Member Reviews

Excellent start to a new series, with a compelling lead character and gripping storyline. The Samaritan is not to be missed.

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The man now known as Carter Blake is back, doing what he does best: roaming the states, finding the very-hard-to-find. But as one job ends, Blake catches the scent of another hunt, and his own past. A mutilated body is discovered off Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s not the only one.

LAPD Detective Jessica Allen thinks she’s seen this sort of butchery before, sparking serial killer fears. Lone female drivers, broken down and waiting for a tow truck, seem to be targeted. But by the time the tow truck arrives, the women are gone, ‘helped’ on their way by a ‘good Samaritan’. The killings are also all too familiar to Blake, precision knife-work and memories from his own murky past. He thinks he knows the killer, but if his former Special Forces colleague is anything like Blake, old names and details won’t be much help in tracking down his current identity. When Blake offers his assistance, Allen doesn’t know what to think. After all, this enigmatic stranger seems to match the killer’s profile himself.

Cross nails it for fans of edge-of-your-seat, one-sitting thrillers with mysterious heroes and plenty of action. Comparisons to Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne would be all too easy, but Carter Blake is something of all of his own, and Cross pairs him well with Detective Allen. Like his debut, The Killing Season, it is the strong female co-lead who adds further layers, interest, and spine to the story.

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