• The Killing Season

  • Carter Blake, Book 1
  • By: Mason Cross
  • Narrated by: Eric Meyers
  • Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (3,274 ratings)

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The Killing Season  By  cover art

The Killing Season

By: Mason Cross
Narrated by: Eric Meyers
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Publisher's summary

The first thing you should know about me is that my name is not Carter Blake. That name no more belongs to me than the hotel room I was occupying when the call came in.

When Caleb Wardell, the infamous "Chicago Sniper", escapes from death row two weeks before his execution, the FBI calls on the services of Carter Blake, a man with certain specialized talents whose skills lie in finding those who don't want to be found - a man to whom Wardell is no stranger.

Along with Elaine Banner, an ambitious special agent juggling life as a single mother with her increasingly high-flying career, Blake must track Wardell down as he cuts a swathe across America, apparently killing at random.

But Blake and Banner soon find themselves sidelined from the case. And as they try desperately to second-guess a man who kills purely for the thrill of it, they uncover a hornet's nest of lies and corruption. Now Blake must break the rules and go head-to-head with the FBI if he is to stop Wardell and expose a deadly conspiracy that will rock the country.

Slick, fast-paced, and assured, The Killing Season is the first novel in the gripping new Carter Blake series.

©2015 Mason Cross (P)2014 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about The Killing Season

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent start to the Carter Blake series!

I listened to The Samaritan, Book 2 in the series first. Mason Cross has great potential as a thriller writer and Carter Blake could become as Jack Reacher. It is ironic that Lee Child, Mark Dawson, and Mason Cross are all Brits writing mostly action thrillers set in the US. Winterlong, the next novel in the Carter Blake series, will be released in mid-2016.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A great mix of plot and action

‘The Killing Season’ is somewhere in between a thriller and mystery. There is some action but not enough to keep you on the edge of your seat but it’s not a slow methodical mystery either, making it great for people who like both genres. The characters are interesting and intriguing and the plot is interesting and well thought out, along with some great writing I found this book to be a compelling listen. I would be very interested in keeping with the series.

Mr. Meyers does a great job with the narration and really brought the characters and story to life.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Manhunt, Awful Conspiracy

A purely evil sniper escapes prison after killing 19 men, women and children and begins his second killing spree. Only this time a professional tracker, working with the FBI, is on his trail.

The characters are exceptional. The chase is amazing. The conspiracy is stupid.

The conspiracy is someone in the media and the FBI is helping the mass murderer kill even more innocent men, women and children. Why, for the silliest of reasons. Therein lies the poor rating.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding First Novel

I enjoyed every minute of this thriller. The characters were well developed and I actually cared about what happened to each of them ... even the dastardly villain. Very good narration as well. I look forward to the next installment of this series and more from Mason Cross.
If you found this review to be helpful, please let me know. Cheers!

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Really????? Really????

My dear lord... How easily we are entertained. If Carter Blake was able to find things - Then why did a hundred people die along the way? I could only listen to 85% of this book before I yelled Uncle! He didn't find anything until after it happened. If someone came up to me and gave me a dollar - I wouldn't say " Hey look - I found a dollar " This is yet another book with a character that's shrouded in mystery - So he must be mysterious. There was no real detective work here. Somebody's killing and they are following the bodies. Enter Dramatic ending... My search for a really good book continues...

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

WOW - hope this is a start to a long series

Interesting premise around the lead character of a guy people hire to find hard to find people -it works well. The story is well paced, well written, interesting, has enough action, and contains surprises. The lead is like-able and mysterious. The narrator does a fine job. I am looking forward to more in this series (well I sure hope it is a series, it is set up well to become one).

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Solid adventure tale, but falls short of greatness

Plot, characters, immersion. All are present, but none stand out. Cross has a future, but I hope he adds depth to Blake and his world. As it stands, Blake is so mysterious that I don't care much about him. He's not a hot head or an ice man. He just follows a trail without much flair at all.
Having said that, the dialogue is natural, pacing was excellent and I really felt that Cross was consistently verging on Lee Child territory. Hopefully in his next few offerings, we will see further growth.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Book

kept me on the edge all the time, would have loved it better if they got together...
ha but thats just me.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Why do they always drop their gun!?

An average story in which the main good guy figures far too many things out based on lucky hunches rather than clever deductive reasoning. And I am so weary of authors having the good guys ALWAYS drop their gun during any skirmish.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Surprise plot and ending

Didn’t know what to expect from the trailer and couldn’t be happier with how the story developed and closed

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4 people found this helpful