‘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.
#OneByOne X/Twitter #ChrisCarter @simonschusteruk @Tr4cyF3nt0n #booktwitter
Instagram @chriscarterbooksofficial @simonschusteruk @thebookdealer #CompulsiveReaders #blogathon #blogtour #bookstagram
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.
My Review
Welcome to post number five on this fab #blogathon. I will be reviewing one book per month.
I’m still mystified that it’s not possible – or maybe it is – to prosecute people who voted on the killer’s website. It must be a criminal offence to choose how someone dies. I know it would be a logistical nightmare, but if the police held a press conference and warned people that they are aiding and abetting a premeditated murder, and basically if we catch you voting you will go to prison, it might scare some of them off. Or maybe I am being naive.
Chris Carter is known for his gritty, disturbing thrillers, but the more I read, the more I realise that the gory killings are actually quite a small part of the whole clever stories. Yes the murders are horrific, but the books are so much more than just that. They are an insight into the mind of a serial killer, the process of discovery of evidence by the detectives, particularly Hunter and Garcia, and the eventual identification and capture of the perpetrator.
The series has matured with each consecutive book, the writing is more sophisticated, the stories are more engaging, and the characters are more developed. I am a huge fan of the author.
In the 1970s, ‘snuff’ movies were films produced for financial gain which purported to show actual murders on video. Was it real or an urban myth? There has never been any proof of an actual snuff movie being real. In One By One, we’ve moved on. The killer uses the internet to broadcast his perverted reality show where the online audience can vote for the method of death. He or she is an IT expert and very clever. Can Hunter and Garcia find him before he picks his next victim?
One By One was published in 2013. Nowadays we are led to believe that this really happens on the dark web. I’m certainly not going to try and find out.
Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogathon.
About the Author
Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions. He now lives in London. Visit his website www.chriscarterbooks.com
