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
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