Feature Post: The Huntress/FBI Thriller Series by Alexandra Sokoloff

The Huntress/FBI Thriller Series:

huntress-moon #1      blood-moon #2

cold-moon #3    bitter-moon #4

 

I had always planned on doing a Feature Blog about this series and since I just posted my review of the fourth book in the series, Bitter Moon, I decided it might as well be now. I was lucky enough to be asked by Alexandra Sokoloff if I would be interested in reviewing her third book of the series, Cold Moon, many moons ago. Besides being the first book that I would seriously review for publication, it was also my introduction to Net Galley. I fell in love with both the series and the site!

If you are a reader like me, I could not start on the third book, so I went back and purchased the first, Huntress Moon and the second, Blood Moon. I am very happy that I did. This series, at least in my opinion, cannot and should not be read as standalones.

The characters, both main and secondary, are complex and three dimensional within the series. For me, that is one of Ms. Sokoloff’s greatest strengths in these stories. The plots are fast paced, intriguing and believable, but it is the characters that keep drawing me back. There is explicit violence in each book, but one of the main characters is a psychotic, serial-killer, vigilante so it is to be expected.

This is a must read series for me and I anxiously await the publication of each book. Ms. Sokoloff’s writing is superb. I recommend you start now. Four books is doable!

Book Review: Bitter Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff

bitter-moon

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

This is one of my “Must Read” series and I am always anxiously awaiting the next book. BITTER MOON (The Huntress/ FBI Thrillers, #4) does not disappoint! Alexandra Sokoloff has once again written an amazing plot and character study of a victim turned vigilante serial-killer and an obsessed and conflicted FBI agent balanced on the edge.

This fourth book of the series is told in alternating voices between Cara Lindstrom in the Past at age 14 and FBI Agent Matthew Roarke in the Present. In the past, Cara is sent to a group home after release from juvenile prison and as she begins to attend the local high school, she is once again confronted by her visualization and/or conception of evil she calls “It”. In the present, Roarke is on leave from his job and is trying to decide who he is and what he wants for his future. A cryptic call from a detective with unknown motives drags Roarke into Cara’s past and the still unsolved present day mystery of a sexual predator preying on young girls.

The two plot lines intertwine past and present without being confusing in any way. This in depth look at Cara’s past was extremely interesting. It was the turning point in her short life when she decides to no longer be a victim, but to actively seek out and destroy “It” in all its manifestations. Cara is one of my favorite characters. Victim, psychotic, seer, killer, predator. Every scene and situation makes me reconsider my feelings for her.

I recommend this series highly! I also feel this series should be read in order. The character evolution in both main and secondary characters grows with the series. There is graphic violence throughout the series, but I don’t feel it is ever gratuitous. Once again, waiting for the next book!

Book Review: Night Film by Marisha Pessl

night-film

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

NIGHT FILM by Marisha Pessl is the perfect book for October! Part horror, part mystery, part psychological suspense and all around thought provoking, intense read. This one will stay with you for quite some time.

The beautiful, talented and some say disturbed, Ashley Cordova is found dead at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft in a deserted building in lower Manhattan. She is only 24 years old. Was is suicide or was it murder?

Veteran investigative journalist, Scott McGrath has been discredited in the past while investigating Ashley’s father, famed film director, Stanislas Cordova. After a few main-stream films, Cordova disappeared into legend as an underground film director of horror cult classics and a recluse from all society. His life and films are wrapped in darkness, witchcraft, horror and life-changing fear.

McGrath just can’t let this death go. Ashley haunts him. He is driven by revenge, curiosity and a need for the truth that will either destroy him and the ones he loves or set him free.

This book had me engrossed! I loved how the mystery is handled with the reader receiving pictures of all the documents, photos and web pages that McGrath is privy to while investigating the Cordova family. You are masterfully led by this author from extreme skepticism to believing in everything that goes bump in the night and back again. The characters are all fully fleshed and believable. This author knows how to involve the readers’ emotions in every way! Great read!