to Netgalley and Aria for a copy of this book to read and review

I started off really enjoying this book. Riondino has murdered many times and escapes a supposedly secure prison by murdering the nurses. He will stop at nothing to escape and through the book, you meet all the different characters that live in his head. It involves multiple personalities who are each responsible for different thoughts and deeds. A very well explored theory.

Seven years ago, Giocomo Riondino was arrested for the abduction, torture and murder of two women. After his arrest, it was discovered that he was suffering from a multiple personality disorder and was subsequently sectioned. Now, after time at a rehabilitation centre, Riondino has escaped and is on the run, a trail of bodies being left in his wake. It is up to Commissioner Sensi and psychiatrist Dr Claps to find the killer before the death count gets out of control.

Hunted is not the first book to feature Sensi and Claps but it is not essential to have read any earlier books in order to understand this plot. Initially, however, I did find some of the plot confusing as I came to terms with Riondino’s numerous personalities, many of whom speak for the man himself throughout the story. As I became accustomed to the style of writing, though, it became much easier to follow and provided me with a unique insight into the mind of someone with a multiple personality disorder and the internal conflict they experience.


Despite his illness, Riondino is a cold, calculated killer and each of his crimes is carefully planned and executed. This makes for a tense hunt as the police try to find a man who always seems to be one step ahead, and is prepared to kill anyone who stands in his way. Riondino is probably the most heinous serial killer I have read about for a while, and he did, on several occasions, make my skin crawl as I sensed what was about to happen. Through his numerous personalities, he was able to draw in potential victims and nobody was safe.

Hunted draws to a thrilling climax as the police tighten the net around the killer. In the final quarter of the book, I felt as though, at times, I was holding my breath as I waited to see what the final outcome would be. What I got was a clever ending, in keeping with what we’d already found out about Riondino. Highly recommended!

'Hunted' is the second gripping, grisly thriller by Monty Marsden, an Italian author. It has been very well translated so letting the reader enjoy, (in a rather sadistic way!), a tale of an extremely complicated, psychopathic, sexual predator.

We learn of a historic case, seven years ago, where Commissioner Sensi and psychiatrist Dr Claps teamed up to hunt down Riondino, a seriously depraved killer with multiple personalities! He was put in a secure institution where he was sectioned.

However, several years later Riondino managed to escape, leaving a hideous trail of grisly, horrendous murders. Sensi and a rather reluctant Claps are of course back on the trail. Who are Riondino's accomplices?

They have numerous clues to follow. Will they succeed in their quest? Who is the leader of Riondino's personalities?

I felt that all the characters were well drawn and believable. As the drama raced to a conclusion I was slightly mystified by the finale, but maybe I'll have to look out for Monty Marsden again!!

Galadriel.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

2 1\2 stars out of 5
Hunted has the potential of being a really great book but it fails to delivery due too many points of view as well as jumping back and forth between the present and the past.
The idea of a serial killer with multiply personalities sounds like a great idea but something gets lost in the execution of the story. Readers might find themselves lost not to mention the story seem to stall out many times.
The story has excessive amounts of psychological information that can be found interesting at times but often repetitive. I struggled though this book finding it difficult to finish.
Thank you to netgalley for the advance Copy

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy of Hunted by Monty Marsden.

A quick read . There was back and forth in time that I did get use to and was able to follow. I felt there was a cliffhanger , so if you don't like those maybe wait for the next book. If you don't mind this book is definitely a great one to read.

Recommended. :) 4 1/2 stars

This is the second novel featuring psychiatrist Claps, police commissioner Sensi, and a vicious serial killer Giacomo Riondino. I had not read the first novel, so it was a bit confusing trying to get all the characters straight, but as the narrative goes back and forth between the initial case and the present, when Riondino has escaped from a 'not so secure' psychiatric facility, it is not absolutely necessary to have read the first.
There is a lot of detail about Riondino's strange psychiatric disorder, and a lot of plot twists with a page-turning ending. Very gory in parts, with detailed descriptions of brutal murders, so reader be forewarned! All in all a good read, thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I tried and tried to like this book. I really did. It started out okay and I thought the plot would be interesting with this killer with multiple personalities but then it just plateaued and I could not stay awake! I found the story repetitive and dull, desperately wanting to move on from the constant POV's of the personalities and mundane activities going on.

I put this down and gave it a go 5 times then gave up after 50% and most of that was a struggle to read. A plot with so much potential but missing the buzz, the edginess and the pace required. I was bored. Only 2 stars from me. A below average read. Maybe you will love it? Who knows. I didn't.

<I received a copy of this book via NetGalkey. All review opinions are entirely my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria for an advance copy of Hunted, the second novel to feature Commissioner Sensi and Dr Claps of the Milan police.

Seven years ago Commissioner Sensi and Dr Claps joined forces for the first time to hunt down a sexual predator. They caught him quickly and he was sent to a secure psychiatric facility. Now Giacomo Riondino has escaped in an orgy of violence.

Hunted is an extremely difficult novel to review as it mostly revolves around Riondino's mental disorder and to reveal what it is would be a massive spoiler. Let's just say I'm not convinced it is a genuine disorder, having seen too many documentaries debunking it but it is much loved by authors and film makers.

I enjoyed the hunt for Riondino which is tense and exciting as they have so many near misses in catching him. I found the chapters from Riondino's point of view fairly confusing - I can't explain this without spoilers - and difficult to follow but his planning seems very smart for a man with a psychiatric condition. I should also mention that the novel has a cliffhanger ending which some people don't like, normally including me but in this case it has whetted my appetite for more.

Commissioner Sensi is not a particularly well developed character and is portrayed as a conscientious officer determined to do everything possible to capture the murderer. Dr Claps, on the other hand, is a very unusual protagonist. Having suffered previously at the hands of another serial killer he is nervous, timid, anxious and unwilling to get involved in the investigation. It's very refreshing to see a protagonist screw up their courage to get involved and probably more realistic than the gung-ho experts we normally read about.

There is a tremendous amount of psychiatric/psychological information in this novel, most of it interesting but some of it a bit repetitive but that aside Hunted is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

This book goes back and forth between the present and the recent past when Dr. Claps first started working for Commissioner Sensi. It was his first case working with the police. They caught he murderer named Giacomo Riondino. Riondino was sent to a psychiatric facility – a rather lax one at that. He appeared to have a multiple personality disorder.

When Riodino attacked and killed two nurses and escaped all the stops are pulled out to recapture him. They fear that he will kill again, and of course he does. He has these continuing conversations with himself – or his “selves” as I should say. The reader remains unsure if he really has multiple personalities or if he is faking it as so many believe.

Claps still suffers occasionally from aphasia which is the mixing up of some words when speaking. He received the condition from the aftermath of an attack he suffered when apprehending a suspect. When asked to write a story about Riondino, Greta Alfieri turns to Claps for advice since he is an old friend of hers. She wants nothing to do with the current search for him and is very upset at the thought of him being out again.

Much information was given in this novel describing how Riondino acquired multiple personalities which is pretty much the same for all persons who have this disorder.

The tension mounts as the bodies pile up and Riondino keeps escaping capture. Greta drops a bomb during her television interview. Chaps learns Riondino’s secret and discovers something of monumental significance. Things go badly and the stakes get higher.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. I didn’t like it quite as much as the first in this series, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The characters are interesting and in some cases likeable. The story moved along at a regular pace as the tension mounted. All in all well done Mr. Marsden, and I very much look forward to the next novel he pens. Hats off also to the translator who did a fine job.

I want to thank Netgalley and Aria for forwarding to me a copy of this wonderful novel to read.