The Beholder (Zac Hunter) by Steven Hague

It's been almost eight years since the last Zac Hunter, but I haven't forgotten about him. I liked the character because he liked rock music and because he was more of a vigilante than a regular PI. I liked the writer because like me he lives in Europe but writes about LA like I do in the Noah Milano series.
I was thrilled to find out there was  new book in the series, finally. Hunter is back, hired to track down a missing girl he gets knee-deep in the people smuggling and prostitution in LA and Mexico. Aiding him is cool Native American sidekick Stone and his awesome dogs. When they investigate they clash with a serial killing mastermind. And that's where the part is that makes this latest Zac Hunter novel less enjoyable to me. I don't like serial killer stories in general, especially when there's scenes written from his POV. This novel was also very much more full of blood and gore than the first ones, a bit too much for my taste for this kind of book. I like horror, but usually in a horror book, not a crime story.
Apart from those dislikes the characters (especially the Mexican girls involved with the people smuggling) are very well written, the duo of Hunter & Stone are almost as cool as Cole & Pike and there's enough of tough guy action to satisfy fans of pulpy hardboiled action & adventure books.