[.ca] Hunting the Hunter (The Hunters, Book 9) (ISBN 0425211002)

Vampire hunter meets hunter who's a vampire:
"Hunting the Hunter" is an enjoyable and interesting tale in a rather overcrowded genre - the vampire romance. Although at heart a 'lust turns to love' story there are lots of additional elements to keep the reader's interest. Kendall is a female vampire, a Hunter whose mission is to weed out the 'evil' vampires, often partnered with werewolves or witches. Partnered with Duke, a shape shifter, they seek out vampires and terminate them. However, Kendall realises that someone is hunting her - a human. Kane Winter is a man with a mission, ever since his shapeshifter partner Duke was killed two years ago by a vampire. Kane has trained himself as a vampire hunter and has seventeen kills to his credit. When he sees Kendall he remembers her as the vampire involved in Duke's death and sets out to kill her. A lot of novels in this genre would have drawn out the hero hunting the heroine angle to fill the entire book - in this story Shiloh Walker gifts her lead characters with a good dose of common sense and they very quickly realise that they are working together towards the same goal and stop trying to kill each other. It doesn't take long before Kane and Kendall act on their mutual attraction but before they spend much time together Kendall discovers a shocking secret - that the source of a significant amount of evil and murder can ultimately be laid at her door because of the actions of a vampire, Cat, that Kendall turned. Kendall and Kane must try to find Cat and kill her - but Cat is powerful and it's not that easy. The romance, although a central part of this plot, wasn't the most interesting aspect. We are given several sex scenes between our two principle characters but far more interesting are the moral dilemmas that these characters face. Kendall has ultimate responsibility for Cat and it's something she has to deal with; Kane has to learn to accept that not all vampires are evil and to try to persuade Kendall to work with him rather than trying to protect him as a weaker human. We are introduced to a number of other characters including the intriguing witch Vax and the 500-year old witch Agnes. This story is written with good pacing and it never drags. We are given back-story in small doses throughout the book which helps us to understand Kendall's singleminded dedication to vampire hunting. The main attraction between Kendall and Kane appears to be lust rather than anything more concrete and I would have liked some more attention to the other aspects that might have drawn them together but overall it was an enjoyable read with some good characterisation, an interesting plot and a satisfying resolution. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book ((...)) © 2007 Helen Hancox

More like 4 1/2 stars...:
Kane Winter has been haunted by the night his partner, fellow bounty hunter Duke Monroe, died. Nightmares of vampires and a mysterious woman torment him until he finds her. Kendall, the woman he holds responsible for Duke's death, isn't just any vampire. She is a Hunter, dedicated to tracking down and destroying rogue vampires. Kane soon realizes that Kendall isn't the killer he envisions. But will the powerful attraction between them be enough when their lives are on the line? HUNTING THE HUNTER offers a slightly different take on the world of vampires and other supernatural beings. Shiloh Walker has created an interesting world in which all vampires are neither good nor evil, but rather they make choices that determine how they use their abilities. This is my first Hunter book so I'm still absorbing the details of this world, but it is definitely one I intend to read more about. Shiloh Walker has a definite gift at creating tension in her stories. There were times when I couldn't turn the pages rapidly enough as I just had to see what would happen next. The complexity of the story was a bit surprising and I enjoyed the flashbacks to Kendall's earlier years as it provided more understanding as to her current actions. It also helped temper Kendall's angst, which would have otherwise made her annoying but instead made her a sympathetic character. One thing is a certainty with any book by Shiloh Walker- she can write one heck of a romance! The attraction between Kane and Kendall was strong and fast, with some very steamy scenes. Kane and Kendall belonged together and it was refreshing to read a story in which the two main protagonists recognized this immediately, regardless of their rather obvious differences. HUNTING THE HUNTER is a compelling read. Shiloh Walker delivers a fantastic romance coupled with a dark but very well done vampire tale. HUNTING THE HUNTER is an intriguing story that leaves this reviewer wanting more of the Hunters series! COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Could have been better...:
Kendall is a vampire; she is also a Hunter, one of a group of warriors who keep the other supernaturals in line. Kane Winters first met Kendall two years ago when he thinks she killed his bounty hunting partner, and he's been searching for her ever since. This book has a problem, rather than having one coherent story here, we have two parts that don't quite work together. The first part of the book deals with how Kendall and Kane meet and how they subsequently end up together. We learn very little about either character, so basically what we have is Kane chasing Kendall, then losing her. Essentially it's a problem with pacing, the first six chapters are too slow and repetitive, and I couldn't connect with either Kane or Kendall. There is no real plot here and this could have been condensed by at least half. I think the idea was to introduce the reader to the world of the Hunters through Kane. But it's as if Kane and Kendall exist in a vacuum of bars and alleys with the occasional vampire or drug dealer popping up. The second part of the book is much better. The plot finally arrives in Chapter 7, along with a slew of interesting secondary characters - Analise and Brad, (they were written really well and I wanted to know more about them, hope they turn up in a future book), Cat, Vax and Agnes. The story is off and running. We have an antagonist, we have bad things happening to good people, we have secondary plot threads, and we have back-story. We have all the things that were missing in the first part of the book. Shiloh Walker can also write hot love scenes - of which there are several. :) At least one of which comes under the heading - we need to rescue our friend but let's get it on first. But that's something that crops up a lot in this genre, so I'm not going to hold it against the author. As this is the first Hunters book (assuming you haven't read the e-books) it does have a lot to do. Introducing worlds and their rules is not easy. But I think a lot of readers will give up before they get to the meat of the story and that's a shame because it's worth hanging in there for.

complex characters:
Hunting the Hunter takes place in a world that is our world, with vampires and shapeshifters thrown in. I trust that we'll discover more about the various supernatural types and the Hunter organization as the series progresses. There was enough worldbuilding in this book for it to make sense to me, and that's all I needed. At the beginning of the book, hero Kane and his friend Duke, a shapeshifing big cat, are bounty hunters. In the process of taking down a drug dealer, they're attacked by vampires, and the last thing Kane remembers is Duke bleeding to death and a female vampire psychically knocking him out. From then on, Kane's goal in life is to avenge Duke's death by hunting vampires. Then he meets Kendall, and discovers that the vampire he thought had killed Duke is actually a Hunter, and that there's another danger out there they'll have to work together to overcome. The characters are interesting and complex, and there was a realism to them beyond the lone-hunter stereotype. It was unusual to have a vampire heroine and human hero, but the power difference was balanced somewhat by Kane's partial immunity to vampire mind-control. I'll be looking forward to the next book in this series.

Awesome!! Very SEXY!!:
This is a great addition to this series!! Can't get enough of this series by Shiloh Walker. Spine tingling!! Very sexy!!