Carter Blake finds people who don’t want anyone to find them. For the last six years he  has  been one of those people. The reason why, revolves around Blake’s last days in the secret organization  known as Winterlong. During those last days an American Senator was assassinated and Blake became the prime suspect. In those final days the  Blake contacted his girlfriend Carol Langford and told her that for her safety she needed to go into hiding, too. When she finally decided on that course of action, she sent Blake a four-word note – “ Don’t Look for Me” and for six years he hasn’t!

That ends though when a young husband and wife abruptly leaves their Las Vegas home. Their neighbor who had befriended the wife worries that the wife is in danger. After searching their house,she finds a journal left behind by the wife. She discovers an email address to be contacted in case of an emergency in the journal. The email belongs to Carter Blake!

Soon Blake is off to Las Vegas to find and rescue Carol. However, Blake is not the only on looking for Carol. Trenton Gage is a hitman.  Like Blake, Gage  is very good at finding  people who don’t want to be found. Gage is also on Carol’s trail. The ultimate question is – Who will find her first?? The secondary question is – “Will Blake like what he finds?”

Bottom line

Don’t Look for Me, like the books before it in this wonderful series, was a page turner for me. There were lots of twists and turn throughout the books. They kept the final outcome in doubt to the final pages of the book.

I enjoy a series where the plots are not just the main character chasing a new criminal, or solving a new case, but are based on something that occurred in a previous book. In this case the story revolves around Carol’s going off the grid, which happened six years ago.

The best example of the above are the best of C.J . Box where have their roots in previous books.

Another thing I like is the character development of characters over time. Mason Cross certainly develops Carter Blake in Don’t Look for Me. Cross writes this in a Note to Readers at the beginning of the book

… in the past, Blake has been a coldly efficient professional, doing what he does and no getting invested in his targets, in this book he’s emotionally involved, big time. The myster in Don’t Look for Me isn’t a whodunnit. It’s the characters themselves – Blake learns more than he bargained for about his former love , Carol and even about himself. I had a lot of fun taking Blake out of his comfort zone and putting him in situations he’s ill-equipped to handle.

And that’s just the way I like it!!! Keep’em coming Mr. Cross!!!

EKK Rating 4/5. Goodreads Rating: 4.04/5

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

Book 15 of 2018

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A Wild Ride as Winterlong tries to Eliminate Carter Blake

Winterlong is the third installment of Mason Cross’s Carter Blake series. So after chasing down two serial killers who were part of Winterlong with the mysterious Mr Blake in this book Blake is targeted for elimination  by Winterlong.

Carter Blake left Winterlong five years prior to the start of this tale. His deal with the then Director of the organization was – you leave me alone and I won’t tell what your operatives really do!  For five years that deal held but now there’s a new director and she wants to tie up any loose ends. Carter Blake is a loose end!

The hunt truly begins when the other Winterlong operative who is operating under the same deal as Blake is executed! Once Blake is confronted with the news of this execution he knows he is going to have a fight on his hands and he needs that information he has on Winterlong as a chip to bargain for his life. His only hope is to get that intell before Winterlong gets it.

Thoughts on Winterlong

I thought  The Killing Season was a very good debut novel. I liked book two The Samaritan a little  better. Finally after many weeks of sitting on my library books to  be read shelf I got to Winterlong. It was worth the wait. I believe that this is the best Carter Blake book yet. And I am not alone here are the ratings for the book at Goodreads The Killing Season (Book 1) 3.90, The Samaritan (Book 2) 3.93, Winterlong (Book 3) 4.27!

One of the aspects of a series book that I always think about is can the book be enjoyed without reading the other books. The answer is probably yes, But I do believe that you really need to read the first two books before diving into Winterlong. Books 1 and 2 in the series established several things. First, Blake is good at what he does (finds people who don’t want to be found). And secondly, some Winterlong operatives enjoyed the killing part of their job just a little too much.

The one thing that was not revealed in the first two books was what fully went on in Winterlong and why did Blake leave  The answers are revealed in Winterlong and they’re scary!

Bottom Line   Rating 4.5/5

This year has been a good year for me and thrillers. Among the 37 books that I have read this year I have met some great new characters. Cross’s Carter Blake is one of my favorites. Other characters who I discovered this year are Ward Larsen’s David Slaton and Chris Holm’s Michael Kendricks

Winterlong is presented in a variety of ways. First Carter Blake’s current trials are told in the first person. While the events that led him to leave Winterlong are told in third person flashbacks. The pace of the story is rapid, As such, the reader wants to keep reading page after page. So Check it out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

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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

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📚 Series Spotlight: Carter Blake #1 – The Killing Season by Mason Cross

Only five books were released in this series between 2014 and 2018, but I read them all—and they were really good. Here’s a look back at the one that kicked it off: The Killing Season, the debut novel by Mason Cross.

📖 About the Book

Carter Blake is not his real name. He used to work for a top-secret government unit known as Winterlong, but now he’s a man for hire, specializing in finding people who don’t want to be found. He’s eerily good at it—able to anticipate a target’s next move like a chess master.

In The Killing Season, Blake is hired to track Caleb Wardell, aka “The Chicago Sniper,” who escapes from death row just two weeks before his scheduled execution. The FBI brings Blake in to assist, and paired with Special Agent Elaine Banner, he begins a deadly cross-country pursuit.

The tension is high, the pacing fast, and the stakes feel real.

👤 About the Author

Mason Cross (born 1979, Glasgow) studied English at the University of Stirling and has worked as a tax officer, project manager, and even a pizza delivery driver. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Scribble, and First Edition. The Killing Season was his first novel, and it made quite a splash:

Longlisted for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

🔍 Thoughts on The Killing Season

I really enjoyed this one. It was well-paced, suspenseful, and packed with a few great surprises.

I did think the prior connection between Blake and Wardell felt a bit forced—but it worked for the plot. The idea that Blake could consistently outmaneuver the FBI stretched believability a little, but hey—that’s why he’s the guy they call, right?

There’s a deliberate mystique around Blake; we don’t learn much about him, but that fits the “lone wolf” archetype. I immediately picked up the second book, The Samaritan, and can confirm it also starts strong.

Rating: 4/5 – Highly Recommended for fans of Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

🗣️ What Others Say

“Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred… one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher.” – Lisa Gardner

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake… taut, intelligent writing that oozes suspense. A highly impressive debut.” – Matt Hilton

“An American setting, universal themes, top-class writing, Scottish author—it’s a recipe that makes a deadly impact.” – Daily Record

🔗 Further Exploration

• Mason Cross Official Website
• Goodreads Author Page
• Mason Cross on Twitter
• Facebook
• Mason Cross on Amazon

Stay tuned—I’ll be revisiting the rest of the series soon!

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