Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Mildly descriptive sex scene



Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.

But now, a threatened woman has reached out. Marlene Crockett, from the remote town of Wolfhunter, is panicked for herself and her daughter. When Gwen arrives in the small, isolated rural community, Marlene is already dead—her own daughter blamed for the murder. Except that’s not the person Marlene feared at all. And Gwen isn’t leaving until she finds out who that was.

This is the third book in the Stillhouse lake series. Ideally I would have preferred Stillhouse Lake had been a standalone. It certainly could have been if a little more had been added to it. I knew when I read it though, that there would be another book and I thought this was going to be a duology. Then when I heard about this book I thought it was going to be a trilogy. Now it seems this has turned into a series with no end in sight. Unfortunately I do not see the need for it at all.

Although I really thought this third book was not needed as everything was wrapped up in the two previous ones, I was willing to give it a try, especially since I thought it was the last book in a trilogy. There ended up being little in relation to the first two books, and a side story became the main focus. I thought there was way too much going on with Miranda and the group of people making the documentary, the kidnapped little girl, and the whole town full of crazies. It also felt really unbelievable. I got tired of some of the repetition and rehashing from the two previous books as well. It just all started to get on my nerves after a while.

It's obvious when reading this that the author was trying to transition this book into the start of a series with Gwen becoming an investigator. I really don't find it plausible that this woman, with all the harrowing stuff she has been through would want to continue to put herself and her children through this sort of thing by taking on other people's horrific problems. Unfortunately this series has overstayed its welcome.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing a copy of this book.