Chris Carter Popular Books
Chris Carter Biography & Facts
Christopher Carl Carter (born October 13, 1956) is an American television and film producer, director and writer who gained fame in the 1990s as the creator of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series The X-Files. Born in Bellflower, California, Carter graduated with a degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach before spending thirteen years working for Surfing Magazine. After beginning his television career working on television films for Walt Disney Studios, Carter rose to fame in 1993 for creating The X-Files. The show earned high viewership ratings, and eventually led to Carter's being able to negotiate the creation of future series. Carter has his own television production company, Ten Thirteen Productions, wherein he went on to create three more series for the network—Millennium, a doomsday-themed series which met with critical approval and low viewer numbers; Harsh Realm, which was canceled after three episodes had aired; and The Lone Gunmen, a spin-off of The X-Files which lasted for a single season. Carter's film roles include writing both of The X-Files' cinematic spin-offs—1998's successful The X-Files and the poorly received 2008 follow-up The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the latter of which he also directed—while his television credits have earned him several accolades including eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Early life Chris Carter was born on October 13, 1956, in Bellflower, California. His father worked in the construction industry. Carter has described his childhood as "fairly normal", and was fond of both Little League Baseball and surfing; his surfing stance is goofy footed. He attended California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, graduated with a journalism degree in 1979. An avid surfer, he began writing for Surfing Magazine, a San Clemente-based journal, eventually becoming its editor at the age of 28. Carter would work for the magazine for thirteen years, and credits his tenure there for teaching him how to run a business. It was also at this time that Carter began taking an interest in pottery, making "hundreds of thousands of pieces" of dinnerware as a hobby. He has compared the process of making pottery to Zen meditations, although he has since thrown out most of his work. Personal life In 1983, Carter began dating Dori Pierson, whom he had met through a cousin of hers who worked with him at Surfing Magazine. The couple were married in 1987, and live in Santa Barbara. Career Starting in television Pierson's connections at Walt Disney Studios led to chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg hiring Carter on a standard contract. Carter began writing television films for the studio, penning The B.R.A.T. Patrol in 1986 and Meet the Munceys in 1988. These scripts led to Carter being associated with contemporary youth comedy at the studio, and although he enjoyed the work he felt that his real strengths and interests lay in serious drama instead. Carter met the then-president of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff, at a company softball game in Brentwood, California. Tartikoff and Carter began talking between innings, and when Tartikoff eventually read some of Carter's script work, he brought him over to write for the network. There, Carter developed a number of unproduced television pilots—Cameo By Night, featuring Sela Ward; Brand New Life, which has been described as being similar to The Brady Bunch; Copter Cop, a science fiction series that was hampered by Tartikoff's injuries after a car accident; and Cool Culture, influenced by Carter's passion for surfing and experience with Surfing Magazine. During this time Carter would also work as a producer on Rags to Riches, a job he accepted in order to learn more about producing a series. Peter Roth, at that time the president of Stephen J. Cannell Productions, obtained a copy of Carter's pilot script for Cool Culture, and although the series was never picked up, Roth was interested in hiring Carter to work on the CBS series Palace Guard. However, Roth would soon leave Cannell Productions to work for Fox as the head of its television production wing. Carter was among the first wave of new staff hired by Roth in 1992 to develop material for the network, and he began work on a series based on his own childhood fondness for The Twilight Zone and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. The X-Files and success Carter's new series would take its stylistic inspiration from Kolchak, while thematically reflecting his experiences growing up during the Watergate scandal. Carter also drew inspiration from his friend John E. Mack's survey of American beliefs in ufology, which indicated that three percent of the population believed they had been abducted by aliens. Roth warmed to the idea upon hearing of the influence of Kolchak, believing that vampires—one of the central antagonists of the original series—would be popular with audiences given the interest being shown in the upcoming film Interview with the Vampire, although Carter insisted on an extraterrestrial-focused series. However, Carter had never been interested in science fiction before this point, professing to have briefly read one novel each by Ursula K. Le Guin and Robert A. Heinlein. Basing his characters instead on those found in the English television series The Avengers, Carter took an eighteen-page treatment for his new project—by now titled The X-Files—to a pitch meeting at Fox, where it was soon rejected. With the help of Roth, Carter was able to arrange a second pitch meeting, at which the network reluctantly agreed to greenlight a pilot for the series. After finding the series' two starring leads in Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, Carter was given a budget of $2 million to produce a pilot episode. The series aired on Friday nights on the Fox network, being broadcast in tandem with The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. in what was perceived to be an unpopular timeslot. The series earned relatively impressive Nielsen ratings for its Friday timeslot, and was given a full twenty-four episode order. The series' popularity and critical acclaim built over the course of its second and third seasons, and saw it earning its first Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and breaking the record for highest price paid by a network for rights to air re-runs, fetching $600,000 per episode from Fox's sister network FX. After Carter's initial three-year signing for Fox had ended, the success of the series allowed him to negotiate a five-year contract with several additional perks, including the guarantee of a feature film adaptation to be produced by the parent company's film studio, and the greenlighting of Carter's next television project. In March 2015, it was confirmed that Carter was set to executive produce and write for the revival of The X-Files, which was set for a six-episode event series. In 2017 it was announced that The X-Files would return to Fox with a ten-episode season 11, with Carter set to executive .... Discover the Chris Carter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Chris Carter books.
Best Seller Chris Carter Books of 2024
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Wycliffe And The Guild Of Nine
W.J. BurleyA murder at an artists' colony but not everyone wants Chief Superintendent Wycliffe to investigate . . .The artists' colony is at the site of a disused mine working on the moor we...
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Beyond Reach
Graham Hurley'There is no one writing better police procedurals today.' Daily TelegraphA brutal hitandrun killing opens the path to a 25yearold crime...Past midnight, a horribly mutilated body ...
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My Bloody Valentine
Alastair GunnFrom the bestselling author of The Advent Killer SHE LOVES ME, SHE LOVES ME NOT ...The second thrilling novel in the DCI Antonia Hawkins series by Alastair Gunn When the body of a ...
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Running Blind
M. J. ArlidgeNew to the police force, WPC Helen Grace is assigned to her first clearcut case. Sure there's something sinister beneath the surface, Helen has a bad feeling . . . but who's going ...
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Wycliffe and the Beales
W.J. BurleyA mysterious death ... an eccentric family living on the edge of Dartmoor ... And Chief Superintendent Wycliffe has one of his most complex cases to date.The Cornish Detective seri...
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Wycliffe and Death in Stanley Street
W.J. BurleyA young girl is found dead in a house on Stanley Street... but it's just the start of a complex puzzle which Wycliffe must unravel.A dubious culdesac just off the busy main road in...
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Wycliffe and the Cycle of Death
W.J. BurleyA respectable bookseller is found bludgeoned and strangled and it's up to Chief Superintendent Wycliffe to find out why . . .When Matthew Glynn is murdered, Wycliffe is mystified. ...
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The First Lie
A. J. ParkThe most gripping psychological thriller you'll read this year perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards, Claire McGowan, TM Logan and KL Slater...'This is a real page turner....
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Sins of the Father
Graham HurleyDS Jimmy Suttle investigates a murder in a house haunted by the past in the latest from 'one of the UK's finest crime novelists' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY), author of LAST FLIGHT TO S...
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Wycliffe and the Dead Flautist
W.J. BurleyClassic crime featuring the everpopular Chief Superintendent Wycliffe 'Another must for collectors' Sunday Times.On the peaceful and secluded estate of Lord and Lady Bottrell, th...
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The Scandal
Mari Hannah'Brand new series. Same topnotch writing.' Eva DolanWhen a young man is found stabbed to death in a side street in Newcastle city centre in the run up to Christmas, it looks like a...
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Wycliffe and the Three Toed Pussy
W.J. BurleyA case involving a dead woman with a deformed foot and a mysterious past requires all Superintendent Wycliffe's investigative skills.The peace of the village of Kergwyns in Cornwal...
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Wycliffe And The Redhead
W.J. BurleyThe Cornish Detective seriesThe discovery of a body in a quarry creates a baffling case for Detective Superintendent Wycliffe'Firstclass, oldtime, hyperingenious whodunit' OBSERVER...
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Denial
Peter JamesIntroducing policeman Glenn Branson...When actress Gloria Lamark takes her own life, her devoted son, Thomas, is heartbroken. Something must be wrong with a world in which such a t...
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Found Her
NJ MackayThe most gripping, emotional and redemptive psychological thriller of 2021 for fans of Erin Kinsley, Lisa Jewell, Louise Jensen, Phoebe Morgan, CL Taylor, Cara Hunter and KL Slate...
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The Girls Inside
NJ MackayA gripping, compelling psychological thriller about a cult, a fire, and the dark secrets that four young girls have carried with them but can no longer keep buried...Blue grew up i...
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Western Approaches
Graham HurleyA body. A policeman. Over the edge...The launch of a stunning crime series from the author of LAST FLIGHT TO STALINGRADNo one liked Jake Kinsey. A rich man, he turned up out of now...
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Truth or Dare
M. J. ArlidgeEVERY CRIME IS CONNECTED.BUT WHO IS PULLING THE STRINGS?THE CHILLING THRILLER FROM THE MIND OF MILLIONCOPY BESTSELLER M. J. ARLIDGEA crimewave sweeps through the city and noone is ...
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Wycliffe and How to Kill A Cat
W.J. BurleyAnother classic crime novel featuring Cornwall's Superintendent Wycliffe.The girl was young, with auburn hair arranged on the pillow. Wycliffe could almost believe she was asleep ...
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Senseless
Ed JamesTHREE MISSING PEOPLE... ONE TWISTED PREDATOR.'Chilling, highly original, and highly recommended.' Caz Frear, SWEET LITTLE LIES'Just when your heart rate is getting back to normal,...
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What Lies Buried
Margaret Kirk'Shadow Man is a harrowing and horrific game of consequences' Val McDermid THE BRILLIANTLY COMPELLING SECOND NOVEL IN THE DI LUKAS MAHLER SERIESA missing child. A seventyyearold mu...
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New York Scandal
Rhyannon Byrd'I was on the edge of my seat from page one all the way to the end. You must read this book!' Susan Stoker, New York Times bestselling author'A steamy read, with a dash of intrigui...
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Girls Against God
Jenny HvalA genrewarping, timetravelling horror novelslashfeminist manifesto for fans of Clarice Lispector and Jeanette Winterson.Welcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run i...
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The Cycling Anthology
Lionel Birnie & Ellis BaconTHE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CYCLING IN FIVE VOLUMESVolume One of The Cycling Anthology, a collection of the best writing on cycling by some of the sport's leading writers. Between them, ...
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Wycliffe and the Winsor Blue
W.J. BurleyA mysterious death in the Cornish art world and a murder investigation for Chief Superintendent Wycliffe...When Edwin Garland dies of a heart attack, no one outside the expectant ...
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Her Last Breath
Alison BelshamA gripping new detective series set in Brighton for readers who enjoy Peter James' Roy Grace series.When a young woman is attacked and left fighting to survive in hospital, the pol...
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Outpost
Christopher R. HillA “candid, behindthescenes” (The Dallas Morning News) memoir from one of our most distinguished ambassadors whoin his career of service to the countrywas sent to some of the most d...
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Wycliffe And The Last Rites
W.J. BurleyThe Cornish Detective seriesA puzzling murder mystery. A tough new case for Detective Wycliffe to investigate.'You can always count on Wycliffe' FINANCIAL TIMES'GRIPPING' THE TIME...
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The Other Couple
Sarah J. NaughtonTHE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'I am sleep deprived having stayed awake desperate to find out what happened!' reader reviewFor fans of Clare Mackintosh's LET ME LIE, Cara Hunter's CLOSE...
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Art Sex Music
Cosey Fanni TuttiA SUNDAY TIMES, TELEGRAPH, ROUGH TRADE, PITCHFORK AND UNCUT MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZEArt Sex Music is the autobiography of a musician who,...
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Presumed Dead
Mason Cross'I absolutely LOVED it, move over Reacher, I have a new favourite hero.' Jenny Blackhurst'What do you know about the Devil Mountain Killer?'THENAdeline Connor was the Devil Mountai...
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Wycliffe and the School Bullies
W.J. BurleyBullying and persecution among a group of schoolgirls leads to violent retribution and a race against time for Wycliffe.Two very different young women have been murdered within the...
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The Order of Things
Graham HurleyThe fourth novel in the Jimmy Suttle series, from 'one of the UK's finest crime novelists' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY), author of LAST FLIGHT TO STALINGRAD'There is noone writing bette...
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Wycliffe and the House of Fear
W.J. BurleyA troubling disappearance. A puzzling mystery. A new investigation for Detective Wycliffe.Detective Superintendent Wycliffe is holidaying in Cornwall when he meets the intriguing K...
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Like Mother, Like Daughter
Elle Croft'Utterly absorbing and thoughtprovoking' Caz Frear'What a premise, and packed with suspense' Victoria Selman'A dark, delicious triumph' Niki MackayIf what they said was true, then ...
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Wycliffe and the Scapegoat
W.J. BurleyAn ancient legend, an alltoo modern murder, and Chief Superintendent Wycliffe must find the link between them ...Every year, at Halloween, high on the Cornish cliffs, a lifesized e...
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Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin
W.J. BurleyWycliffe investigates the disappearance of a young girl and becomes involved in a major criminal investigation . . .Chief Superintendent Wycliffe doubted whether he would enjoy hi...
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Wycliffe and the Pea Green Boat
W.J. BurleyWycliffe tackles a case which reaches back down the generations ...When Cedric Tremain is charged with murdering his father by boobytrapping his fishing boat, all the locals are ag...
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Spectrum
Ethan CrossA fastpaced thriller from the author of the international bestselling Shepherd series.The gruesome killing of more than 300 white squatters in a South African village is still unso...
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Wycliffe and the Four Jacks
W.J. BurleyA murder committed in the night of dead. It's all a game for Detective Wycliffe to solve in a puzzling case.Writer David Cleeve lived exactly the way a bestselling novelist should ...
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An Evil Mind
Chris CarterA prolific and ingenious serial killer is unmasked by a Los Angeles detective with a dark past of his own in this “roller coaster ride that will leave you breathless” by Top 10 Sun...
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No Lovelier Death
Graham Hurley'There is no one writing better police procedurals today.' Daily TelegraphTwo murdered teenagers. Both sides of the law are looking for the killer.But who will get there first?A te...
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The Patch
Chris TurnerBestselling author Chris Turner brings readers onto the streets of Fort McMurray, showing the many ways the oilsands impact our lives and demanding that we ask the question: In ord...
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The Wrong Child
Barry GornellHow far would you go to protect your child?When tragedy strikes in a small Scottish village, everyone in the community is affected.Most people believe one child is to blame for wha...
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The Dance of the Serpents
Oscar de Muriel'Properly creepy and Gothic' IAN RANKIN on the Frey & McGray mysteries...December, 1889.There have been many bad days in Edinburgh police's secret subdivision 'The Commission f...
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Lake Child
Isabel AshdownYou trust your family. They love you. Don't they?When 17yearold Eva Olsen awakes after a horrific accident that has left her bedbound, her parents are right by her side. Devoted, t...