Hunter’s Fall (Hunters #13) by Shiloh Walker
Paranormal Romance
Paperback
June 7, 2011
Berkley

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “Time fell away. She fell away.”

Please note: This review contains spoilers.

When Nessa’s lover Elias is murdered by a jealous rival masquerading as a witch hunter, Elias vows to Nessa as he lays dying that he will find her again. 500 years later, Nessa is lost, lonely, and skating the edges of insanity. She has given up on ever finding Elias but has managed to find some comfort and companionship in the fostering an orphaned witch- Mina. When Mina dies in a freak accident, that is all it takes to send Nessa over the edge. She begins a spiraling decent towards death when her oldest friend Malachi intervenes and takes her to Excelsior school for healing. But Nessa carries a huge secret. In her battle against an addicted death witch-Morgan-she not only vanquished her but in doing so absorbed her body and spirit. Now Nessa fights everyday to not give in to the urges that Morgan creates within her. When she decides to hunt down Morgan’s family she is thrown into a battle that wipes her memory and allows Morgan to become the dominate personality.

Dominic, a Hunter vampire, has dreamed of Nessa since he was a little boy. As he grew older, his feelings for his dream woman began to deepen and he falls in love with her. Never sure if she was real or not, he fears for his own sanity. His master, Rafe, decides to send Dominic to Excelsior for his own safety. Rafe does not think Dominic is going insane but he agrees to let him go. When Dominic arrives he senses Nessa and goes ballistic when he realizes she is gone and another man is in her room. When Dominic attacks Malachi, Malachi realizes that his friend Elias has been reincarnated into Dominic. Once Dominic is brought up to speed on his dreams and what they really means, he realizes he’s not insane and races to find Nessa only to discover she is not the same person anymore and has no knowledge of him or their previous life together

Hunter’s Run is a fast paced, action packed story where emotional undercurrents rip at your heart strings. Nessa has survived for 500 years on the single hope that her Elias will return to her as he promised. I liked Nessa but found her hard to connect to. The overwhelming sadness that saturates her character is hard to handle and she seems to spiral down into a well of despair and self recriminations that lasts until the very end. She has waited 500 years for Dominic/Elias yet pushes him away not believing that FINALLY he has returned. While I have waited for Nessa’s story-her tragic life demands accountability-she is a truly broken character. Yet in here she doesn’t seem to pull out of her tragedy. She remains broken. It wears on you. I actually found I liked Morgan better. Morgan seemed to flesh out better then Nessa. More spirit in her. You couldn’t imagine Morgan just accepting it.

Dominic is the perfect love for Nessa. A vibrant multi layered character, he takes over the story with his points of view from the moment he dreams of Nessa until he finally touches her in the flesh. No matter that she doesn’t remember him, he will never give up and that endured me to him. His emotional grid is better balanced then Nessa’s. While his story is also tragic, it doesn’t bury his spirit but rather energizes him into action.

In true Shiloh Walker style, there are some serious smoking chemistry between Nessa and Dominic. If nothing else, their bodies recognize each other.

We see some old friends in here; Malachi, Kelsey, Rafe, and others. I love Malachi and he doesn’t disappoint in here. He and Kelsey play an important part in the main storyline and I think they helped to keep it from stagnating under the emotional heaviness of Dominic’s and Nessa’s story. Morgan’s sister Jazzy and her mother Iris are vivid personable characters; especially Iris. I loved her greedy, volatile nature.

The ending is predictable-right down to Nessa’s attempts at sacrifice. While I enjoyed Hunter’s Fall, I felt that Nessa was too emotionally crippled and her inability to recover from it put a damper on my overall enjoyment.

Rating: C

Recent Reviews:
Vampire Book Club – 4/5
My Overstuffed Bookshelf – 5/5
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