I am thrilled to be able to share another 5* review of Hunter's Chase with you today by Kirsty Whitlock.
The Blurb
Hunter by name – Hunter by nature: DI Hunter Wilson will not rest until Edinburgh is safe.
Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson knows there is a new supply of cocaine flooding his city, and he needs to find the source, but his attention is transferred to murder when a corpse is discovered in the grounds of a golf course.
Shortly after the post-mortem, Hunter witnesses a second murder, but that is not the end of the slaughter. With a young woman's life also hanging in the balance, the last thing Hunter needs is a new man on his team: Detective Constable Tim Myerscough, the son of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable Sir Peter Myerscough.
Hunter's perseverance and patience are put to the test time after time in this first novel in the DI Wilson Crime series.
The Review
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'DI Hunter Wilson Crime Thriller' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. It is probably one of the weirdest reasons to want to read a book but another reason I was drawn to it is because the main protagonist is called Hunter and Hunter is in the title and sons name is Hunter!! I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Spellbound Books. I have yet to read a book published by Spellbound Books that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 49 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Edinburgh, Scotland 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.
This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonist being DI Hunter Wilson. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that really set the scene and kept me on the edge of my seat. The cover and synopsis suited the storyline perfectly.
WOW!! What an explosive start to what promises to be an epic series!!!
What an absolutely addictive page turner!! It may be the first book I have read by Val but I can promise you it won't be the last!!! As soon as I've written this up I'm off to add all her books to my wishlist. This book is an absolutely fantastic and explosive start to what promises to be an addictive series!! I was completely sucked into the pages from start to finish and was gutted when it came to an end! The storyline is multi-layered and absolutely ram packed with mystery, deceit, murder, secrets, lies, romance, tension and suspense. I love the fact that although this is a crime thriller there is some light hearted moments throughout which had me laughing out loud on several occasions!! I also enjoyed the fact that there wasnt just the main storyline but plenty of other events going on to absolutely grip the readers attention. I enjoyed looking into the lives of several of the characters. I will admit that I wasn't really surprised when the killer was revealed but what did shock me was the fact that this actually didn't spoil the book for me. I normally hate it when I guess the killer and it tends to spoil the storyline. I never give a book a 5/5 if I work out who the killer is so the fact that I am in this case highlights how much I enjoyed the storyline so a MASSIVE WELL DONE Val on being my first ever 5/5 after guessing the killer!! I really enjoyed the setting of this book and I cannot wait until the second book in this series 'Hunter's Revenge'!!
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT READING THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!!
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but strangely I find it important that I like the pathologist too. In this case the pathologists were Dr Meera Sharma, Dr David Murray and Dr Aiden Fraser and I am pleased to say that I really liked them and their individual personalities.
I wasn't just 100% invested in the storyline but also in the characters. Every single one of the characters were well defined, realistic and strong. I will admit I was confused with the amount of characters for a while and even wrote our the Family tree for Jamie and Frankie 😂 but it will always be like that when starting a new series. I worked out who was who pretty quickly and it didn't affect how I felt about the book overall. I really liked DI Hunter Wilson and loved how well he worked with his team. Hunter is down to Earth, has a good sense of humour and is a great team player. I thought his crush on Dr Meera Sharma was sweet and I'm looking forward to seeing if that relationship develops in the next book! I wasn't a huge fan of DCI Mackay especially when he was brown nosing a certain person during an interview but I found that he was a great boss when it came to how he treated another member of the team. My heart went out to DC Tim Myerscough for various reasons but I don't want to say too much in case it spoils the book for future readers. I will say that I did think Hunter was a bit mean to him when he started just because he couldn't stand his father. I loved Sergeant Jane Renwick and Rachael who were partners out of work which I thought was sweet especially how well they seemed to get on in work. They both had great personalities and kick butt attitudes. I love seeing strong females in books and Jane, Rachael and Meera definitely ticked those boxes. I can't forget Samantha Hutchens who was the criminal photographer. You don't see an awful lot of her so I'm looking forward to getting to know her more. Another team member was DC Winston Zewedu (Bear) who I absolutely adored and thought was a great team player and friend, especially to Tim. There were other members of the team but I won't say who because I will say I was completely shocked by one of them who I had started to like. Two of the characters who were not part of the team but were big parts of the storyline were Jamie and Frankie. Jamie had me in stitches on so many occasions I lost count. I absolutely LOVED his attitude and although he was on the wrong side of the law I really hope we get to meet him again. My heart went out to Frankie who was Jamie's cousin as he seemed to be dealt all the worse things in life and everything he went through was heartbreaking. I cannot wait to meet most of these characters again and am looking forward to 'Hunter's Revenge'.
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Val on what promises to be a an absolutely addictive series!!! I cannot wait to see what Hunter and his team get up to next! Welcome to my favourite author list Val and here's to your next explosive success 🥂!!!
Overall an explosive start to a promising new series and an absolutely addictive action packed page turner that will keep you hooked until you've finished!!!
The Author
It is with great delight that Val Penny has accepted a ten-book deal with Spellbound Books.
Val Penny has an Llb degree from the University of Edinburgh and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer but has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store.
Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories, nonfiction, and novels.
Val is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and their cat.
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