Headhunter

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation #11

by Greg Cox

A package bearing no return address arrives at the Anthropology Department of the University of. Nevada...and a shocking discovery is made upon opening the box: a genuine shrunken head. At first, Gil Grissom and his team of crime scene investigators -- Catherine Willows, Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes, and Greg Sanders -- consider this merely an oddity, a grisly relic from the past. But when all the evidence points to the fact that it's really the result of a gruesome modern-day murder, suspicions run high that a brutal serial killer with an unorthodox "modus operandi" may now be on the loose....

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Media Tie In, Thriller, Tv

342 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2008

Reviews

[Annemiek · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like CSI the series/show you'll do no wrong with this book, it is an easy read (I did read it in Dutch and it was easy, so my assumption is that in other languages it is easy as well).

Some chapters are a little more technical than others but overall it is a good and fast read.

[Judy Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I judge these CSI books on 2 criteria - is it easy to read and would it make a good episode? This is a yes on both questions. There were shrunken heads. It was very cool.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, the book is easy to read. Sometimes a little horrific with the theme of the book (Won't say it because of spoilers) but still a very good book.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I've read many CSI books before but not from him, and it was good, especially the identity of the killer - I didn't guess it (:

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As noted by many reviewers, if you liked the show, you'll probably like the books. The first few chapters are extremely heavy on the technical aspect and somewhat dry, and I was starting to get a little bored. Fortunately, it did get more interesting later on, with all the expected red herrings, even though unlike the show, there is no B plot for a change of pace. A bonus was that this book featured Warrick and not Sara.

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the concept of this one, and I would have loved to see it become a part of the show. The tech was fascinating, so was the process. As a kid I had a particular fondness for shrunken heads and I loved seeing the display at the museum, so this was both a bit of a walk down memory lane, and learning about all kinds of new things. The kid in me just loved this one.

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good CSI book as I am a fan of the show and this book was no different. It was well written on how important the scientific process of gathering evidence is to catching the murderer. It was tense and well thought out l

[jullie ᵔᴥᵔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had such a good time reading this book. I never really got into the crime and mystery genre but CSI: Headhunter has gotten me interested!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zo als altijd weten de csi boeken me toch weer te pakken te krijgen. Goed boek, goed verhaal, goede karakters.

[Reuen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The motivation of the adversary gives me a headache. please subscribe to pewdiepie.

[Peter Hennessey]

Good

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 11th book in the CSI series. Fast-paced and entertaining.

[Dana Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in a fun series. Stays true to what we watched when the show came out at first.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Headhunter is one of my top CSI novels. It is one of the longest – if not the longest – in the series so far. Again it is a new author for the series as well as being the first of the novels not to feature Sara Sidle. I am rather glad that Headhunter does not further confuse the series timeline. One slight odd thing I noticed with the book is that on the rear cover art Warrick’s picture has been replaced by Hodges while Sara still has her place.

The storyline in Headhunter is quite addictive. It has twists and turns which keep you guessing throughout. I did have some suspicions about the killer although I was easily thrown off the scent. I don’t think having Grissom in peril was an all that effective plot twist nor was the bit with Catherine because the reader knows full well that the CSIs cannot be killed off in the book series without it having happened in the television series. Not that I particularly want any of the characters killed off.

I found the killer herself to be very interesting. I liked how once the CSIs had solved the crime we saw things, in a sense, from the point of view of the killer as she stalked Grissom.

Headhunter to me felt like a return to the previous standard of books. Yes the characterisations weren’t as dead on as those from Max Allan Collins but they were pretty close. A slight error saw Catherine described as being blonde rather than a redhead but that is a very minor quibble.

I did find myself missing Sara but that cannot be helped and it is just something I am going to have to get used to.

[Stephen Levesque · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this as a TV Show, and reading to books are a good experience. They are a Good read. Good Reading everyone!

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone mails an authentically shrunken head to the Anthropology department at LVU. Who did it, why, and how can the PD keep the press from finding out and sensationalizing it?

If you've watched the show, CSI, you pretty much know what to expect. This is placed somewhere between the end of the miniature killer story-line and the death of Warrick, so mid-season 8. And unlike the tv show, they actually do acknowledge that tests take longer than twenty minutes.

One procedural element that annoyed me though, was when Brass and one of the CSIs go to the home of a suspect. CSI climbs up on a box to look in the backyard, sees what *might* be a curare plant, and they decide that it's murder weapon in plain sight, so they don't need a warrant to break down the front door and search the place. Good thing the killer was caught with lots of evidence on them, because I would guess that the results of the search would be tossed out in court.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more than your average dead body. In fact, there's no body to be found! Only an unlabeled package containing a most fascinating find...a real shrunken human head. With no idea as to who it was, and no leads as to who might have sent it and why, Grissom and his team are on their own to hunt the headhunter before another victim is taken.

Something I've always liked about CSI (and procedural forensic shows in general) is they never shy away from the strange and macabre. The more unusual a case is, the more the mystery hooks me, and this one was possibly one of the better novels written for the CSI franchise - though each one has me on the edge of my seat every time. While every case presents unique challenges to the team at hand, this one went beyond what you might think as run of the mill and presented twists and turns that caught me off guard in the best way.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read~November 18, 2010
3 Stars

LOTS of "talktalktalk". Which, is OK for TV. NOT so much for books. The subject matter is kinda gross too.

I had "guessed" who the killer was in the beginning (I read too many mysteries and watch too many of these type of shoes to NOT know, most of the time anyway! LOL), but not the why's or how's (which were gross. Really. Ick!) And I do have to admit that I was distracted by the red herrings that the author kept putting out there.

Decent read. Loved how I could hear the actor's voices in my head as I was reading. Actually, that was kind of distracting. :-)

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly enjoyed this mystery. I don't think it is really giving anything away to say that the title of the book refers to headhunters of the native kind as opposed to those of the corporate kind. This was a new one for me, as I can not recall another mystery where the victims were subjected to this practice. This one takes place while Grissom is still at CSI. One feature of this book as opposed to others I have read in this series is that this time there is only the one case that is being worked on. The perpetrator in this book caught me by surprise, mainly because the connection between the victim was one that did not occur to me. All in all a good book and an interesting mystery.

[Stacy White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what I was expecting with a CSI book (this is the first one I've ever read). While the characterizations were true to the TV show, it wasn't as fun an experience as watching. There were several typos and grammatical errors towards the end that were distracting; I found myself re-reading the same paragraph a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Publishers seem to be less and less concerned about this, and I find it highly annoying.

Overall the book was enjoyable, but I doubt I'll be getting any more of this series.

[Tularia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what I was expecting with a CSI book (this is the first one I've ever read). While the characterizations were true to the TV show, it wasn't as fun an experience as watching. There were several typos and grammatical errors towards the end that were distracting; I found myself re-reading the same paragraph a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Publishers seem to be less and less concerned about this, and I find it highly annoying.

Overall the book was enjoyable, but I doubt I'll be getting any more of this series.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly good read, the storyline is well thought out and well written and very interesting and ever so slightly morbid. This is one of the later CSI books and it incorporates the changes in the show very well (e.g. Sara leaving, Greg surviving in the field and Hodges driving everyone nuts). The killer is well hidden (or was for me anyway lol) and was certaintly not who I expected although I must say I prefer to just read rather than guess who dunnit. A very good read

[EZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book that I read in the series and I was pleasantly surprised it is a very good read with lots of information on the origins and practice of headhunting it also plays out just like an episode of CSI and I could see the episode in rolling through in my head. A very good read for fans (or non-fans of the series.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shrunken head is mailed to a university in Las Vegas. Gil Grissom and his team have to first determine if it is real and if so how old. Then they have to find out who is missing a head. The case gets more intense as a new headless body is found and the media start talking about a serial head hunter. Based on the television series.

[Michael Prelee]

I enjoyed this CSI book. It features the classic team with Grissom, it's well written and everyone is in character and the headhunter plot was well thought out. I think this would have made an excellent episode of the series.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good entry for this series. Entertaining.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent entry in the series, better than the last couple. The series still suffers though since Max Allan Collins left. I've come to believe tie-in series work beter with a single voice.

[Melodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Grissom gets a package with a head in it.

[Zykeirabeach]

i will like to read this book

[Nguyen Phuong · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite a scary novel. But I really like the headhunter theme