Release date: July 20 2023
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Pages: 384
Find it: Goodreads Waterstones
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Synopsis

Ree is a woman with a violent past – a past she is eager to put behind her. After years of wandering, she and her niece, Javani, have built a small farm in mining country, at the edge of the known world, and Ree is keeping her head down.

But one day two groups of professional killers arrive in town, looking for a young girl and an older woman. A deadly chase through deserts, mountains, and mines begins. And Ree will have to discover her former self if she is to keep them both alive.

Review

David Wragg’s The Hunters is a fast paced and addictive story that follows Ree and her twelve year old niece Javani. After many years moving from place to place, they have settled on a farm in a mining community in the middle of nowhere. When a group of killers comes to the town looking for a young girl and an older woman, Ree and Javani are forced to flee across the desert and mountains. A deadly chase occurs, but will Ree be able to keep them both alive and keep her secrets intact?

David Wragg is such a fantastic writer and I knew going in that I was going to love this one. The story is full of twists and surprise moments and there’s plenty of action and edge of your seat moments. Wragg has a writing style that’s really gripping and there were lots of times I told myself I should put this book down but ended up reading one more chapter. The witty dialogue works really well and the sandy desert setting really comes to life in Wragg’s prose.

The Hunters has some really compelling characters and I found myself really growing attached to Ree, Javani and of course Aki and Anashe. The characters are really well crafted and it was really interesting the way family dynamics were explored between these characters. While there are some light hearted moments in the story, there are also plenty of dark and gritty moments too. The Hunters is the first book in this series and I can’t wait to see where Wragg takes the story next. If you’ve read The Black Hawks you’ll absolutely fall in love with The Hunters . If you’re looking for a fast paced, blood thirsty fantasy tale to sink your teeth into, you definitely don’t want to miss this one.