Title: The Red Hunter
Expected
publication: 1 May 2017
Synopsis:
At fourteen years of age, Zoey Drake was forced to watch as
her parents were brutally murdered in front of her eyes, whilst she barely escaped
with her own life. Over the
last ten years, instead of letting the trauma destroy her life, Zoey has
channelled all her energies into making herself stronger, vowing never to be a
victim again. Now fully martial-arts trained, the anger still living inside her is the “Red Hunter”, a force
that compels her to seek out and fight injustice.
“It was getting to me. I was vibrating, giving off the energy of the thing I tried to hide and harness. I had given it a name. A thing that lived inside of me, The Red Hunter. Rage.”
Claudia Bishop has also had her life shaped by trauma.
Brutally raped as a young woman she has never been sure whether her daughter is
her husband’s child or that of her attacker. Over the years, this uncertainty has
destroyed her marriage and has propelled her to make a new start with her
teenage daughter, leaving the city and seeking solace in the country. Restoring
an old house she inherited from her father might just be the project she has
been looking for to put her life back on track and find the peace she is craving.
Strangers to each other, the two women are linked by the house’s
dark past and the secret it still harbours. A secret that some people are
prepared to kill for, which will see Claudia’s and Zoey’s paths collide and
have them fighting for their lives once again.
My thoughts:
What is the difference between justice and revenge? This is
the underlying theme of her latest thriller, and is a question Zoey asks
herself many times as she channels the “Red Hunter”, an avenging energy which
is the one thing that has kept her going over the years, trying to overcome after
the horrific trauma she suffered as a teenager.
“In our touchy-feely culture, there’s a lot of talk about forgiveness, a commonly held belief that the nurturing of hatred and anger is a toxin. No one ever tells you that is can be an angine, that it can keep you alive.”
But as Zoey will find out – revenge may not be as satisfying
as she has believed, nor will it bring the peace and closure she has desired.
“When you plan revenge, you should dig two graves – one of them for yourself.”
I loved the background theme of empowerment for victims of
crime, both for Zoey as well as Claudia, and how both women find their inner
strength in different ways, which allows them to become stronger and move on
with their lives. With characters who are well drawn, believable and engaging,
the thriller comes to a nail-biting finale as the two women’s lives collide. I
made the mistake of reading this book in the evening, which meant another
sleepless night as I absolutely could not put the book down until I had turned
the last page!
Summary:
The Red Hunter is a tense and suspenseful thriller which
will set your heart racing as the action unfolds. At the same time, it raised
the age-old question in my own mind: is revenge justified if it brings a
murderer to justice? I guess that depends on each individual’s own moral code,
and would make a very interesting discussion point in a book club gathering. Lisa
Unger is a new and exciting discovery for me – after this nail-biting
rollercoaster ride of suspension I will make sure to put her other novels on my
to-read list!
Quotes:
There are certain dark doorways in this life, and when you open one and step inside, you can't come back out.
It's funny how two people meet and come together, and through their differences form someone unique with with a whole new set of gifts and quirks.
"Revenge seeks chaos," he said. "Justice seeks balance. That's the difference."
Thank
you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy
of this novel and giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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