My Guilty Pleasures: Alexandra Sokoloff's The Huntress series.

It was quite by accident that I came across this delicious series. I saw Alexandra Sokoloff at Bloody Scotland 2018 on a panel about the portrayal of women in crime fiction and was impressed by her views about how us crime writers need to change the narrative of women as victims in the genre.



Fast forward to a chance Facebook post telling me the newest one in The Huntress series

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was due out, but with the warning not to read out of sequence and that was me ...  Now, series complete after a binge fest I'm just about able to articulate some of my thoughts about The Huntress.

Crime fiction has always been about spotlighting what's wrong in society, about fearlessly exploring issues through our writing and reading, about observing and commenting on what's happening in society ... Sokoloff does all of these from a feminist perspective and hats off to her for saying it how it is. 

Set gainst the back drop of #METOO, stories of male entitlement as shown in fiction (eg Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why) and infinitely more disturbingy in the higher echelons of politics on both sides of the pond, Sokoloff puts her money where her mouth is and calls them out on it. 

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This series was, for me, a frighteningly accurate portrayal of the mysogynistic society perpetrated by world leaders and I loved the fact that Sokoloff didn't hold back. But apart from that the series is compelling with well rounded characters, warmth, humour and fragility. It is a nuanced series thats development takes the reader with it ... I couldn't help but be entranced by the beauty of the settings, the road map of America that made me feel, I was actually there with Cara and Roarke. I was so invested in it that I had to read them all back to back .... I'm sure you will too. 

So, first thought by the end of chapter one, book one was 'Don't you

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just love it when an author creates a character that you should want to see captured ... but you're actually desperate to see her escape?' ... that's what you get with Cara Lindstrom ... a killer she may be, but Sokoloff has written her so skillfully that, despite her flaws the reader is left firmly on her side.

Employing the same trick that Thomas Harris used in his Hannibal series, Sokoloff has created a dynamic between The Huntress and FBI Agent, Matthew Roarke , that is based on an understanding and respect that is almost palpable ... also when you throw in the sexual frisson, the atmosphere is quite electric.

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In Huntress Moon, we slowly build up an understanding of both Cara and Roarke and how their backstories are fatefully intertwined. I enjoy the play on the term 'hunter' becuase it works on so many levels. On the one hand Cara is most definately a hunter ... however so are the monsters she hunts. Then, there's Roarke himself ... he too is a hunter ... hunting Cara, despite the strange empathy they share.

The thrill of these books, is knowing that alongsde the current story, there are so many narratives to be explored and in Blood Moon, the second in the series, the investigation is into a monster called The Reaper who was a family killer twenty-five years earlier and looks to have reared his ugly head again.

Book three, Cold Moon, places Cara out of her comfort zone, introduces new characters 
and tests Roarke to the limit .... I love it when a character is put through the mill both
emotionally and physically and, believe me Sokoloff does it with aplomb.

Bitter Moon, really got to me. It is beautifully nuanced and the title is so perfect for the story.

This is Cara's story as discovered through Roarkes investigation into her past ... have the 
tissues ready, but be prepared to be overwhelmed with anger too. 
Actually, in each of the books, I veered between those two emotions, so be warned!

If you weren't really angry before, you will be when you read Hunger Moon, where Sokoloff takes us into the seedy world of Fraternitys, the dark web and the hearts of very dark men

and this anger will spill over into the most recent book Shadow Moon where there is more emphasis on the way male privilege is enabled and women's rights ignored by the continued emphasis on male entitlement. 

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These are all 5* reads!