The Hunter’s Daughter
Nicola Solvinic
371 pages
Berkley Publishing
published May 14, 2024
Thanks @berkleypub for the #gifted copy. #BerkleyPartner #Berkley
Have you guys heard about this book? It’s a debut that was published this week. When I saw the cover I was a little unsure thinking vampires, but I was wrong. It’s kinda a crime procedural. Anna, the main character, is a police detective, but it is really more about her than her job.
She has a big secret that no one in her life knows about and she is trying to solve a series of crimes that are related to her secret. I instantly connected with her. She is complex and deeply flawed. In the first couple pages of the book, she is exposed to a lot of PCP. I waffled through the entire book about whether she was reliable or hallucinating.
I loved how the author set the book up with me learning about her past as she was remembering it. And I need to do a shout out for chapter headings. I have been seeing them a little more, but this one had them. I love them and think they add a lot to the read.
I was also fascinated by the people in Anna’s life. Her ex, her parents, and others. I suspected almost everyone, so bragging that I figured it out is really not all that impressive. Having everyone around Anna having their own secrets was a great way to keep me wanting to know more.
Very character driven, but I also enjoyed the exploration of childhood trauma, the patient therapist relationship, and how to determine who you can trust with your secrets.
At times this is a little gritty and has moments that border a little paranormal/horror.
I highly recommend this one. I know I already thanked Berkley but this one wasn’t on my radar prior to receiving it. So this is a big thank you!!!
About the book
A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.
Anna Koray escaped her father’s darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She’s now a decorated sheriff’s lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father’s shadow.
When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.
To Anna’s horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father – and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?
But as she haunts the forest, using her father’s tricks to the hunt the killer, will she find what she needs most…or lose herself in the gathering darkness?
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