Hunter's Salvation by Shiloh Walker
Hunter’s Salvation by Shiloh Walker
Berkley Sensation – July 2007
Vax used to be a Hunter. He used to track down evil in all its scary forms, evil that preyed on humans. But when that evil took out someone he loved he walked away, never wanting to hurt or be hurt like that again. Unfortunately, somebody somewhere needs him and the pull to return won’t let him go. It’s as if he has no choice.
Jess Warren is hunting something of her own. She’s hunting the person or persons responsible for killing her sister and many other girls. Maybe it’s not a person, she doesn’t know and she doesn’t care. She’s willing to die tracking this person down because she wants him or it to suffer the way her sister suffered. She’s going to make someone pay, no matter the cost.
When Vax and Jess come face to face and realise they are tracking the same thing Jess just wants him out of her way. She doesn’t care that he is trained for this and she isn’t. Even after he saves her from an evil worse than they even imagined, she isn’t sure. However, Vax and Jess are drawn to each other and they join forces to hunt down a weird cross-breed and its origin.
When this book started out I wasn’t really hooked. Having not read the previous book I didn’t find any of this information compelling or interesting. However, the end of the first chapter caught me. Interesting. Now I was intrigued. I read further. OK, again I felt the first couple of chapters were a bit abrupt and that’s how I read them (I picked the book up and put it down several times) but I could see where the author was going and I was compelled to read on.
The more I read the more I was hooked. Half-way through chapter three I didn’t want to put the book down anymore. I wanted to keep reading. I wanted my kids to go play elsewhere so I could keep reading. What a fantastic, and scary, world Ms. Walker has created. The mind boggles at the imagination required to build this world. This reviewer found it fresh and original. There is another point in the book that we meet other Hunters from the past. This was well done and I didn’t feel the need to read those books to understand what was going on (I want to now but I don’t need to). I felt like I knew what I needed to about the various Hunters, enough to keep me moving through the story and not be confused.
The tension between Vax and Jess is well done. I longed for them to find each other and bit by bit they worked their way in to each others hearts. Even the “morning after” moment was well done. I thought this was very typical guy stuff, very real. I also liked that afterwards Jess got hurt and then pissed. That’s how I would have felt too. This book had comedy, horror, drama and emotion to spare and it was all believable.
I recommend Hunter’s Salvation and look forward to reading more in this series by Shiloh Walker.
I give this 4.5 kisses. Review for Romance Divas
Labels: Rating 4.5
Into the Dark by Cindy Gerard
Into the Dark by Cindy Gerard
St. Martin’s Paperback, June 2007
Amy Walker has been after a madman for a long time. In her quest to find him she was held hostage, raped and tortured, in a foreign country. Then along came the Dallas and the guys from E.D.E.N. to rescue her and the other hostages. After the rescue she decides it’s better not to get anyone else involved so she disguises herself and goes in to hiding. She’s determined to get the man who is running the secret organisation that reduced her mother to a vegetable. She’s even more determined to keep Dallas out of it.
Dallas has wanted Amy back every since she left. When she shows up on his doorstep six month after disappearing he isn’t sure what to think. Seeing that she is in danger he swears to protect her no matter what the cost and the two of them head off in search of a killer. A killer who happens to be related to Amy. Falling in love isn’t part of his plan.
I have been waiting for this book ever since I first read about Amy and Dallas in To The Brink. Sometimes when you are highly anticipating something it doesn’t meet your expectations. Well, I am thrilled to say that Into the Dark met and exceeded my expectations. I loved it.
Ms. Gerard transformed Amy from a victim to a hard-core, kick-butt heroine with a vulnerable side and it was believable. I loved the interaction between Amy and Dallas. The story pacing was intense all the way through. The tension was palpable.
I kept waiting for something that would make Amy not related to the bad guy (this isn’t a spoiler it’s on the back cover). I kept waiting for anything to redeem these antagonists, there was nothing. If I could hate a book character I would hate these ones. These “bad guys” were so bad it made me sick to my stomach. When the story rocked to its conclusion I was one happy girl. Well, other than the fact that the story concluded.
What made me even happier was meeting two new characters, Jones and Jenna, who were just as real as Amy and Dallas. Often in books that have so many high octane heros and heroines the characters start to feel like no one you’d ever meet. However, Ms. Gerard has given each of these characters flaws and personality and even though they have jobs to do you feel that you know them - they could actually exist. Ms. Gerard says this is the end of her E.D.E.N. series. Whether it is or whether it isn’t I sincerely hope we will see Jones and Jenna’s story.
Kudos to Ms. Gerard for maintaining the tension, pace and quality of writing throughout this series.
I give this 5 kisses. Review for Romance Divas
Labels: Rating 5
