Robert Hunter Books in Order
Part ofChris Carter Books in OrderBrowse the Robert Hunter series by Chris Carter in order, with book summaries, series background and where-to-start tips for readers of dark crime fiction.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
13 books
The Crucifix Killer
by Chris Carter
2009
In a derelict Los Angeles cottage, a young woman is found murdered with a double‑cross carved into her neck. The mark matches an executed serial killer, dragging Robert Hunter back into a nightmare he thought was over.
The Executioner
by Chris Carter
2010
A priest’s decapitated body is discovered on a Los Angeles altar, the number 3 scrawled in blood across his chest. As more victims die in the exact way they fear most, Hunter must uncover how the killer knows their nightmares.
The Night Stalker
by Chris Carter
2011
When an unidentified woman reaches the LA morgue with no obvious injuries and her lips stitched closed, the autopsy reveals a horrifying secret inside. As more women vanish, Hunter hunts a predator whose warped idea of love turns captivity into torture.
The Death Sculptor
by Chris Carter
2012
A student nurse finds a terminally ill prosecutor brutally murdered, his remains arranged into a grotesque sculpture. Each new body brings another macabre installation, and Hunter, Garcia and investigator Alice Beaumont must decode the artwork before the killer completes his masterpiece.
One by One
by Chris Carter
2013
Hunter receives an anonymous call directing him to a private website where a bound victim waits in a glass box. Forced to choose how the stranger will die, he’s dragged into a live‑streamed killing game that soon opens to the internet.
The Hunter
by Chris Carter
2013
On his first day as the LAPD’s youngest homicide detective, Robert Hunter is handed a straightforward suicide. The locked apartment and tidy scene look convincing, but a few details don’t fit, and following his instincts leads him to a hidden murder.
An Evil Mind
by Chris Carter
2014
A crash in rural Wyoming reveals severed heads in a car trunk and a suspect who will speak only to Robert Hunter. The man is Hunter’s former roommate, now a serial killer turning their reunion into a chilling psychological game.
I Am Death
by Chris Carter
2015
A twenty‑year‑old woman is found near Los Angeles International Airport, tortured and murdered in a bizarre way, with a blood‑written note claiming to be the killer’s name. As more victims appear, Hunter chases a methodical killer who keeps shifting tactics.
The Caller
by Chris Carter
2017
After a long week, Tanya Kaitlin answers a video call from her best friend and sees her gagged and bound, watched by a masked stranger. Every wrong answer means new torture, and Hunter and Garcia must stop a killer who weaponises technology and fear.
The Gallery of the Dead
by Chris Carter
2018
A LAPD lieutenant warns Hunter and Garcia that if he could erase one memory, it would be the scene they’re about to see. The mutilated body is only the first exhibit in a roaming gallery curated by a killer who treats murder as art.
Hunting Evil
by Chris Carter
2019
Years after Robert Hunter helped capture Lucien Folter, the FBI’s most dangerous serial killer, Lucien escapes solitary confinement. Determined to make Hunter suffer, he launches a calculated campaign of abductions and atrocities that forces Hunter to confront his past and his limits.
Written in Blood
by Chris Carter
2020
Pickpocket Angela Wood steals a stranger’s bag to teach him a lesson and instead finds a journal filled with meticulous accounts of murder. When she turns it over, Hunter realises it belongs to an unknown serial killer who will kill again to reclaim it.
Genesis
by Chris Carter
2022
Hunter is called to the most vicious crime scene of his career, where the autopsy reveals a poem hidden inside the victim’s body. As more deaths follow and new verses appear, he faces a disciplined killer who treats each murder as a lesson in fear.
Series background & context
The Robert Hunter novels follow a specialist LAPD homicide team that only gets called when a case is too brutal, too strange or too high‑profile for anyone else. Hunter leads the Ultra Violent Crimes Unit, a small section buried inside Robbery‑Homicide that spends its time hunting serial killers.
Robert Hunter has a doctorate in criminal psychology and a reputation as the person other detectives call when evidence stops making sense. His partner, Carlos Garcia, brings a steadier, more grounded presence, and a lot of the series is about how those two very different temperaments work together under pressure.
Each book centres on a new investigation with a distinct signature. In The Crucifix Killer a supposedly executed murderer seems to return, carving a double‑cross symbol into his victims. In The Executioner and The Night Stalker the killers weaponise fear and intimacy, turning their victims’ worst terrors and closest relationships into tools.
The series is unapologetically dark, often dwelling on forensic detail, autopsy rooms and the psychological damage crimes leave behind.
Most of the action takes place in and around Los Angeles. Carter leans into the city’s contrasts: glamorous neighbourhoods a few streets away from run‑down motels, bright freeways leading to industrial backlots and canyons where terrible things can happen out of sight. That sense of place, combined with his background in criminal psychology, gives the investigations a grounded, procedural feel even when the murders are elaborate.
Across the series there are also longer stories threaded through individual novels. The most important of these involves Lucien Folter, Hunter’s brilliant but utterly remorseless former college roommate. Their cat‑and‑mouse relationship begins in An Evil Mind, explodes in Hunting Evil after Lucien escapes custody, and echoes into later books such as Genesis.
Although you can read many of the books as standalones, starting with The Crucifix Killer or the prequel novella The Hunter lets you watch the partnership between Hunter and Garcia form and deepen. It also makes the emotional beats in the later novels land harder, especially as the cases take a toll on both men.
If you are comfortable with graphic content and want tightly plotted, psychologically driven serial‑killer stories set against a vivid Los Angeles backdrop, this is very much that kind of series.
Edited by
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