One by One by Chris Carter
From Goodreads
‘I need your help, Detective. Fire or water?’ Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD’s Homicide Special Section receives an anonymous call asking him to go to a specific web address – a private broadcast. Hunter logs on and a show devised for his eyes only immediately begins. But the caller doesn’t want Detective Hunter to just watch, he wants him to participate, and refusal is simply not an option. Forced to make a sickening choice, Hunter must sit and watch as an unidentified victim is tortured and murdered live over the Internet. The LAPD, together with the FBI, use everything at their disposal to electronically trace the transmission down, but this killer is no amateur, and he has covered his tracks from start to finish. And before Hunter and his partner Garcia are even able to get their investigation going, Hunter receives a new phone call. A new website address. A new victim. But this time the killer has upgraded his game into a live murder reality show, where anyone can cast the deciding vote.
ISBN: 9780857203076
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: May 22nd 2014
Pages: 500
Review
This is a police detective thriller set in America. A killer uses the internet and his extensive knowledge of how IP addresses work to assist his killing spree. He targets seemingly unconnected people as his victims but it all comes clear as to what these people have in common. He also taunts Detective Hunter to help him commit these crimes by making him watch the crimes live knowing full well that the police can’t stop him – he uses the internet really expertly to make this happen. It’s a race against time.
This book is really well written and keeps the reader interested all along. The first killing is rather graphic so if this isn’t your thing perhaps think twice about starting this book. If you either enjoy this sort of thing, or can look past it, it’s worth the read (I nearly stopped reading after chapter 7 because the detail of the first crime was so horrific). Carter is very talented at keeping his readers absorbed. He has an ability to not only keep the chapters short but to end each one in such a way that you find yourself wanting to keep on reading because he leaves the ending of the chapters on a cliff hanger. You want to find out the ‘who’, ‘what’, and ‘why’ of the crimes being committed.
This book plays with the emotions making you want to go back for more. One minute you find relief and thing the police are finally going to catch their man only to find that they’ve pipped at the post again, so you get very scared and concerned for the next victim. You find yourself hoping against hope that the victims will be saved in the nick of time only to realise the way the story is portrayed is more true to life than most fiction tends to be.
Recommend for: Adults
Rating: ****
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