The Killing Season a Fine First Visit to the World of Carter Blake!

The Killing Season – Mason Cross -(Carter Blake # 1)

The Killing Season by Mason Cross is the first book in his  Carter Blake series. And reading it was my first visit to the world of Carter Blake. He told me in the opening sentences that his name was not Carter Blake. And that he use to be part of a top-secret government operation called Winterlong. But now he hires himself out to find people who don’t want to be found. He’s good at it because he has an uncanny ability to predict his quarry’s next move.In The Killing Season his quarry is a deadly sniper known as “The Chicago Sniper”

About Mason Cross

Mason Cross was born in Glasgow in 1979. He studied English at the University of Stirling and has worked variously as a tax officer, events coordinator, project manager and pizza delivery boy. He has written a number of short stories which have been published in Ellery Queen, Scribble and First Edition.

The Killing Season, set in the United States, was his debut novel and the world’s introduction to Carter Blake. It was long listed for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. Gross has written two more novels featuring Carter Blake. I am currently reading the second book in the series The Samaritan. (So far, so good). While the third book, Winterlong UK title The Time to Kill. Book four is set to be published in 2018

About The Killing Season

From Goodreads…

The first thing you should know about me is that my name is not Carter Blake.
That name no more belongs to me than the hotel room I was occupying when the call came in.

When Caleb Wardell, the infamous ‘Chicago Sniper’, escapes from death row two weeks before his execution, the FBI calls on the services of Carter Blake, a man with certain specialised talents whose skills lie in finding those who don’t want to be found. A man to whom Wardell is no stranger.

Along with Elaine Banner, an ambitious special agent juggling life as a single mother with her increasingly high-flying career, Blake must track Wardell down as he cuts a swathe across America, apparently killing at random…..Read More

Thoughts About the Killing Season

Overall I really enjoyed The Killing Season. So much so that, I have already started book two in the series The Samaritan. I thought that it was a well-pace book that kept my interest throughout. There were several tense moments and surprises along the way, up until the final pages.

I thought that the fact that Blake knew Wardell,  previously, may have been a little forced. But the previous connection was important to the story line. Also that Blake out-thought the FBI was a little stretch, but hey he’s supposed to be better than them. That’s why the hired him to assist – right? Also I really don’t think that the reader got to know all that much about Blake, but hey is supposed to be that mysterious stranger, eh?

Here’s what some others say about The Killing Season

“Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred, as he deftly combines an adrenaline rush plot with one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher. Prepare to read all night.”– Lisa Gardner

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake, a mystery man who is both cerebral and ruthless, an inexorable protagonist on the trail of an equally relentless and dangerous enemy. The writing is taut, intelligent, oozes suspense, and is an accomplished first book: The Killing Season is a highly impressive debut novel. Cross is a name to watch, and I eagerly await the next Carter Blake thriller.”– Matt Hilton

*“An American setting, universal themes, top-class writing, Scottish author – it’s a recipe that makes a deadly impact in this impressively sharp debut.” – Daily Record

Bottom Line :

Rating : 4/5  Highly Recommended for fans of Gregg Hurwitz‘s Orphan X or Lee Child‘s Jack Reacher and the like!