The Samaritan – (Carter Blake #2) – Mason Cross
The Samaritan is book two in the Carter Blake series from Glasgow author Mason Cross. It is also the second of Blake’s adventures that I have read about.And I must say that I found this episode more enjoyable than the first. So I am really looking forward to Winterlong the third book in the series, that has been languishing on my library books to be read shelf for about five weeks!! See I checked it out of the library and then found out it was book three in the series. So I went back and read books one and two before partaking of book three.
The Story
In The Samaritan Carter Blake again seeks to find someone of doesn’t want to be found. In this case it is an old Winterlong team member Dean Crozier. As a member of Winterlong, Blake thought Crozier liked killing just a little too much. And now it appears that Crozier is back in his hometown of LA, preying upon young women in distress. After the bodies of three murdered women are found in shallow graves on an isolated LA hillside. Both Carter Blake and LAPD Detective Jessica Allen have seen the work of the Samaritan before. All three of the woman were tortured and then had their throats slashed with a rough bladed knife. Blake had seen the death strokes during his time with Winterlong. While Allen had seen them during her previous job in Washington D.C,
Blake soon comes to LA and offers his services to Detective Allen and her partner. Only this time Blake is not welcomed into the investigation. In fact, Blake has the tables turned on him, during the investigation, and the hunter becomes the hunted! But the ultimate question becomes – Can Allen and Blake catch the Samaritan before he takes more lives.
Thoughts About The Samaritan
It the beginning of this post I wrote that I enjoyed The Samaritan more than The Killing Season. There are several reasons for that increased enjoyment. First, I enjoyed the overall plot and the pace of the book more in this second book. That may be because I know Carter Blake a little better, but I don’t think that was all of it. Even though this is a pretty typical hunt for a serial killer book, I thought that Mason Cross added some big twists turning the hunter into the hunted and I never really saw the twist at the end coming. I also liked the character of Jessica Allen a little better than Elaine Banner in the first book. Jessica like Blake has an edge and often bucks the system when needed.
Bottom Line
Rating 4/5
I really really liked The Samaritan. I like the Carter Blake character more and more as his character grows with each book. The pages really flew by in the second half of the book! I couldn’t put it down! And when I did manage to put it down. it called me back very quickly!! Now I am off to read Winterlong where I know I’ll discover more about Carter Blake!! So Check these books out/ I do recommend that you start at the beginning of the series!!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross
Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon
