Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Death Sculptor

I wanted to read this book as the first book was recommended to me by a friend and I instantly loved the three books in this series, the third book creep me out last time so I was really looking forward to reading the next book in the series and this book did not disappoint me at all.

The main character is a detective named Robert Hunter. He has another bad case. A student nurse has the shock of her life when she discovers her patient, prosecutor Derek Nicholson, brutally murdered in his bed. The act seems senseless – he was terminally ill with only a few weeks left to live. But what shocks Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Robbery Homicide Division is the calling card that the killer left behind. For Hunter, there is no doubt that the killer is trying to communicate with the police, but this method is unlike anything he has ever seen before. What could the hidden message be? Just as Hunter and his partner Garcia reckon they’ve found a lead, a new body is found with a new calling card. But with no apparent link between the first and second victims, all the progress they’ve made goes out of the window. Hunter is pushed into an uncomfortable alliance with the confident Alice Beaumont, Hunter must race to put together the pieces of the investigation before the Death Sculptor puts the final touches to his masterpiece.

I like this book; I think Chris Carter is a genius. I think the mystery and the suspense is brilliant and enough to keep you hooked. This book still creeps me out. The first one managed to creep me out and the third book managed to creep me out. This book is third on the shelf in creepiness so far. Just from the first crime scene alone, I was like nope, I'm sleeping with the lights on. I loved Hunter and Garcia’s friendship. Captain Blake is slowly growing on me, but I do miss Captain Bolter. I think that’s just because he gives me Donald Cragen vibes. I love the addition of Alice in this book and she was giving me Penelope Garcia vibes and I hope she makes a few more appearances especially with how the book ended. The only thing that I would say that is a weakness, for me personally, is the short chapters. I just prefer bigger chapters. However, in this book, it did fit well with Chris Carter’s writing style where it usually doesn’t work for me. I was hooked that after a while the short chapters didn’t both me as they usually would with other authors.

Overall, the book was an easy and quick read and because the writing was amazing, the storyline freaked me out and it was overall brilliant I gave it four stars. I cannot wait for the next book in the series and how creeped out I get by Chris Carter.

Content Warnings

mxajlikesbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I find Chris Carter's writing exciting and easy to read, and the gory gripping storylines very enjoyable. For me the main drawback of his books are the way in which female characters in particular are sexualised, brutalised, and all seem to fancy Hunter. Carter also uses tired stereotypes of sex workers in particular being two dimensional fodder for violence and it reads as somewhat whorephobic.

The implication that the rape and murder of Roxy was extra sad because she wasn't a regular street sex worker and was just doing it for one night to get money for medicine for her kid was a bit unnecessary. I was very disappointed by Robert pointing those things out during the final confrontation, instead of that it would have been horrific either way.

Content Warnings

hopelessromanticbookworm's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is the last read of November and again Chris Carter has delivered a gruesome, bloody and creepy as hell thriller.
Throughout this book I had different ideas on why the killer was doing what they were doing, and each time I was wrong. The scenes were so gruesome and there was one quote I will never get out of my head...

“Good job you didn’t turn on the lights”

Super creepy! I was so tempted to leave my Christmas tree lights on that night.
As the story progressed I was trying to workout/figure out how the victims were linked and I still got it wrong. So when we got to the part where the killer was revealed I was so shocked! I never imagined this person to be the killer, this person didn’t even come to mind so I was really speechless.

I really enjoyed the ending and I can’t wait for another Robert Hunter investigation! x

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