Huntress Moon

I enjoyed "Huntress Moon" from beginning to end. It's original, genre-savvy, character-driven and kept me engaged and guessing all the way through.

The premise sounds conventional enough, a Joe Friday, tightly-buttoned up FBI agent leading a manhunt to find someone he thinks caused the death of one of his agents, except that this is a womanhunt and he's not entirely sure what she did to cause the man's death.

The FBI guy is so old-school noir that it took me a while to realise the story was set in this decade. I thought Andrea Sokoloff did a great job in painting a picture of a man who sees himself as introspective, enlightened, skilled at reading people and dedicated to doing his job well, while still letting me see that the man has no show more awareness of how irrepressibly male his perceptions and assumptions are.

Twisting itself around the story of the male hunter, like ivy on a tree, is the story of a deadly, driven woman who kills men, sometimes subtly, sometimes with a great deal of blood and keeps moving. This woman, the Huntress of the title, isn't the typical step-inside-the-mind-of-a-killer-and-be-glad-you-don't-live-there kind of character. Even though we're right there when she does some of the killing, she remains much harder to read and much more intriguing than that.

As the Huntress follows her own blood-strewn path and the FBI man plays catch-up, what kept me reading was a desire to know two things: why the Huntress does what she does and what Special Agent I'm-so-straight-I'd-break-rather-than-bend will do when he finds out.

I won't go into the plot here other than to say that it's well constructed, full of surprises and grim without ever being exploitative.

The book works as a stand-alone novel, reaching a satisfying conclusion but leaves the door open for the dance between the straight-man and the woman-who-kills to continue. So far there have been four books in the series. I'll certainly be reading the next one.

Alexandra Sokoloff also writes supernatural novels and I'll be giving them a try as well.

I recommend listening to the audiobook. R. C. Bray's performance is close to perfect and his range of voices is impressive. show less

I am salivating at the thought of diving into Huntress Moon, a thriller with a female serial killer. I love to read about serial killers, but a female one is very rare. I am ready to be wowed.

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke’s spidey senses were tingling. Is it intuition, a cop’s experience honed to pick up subtle vibes, or something more?

He was meeting an undercover agent when he saw her. She stood out…reeked of danger…and as the pieces come together, he is hot on her trail.

Roarke could’ve run the division, but he preferred the autonomy of choosing his own cases, running his own investigations. His work is his life.

Life comes full circle for Roarke and I see why he is drawn to her. I am drawn to her.

She is damaged, in a way show more that makes me want ‘normal’ for her. But it can’t be. Is she a good killer? A bad killer? Is there such a thing as a good one? Does she save lives even as she takes them? I am ambivalent, seesawing back and forth…

My feelings are all over the place. I am not a black and white, good and bad type of person. I feel a lot of life is filled with gray areas. But, I do have lines that define right and wrong. My big problem is…I love the villain.

The creative approach that Alexandra Sokoloff took with the storyline had this playing out in my mind like a movie script. I was continually amazed at the killers boldness and ability to hide in plain sight. But…we know that can’t go on forever.

I worry for the father and the boy. How callous and cruel is she? How far will she go? The feeling of doom hangs over me, I fear for their lives. After all, she is a serial killer and will do whatever is necessary to get away.

I love a great villain but what happens when the villain is the victim? Of course aren’t all criminals victims, or they wouldn’t be so damaged to begin with. Their past does not excuse their present. I can’t see how this will end in a way I want, because I’m rooting for her.

How long can she go on? When will Roarke catch her, because we know he has to…

I never guessed it. I love it and I hate it! I must have more.

AND…you will want the need the next book.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff. show less

Wow! I powered through Alexandra Sokoloff's Huntress Moon in a day, and literally could not put it down. A gripping mystery / thriller, it was edgy and dark enough to be really interesting, but still maintained a certain lightness of tone that for me, provided a perfect element of balance. The characters were fascinating and surprisingly likable (it's not often that I like the killer). And the writing itself had a lyrical quality to it that I loved. I gather the author is writing book 2 in the Huntress/FBI series - all I can say is "please write fast"!

Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff was a great thriller with lots of surprises for me. As a big reader of the thriller genre, not a lot of things surprise me anymore but I couldn’t get a good grip on this book throughout most of it. It was going one way and then would make a 180 and go completely in a different direction than where I thought it would take me. And yes, that’s a wonderful thing- to surprise me and make me wonder yet keep me intrigued enough and invested enough in the characters and their journey throughout the story is a treat for me. Each one of the characters was so different from each other. The author gave them a true life of their own as the book went along, letting us into each of their lives and what made them show more do the things they did. I love a good FBI hunt book and this is a wonderful one. It left me with unanswered questions at the end, so I’m glad I started this series when the other two are available now for me to dig into right away, otherwise the wait would make me a cranky person to live with. I definitely recommend this book, with a warning of some gore involved, along with planning on getting nothing else done until you hit that last page. show less

A good read, well paced, some suspense, interesting reveals, an investigator whose family isn't involved in the case with a connection to the target that hasn't been done to death. The alternating viewpoints work well. The black associate wasn't quite as well conceived, but better than if the cast were colorless.

FBI Special Agent Roarke finds himself tracking a female serial killer in Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff.

Roarke is a great character who did time in the FBI Behavioural Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds anyone? Yes please!) but it's his prey who really steals the show.

The villainous female character is the star of the book, and it's her behaviour and first person narrative that really drive the reader.

The entire time I wanted to know what she was doing, why she was doing it and what she was going to do next. And boy, can she kick some ass!

The writing creates suspense and tension and Huntress Moon is a great crime-thriller. It's the first in the Huntress series, with Blood Moon next, followed by Cold Moon.

Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff

This story has two main characters. First we have FBI Agent Matthew Roarke. He has always had a special sense about people. From the time he was a small child he knew he would grow up to work in a field where he would put bad people away. He now has his sights set on a blonde woman who seems to always be seen at the scene of murders. Is she responsible? Is it possible that SHE is a serial killer? This seems almost improbable because most serial killers are men.
Agent Roarke learns her identity and learns she (Cara) is after more than he originally thought. The question this author makes you ask yourself is how bad is bad? Are there instances that would make you overlook the evil in someone? Could they show more ever be justified in their actions? This is a book where you find yourself not justifying what Cara does, but looking for the why’s. You empathize with her. You want to help her change her ways because you know the path she is going down is not going to end well. You want at the same time for Roarke to be successful and put away a dangerous killer. There are no set answers for you as you read. The author has done a superb job of creating characters you like no matter what their position in the story. The action scenes keep you glued to the edge of your seat. Since this is a series, when I was asked to review one of them I looked them up and immediately purchased the first two. I got so into it my husband bought me the third. Make sure you have all three so you can read seamlessly from the first to the third book. Get plenty of sleep before you begin because you won’t want to sleep, or I should say you won’t be able to sleep until you complete the book, and for me the entire series. This is a series I definitely recommend. I am so pleased that every book I’ve started the new year reading has been so good. show less