Chris Carter’s Robert Hunter series is renowned for its hard-hitting, fast-paced plots. With detailed descriptions, gory storytelling, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. This series is guaranteed to put your heart in your mouth and will make you question your home security. But with a series of this size, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
I’ve put together this Chris Carter Books in order article to help you know where to begin your journey.
While you don’t have to read them in order, I do recommend you read them as listed below to fully appreciate the character development throughout the series.
Click on the images to view them on Amazon *
Table of Contents
The Hunter - Prequel short story
E-Book Published: 2013
Synopsis:
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.
The Crucifix killer
Published: 2009
Synopsis
When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in Los Angeles, Robert Hunter is thrown into a nightmare case. The victim suffered a terrible death, and 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, Garcia, need to solve this case and fast.
The Executioner
Published: 2010
Synopsis:
Inside a Los Angeles church, on the altar steps, lies the blood-soaked body of a priest. 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, someone 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.
The Night Stalker
Published: 2011
Synopsis:
When an unidentified female body is discovered laid out on a slab in an abandoned butcher’s shop, the cause of death is unclear. Her body bares no marks; except for the fact that her lips have been carefully stitched shut.
It is only when the full autopsy gets underway at the Los Angeles County morgue that the pathologist will reveal the true horror of the situation – a discovery so devastating that Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Homicide Special Section has to be pulled off a different case to take over the investigation.
But when his inquiry collides with a missing persons’ case being investigated by the razor-sharp Whitney Meyers, Hunter suspects the killer might be keeping several women hostage. Soon Robert finds himself on the hunt for a murderer with a warped obsession, a stalker for whom love has become hate.
The Death Sculptor
Published: 2012
Synopsis:
‘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 confident investigator Alice Beaumont, Hunter must race to put together the pieces of the puzzle . . . before the Death Sculptor puts the final touches to his masterpiece.
One By One
Published: 2013
Synopsis:
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 horrific show devised for his eyes only immediately begins.
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 so that anyone can take part …
An Evil Mind
Published: 2014
Synopsis:
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 25 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 behavior 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.
I Am Death
Published: 2015
Synopsis:
Seven days after being abducted, the body of a twenty-year-old woman is found on a green patch of grass by the Los Angeles International Airport. She has been left with her limbs stretched out and spread apart, placing her in a five-point human star.
The autopsy reveals that she had been murdered in a most terrible way. But the surprises don’t end there.
Detective Robert Hunter, who leads LAPD’s Special Section, Ultra Violent Unit, is assigned the case. But almost immediately a second body turns up. Hunter knows he has to be quick.
Surrounded by new challenges as every day passes, Detective Hunter finds himself chasing a monster. A predator whose past hides a terrible secret, whose desire to hurt people and thirst for murder can never be quenched – for he is DEATH.
The Caller
Published: 2017
Synopsis:
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.
Gallery Of The Dead
Published: 2018
Synopsis:
‘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.
Hunting Evil
Published: 2019
Synopsis:
Every story has a beginning…
They met for the first time in college. Two of the brightest minds ever to graduate from the prestigious Stanford University. They met again in Quantico, Virginia. Robert Hunter has become the head of the LAPD’s Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Lucien Folter has become the most prolific and dangerous serial killer in FBI history.
Hunter caught Lucien. He’s been in prison for years. But Lucien has just escaped. And he’s angry. He’s going to make the man who put him away suffer.
That person … is Robert Hunter.
And every story must come to an end…
Written In Blood
Published: 2020
Synopsis:
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 on 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.
Starting with Angela.
If you have read it
You must die
Genesis
Published: 2023
Synopsis:
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.
The Death Watcher
Published: June 2024
Synopsis:
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?
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If you’re interested in knowing our spoiler free thoughts on “Hunting Evil”, check out or article on our Top 10 Reads Of 2022
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15 thoughts on “Chris Carter Books In Order”
Chris carter is the best author I have read all his books several times I now have my son as addicted to his books as I am.
I would love to buy the book genesis as it’s not available in cyprus yet…. I Looooove Chris’s Carter books. I have them all miners Genesis and I want it!!! Thank you!!!
I am so looking forward to the sequel of hunting evil I haven’t read Genesis yet but I love all of the Robert Hunter books I keep waiting for the sequel to hunting for evil you are fantastic and a great writer
All Chris carter books are just the best I have all of them n read them more then once ,Can’t wait for his next one
Same!! I need the next one… now
I have read everyone of Chris’s books and always look forward to the next one,every one better than the last I don’t know how he does it.
Couldn’t agree more, Neil! Thoroughly enjoyed each one. I wish I could read them all for the first time again. Do you have a favourite?
I loved Written in bloody. What a great starting chapter, it had me hooked. I like Robert Hunter too. I’m looking forward to my next one. The Executioner. Thanks for the list. Really helpful.
Oh, I adored Written In Blood. That was my first Chris Carter. I stumbled upon him one day in a bookstore, completely unaware it was a series. So, of course I had to read the rest. I look forward to the next release!! I hope you enjoy The Executioner as much as I did. Let me know what you think 🙂
Just finished reading Genesis and it was as brilliant as all of Chris’s other books. Please tell me he’s writing more. I’ve read them all now…and want more.
I really hope he is! I love his work, i’ll reach out to him and ask if there are any more planned for the near future and get back to you
Hey Jonathan, Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. I can confirm HE IS WRITING THE NEXT ONE!
Hiya… The only ones I don’t have in my collection is gallery of the dead….. And The very first one apparently.. The hunter
Oh, you have plenty of time to read Gallery Of The Dead and The Hunter before his new one comes out next year.
I have just finished the Crucifix Killer my friend gave me 4 of his books, I have had 2 very late nights it was brilliant I cant wait to start the next one .