A thrilling ebook exclusive short story from Sunday Timesbestselling author Chris Carter. Meet Robert Hunter, the youngest Homicide Detective the Los Angeles Police has ever recruited, on his first day. As a rookie, he is given a simple suicide investigation to cut his teeth on. But when he arrives at the scene, he swiftly begins to suspect that something is not quite right. Despite the fact that the door was locked from the inside, and there is no other way out of the apartment, Hunter has a hunch that the victim did not commit suicide. But with a new Captain to impress and the evidence stacked against him, Hunter has a lot to prove if he is to solve the case and keep his place on the team.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death. All the skin has been ripped from her face - while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that's impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining.

Imagine your worst fear - and then meet your worst nightmare... Inside a Los Angeles church, on the altar steps, lies the blood-soaked, decapitated body of a priest. Carefully positioned, legs stretched out, arms crossed over the chest, the most horrifying thing of all is that the priest's head has been replaced by that of a dog. Later, the forensic team discover that, on the victim's chest, the figure '3' has been scrawled in blood. At first, Detective Robert Hunter believes that this is a ritualistic killing. But as more bodies surface, he is forced to reassess. All the victims died in the way they feared the most. Their worst nightmares have literally come true. But how could the killer have known? And what links these apparently random victims? Hunter finds himself on the trail of an elusive and sadistic killer, somone who apparently has the power to read his victims' minds. Someone who can sense what scares his victims the most. Someone who will stop at nothing to achieve his twisted aim.

An unidentified female body is brought into the Los Angeles County morgue. The cause of death is still unclear. Her body bares no marks; except for the fact that her most intimate parts have been stitched shut. But what shocks the pathologist the most is that the killer had left something inside her. Something so monstrous Detective Robert Hunter, of the Los Angeles Homicide Special Section, has to be pulled off a different case to take over the investigation. Within days a new body surfaces. Like the previous victim, she's also been stitched shut and something has been left inside her. Something as ingenious as it is grotesque. And the killer isn't done yet, not by a long shot. When his inquiry collides with a missing persons' case being investigated by the attractive, razor-sharp Whitney Meyers, Hunter suspects the killer might be keeping several women hostage. Soon Robert finds himself on the hunt for a murderer who is much more monstrous than he ever could have expected; a predator whose past hides a terrible secret, and who won't stop until each of his victims has brought forth the awful truth

'Good job you didn't turn on the lights ...' 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 - Nicholson was terminally ill with only weeks to live. But what most shocks Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Robbery Homicide Division is the calling card the killer left behind. For Hunter, there is no doubt that the killer is trying to communicate with the police, but the method is unlike anything he's ever seen before. And what could the hidden message be? Just as Hunter and his partner Garcia reckon they've found a lead, a new body is found - and a new calling card. But with no apparent link between the first and second victims, all the progress they've made so far goes out of the window. 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 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.

A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff's Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery - a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years. The suspect claims he is a pawn in a huge labyrinth of lies and deception - can he be believed? The case is immediately handed over to the FBI, but this time they're forced to ask for outside help. Ex-criminal behaviour psychologist and lead Detective with the Ultra Violent Crime Unit of the LAPD, Robert Hunter, is asked to run a series of interviews with the apprehended man. These interviews begin to reveal terrifying secrets that no one could've foreseen, including the real identity of a killer so elusive that no one, not even the FBI, had any idea he existed ... until now.

AN EVIL MIND was Chris Carters' most acclaimed novel to date, described by the Daily mail as: 'A chilling, compulsive portrait of a psychopath, and proves that Carter is now in the Jeffrey Deaver class.' It spent three weeks in the Sunday Timestop ten and received brillant reviews and sales. This terrifying new standalone thriller reunites Hunter and Garcia in their most explosive case to date.

Don't miss GENESIS, the latest must-read serial killer thriller from master of the genre, Chris Carter. Available to order now. THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Be careful before answering your next call. It could be the beginning of your worst nightmare. After a tough week, Tanya Kaitlin is looking forward to a relaxing night in, but as she steps out of her shower, she hears her phone ring. The video call request comes from her best friend, Karen Ward. Tanya takes the call and the nightmare begins. Detectives Robert Hunter and Carlos Garcia are thrown into a rollercoaster of evil, chasing a predator who scouts the streets and social media networks for victims, taunting them with secret messages and feeding on their fear. AS ADDICTIVE AS A TV BOXSET! What the reviewers are 'Carter has a background in criminal psychology and the killers at the centre of his novels are all the more terrifying for it.' Mail on Sunday, chosen for 'If You Only Pack One' 'Carter is one of those authors who makes writing look effortless ... I couldn't put it down' Crime Squad 'An insanely good crime series. Extraordinarily well written, high quality and high drama all the way' Liz Loves Books 'An intriguing and scary thriller' Better Reading 'A gripping feast of thrills' Shots 'A gripping psychological thriller' Breakaway 'Very satisfying read' Falcata Times

‘Thirty-seven years in the force, and if I was allowed to choose just one thing to erase from my mind, what’s inside that room would be it.' That’s what a LAPD Lieutenant tells Detectives Hunter and Garcia of the Ultra Violent Crimes Unit as they arrive at one of the most shocking crime scenes they have ever attended. In a completely unexpected turn of events, the detectives find themselves joining forces with the FBI to track down a serial killer whose hunting ground sees no borders; a psychopath who loves what he does because to him murder is much more than just killing – it’s an art form. Welcome to 'The Gallery of the Dead'.

'Every story one day comes to an end.' As roommates, they met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from Stamford Psychology University. As adversaries, they met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter had become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Lucien Folter had become the most prolific and dangerous serial killer the FBI had ever encountered. Now, after spending three and a half years locked in solitary confinement, Lucien has finally managed to break free. And he’s angry. As ever, Carter’s background in criminal psychology is at the centre of his novel, which is all the more addictive and terrifying for it!

Don't miss GENESIS, the latest must-read serial killer thriller from master of the genre, Chris Carter. Available to order now. ‘Wonderful storytelling, with a superbly drawn killer, it underlines exactly how good Carter has become’ Daily Mail THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER A serial killer who will stop at nothing… The Killer His most valuable possession has been stolen. Now he must retrieve it, at any cost. The Girl Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like any other. But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins. The Detective A journal ends up at Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose. And if Hunter can’t stop him in time, more people will die. If you have read it You must die Praise for WRITTEN IN BLOOD ‘The Brazilian-born, American-educated and now London-based Carter has developed into an exceptional thriller writer who fully deserves to be ranked alongside Jeffery Deaver’ Daily Mail ‘Former criminal psychologist Carter knows what he’s talking about when it comes to creating bone-chilling serial killers, so be prepared for a terror ride’ Heat

A killing like no other. A killer more twisted than he’s ever seen before. A case that will test him to the limit. Has Robert Hunter finally met his match? ‘Do you believe the Devil exists, Detective?’ the officer at the end of the line asks. ‘Because if you don’t . . . I’m sure you will once you get here.’ Robert Hunter is called to the most vicious crime scene he has ever attended. It is made even more disturbing when the autopsy reveals a poem, left by the killer, inside the body of their victim. Soon, another body is found. The methods and signature of the murder differs, but the level of violence used suggests that the same person is behind both crimes. Hunter’s fears are confirmed when a second part of the poem is found. But this discovery does more than just link the two killings – it suggests that this is the work of a serial murderer. With no forensic evidence to go on, Robert Hunter must catch the most disciplined and systematic killer that he has ever encountered, someone who thrives on the victims' fear, and to whom death is a lesson that needs to be taught.

When a routine autopsy on what looked like a straightforward hit-and-run leads the LA Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Carolyn Hove, to discover some puzzling inconsistencies, she calls in Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Not only did Dr Hove discover that the death wasn’t caused by a hit-and-run, but she also found indications that the victim had been severely tortured prior to death. What no one realises is that what Dr Hove has stumbled upon is just the tip of the iceberg and it will lead Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, on the trail of a twisted and clever killer who hides in plain sight. A serial killer no one even knew existed – a killer who has always operated under the radar, expertly disguising every gruesome murder as an accidental death. But with no leads as to why the victim was targeted, the investigation comes to a standstill, until another body is discovered with an alternative cause of death. What becomes clear is that this serial killer isn’t going to stop – unless Hunter and Garcia can get to him. But how do you investigate a murder when you have no victims? How do you catch a killer who leaves behind no crime scene? How do you stop a ghost who no one can prove even exists?