This review first appeared on https://gingerbookgeek.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/hunters-secret-by-val-penny/
It’s only fairly recently that I discovered just how good an author Val is. I haven’t quite caught up with all of the books in the Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson series just yet but when I have time, I read one of the previous books. The latest book in the series is called ‘Hunter’s Secret’ and I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of the story but more about that in a bit.
What I can say about DI Hunter Wilson? I took to him from the start and by halfway through the book, I felt as though he had become a friend. He’s a man with a past (yes I know we all have a past) but there are secrets lurking in his past that he hasn’t told anybody else about and he wants to keep it that way for as long as he can. As a police officer, Hunter is dedicated, tough, tenacious, stubborn but at the same time he is incredibly caring and compassionate. Hunter is in charge of a small team, who all work really well together and each has the others’ backs. In fact they seem more like a family than a team of work colleagues. Hunter is a bit devious in this book because he displays some pretty shifty behaviour. I won’t go too far into what he is up to as that might give too much away but needless to say that I think his motive is good but he doesn’t perhaps go about things the right way. Of course his partner is thinking all sorts. The cases in this particular book are set to challenge Hunter as he has not been challenged before. Will Hunter solve the case and apprehend the perpetrators? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
Oh my flipping word, ‘Hunter’s Secret’ is one seriously cracking read and then some. I became addicted to this book from the moment I first picked it up, never mind from when I started reading the actual story. It was as if the book had developed a hold over me and it was a hold that I wasn’t willing to break. I was completely gripped by the story from start to finish. I was so engrossed in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I seemed to charge through the story. The first time I looked to check on my reading progress, I was staggered to realise that I had read almost half of the book in one go. All too quickly I had to say a temporary goodbye to DI Hunter Wilson and his team.
‘Hunter’s Secret’ is superbly written but then I wouldn’t expect anything else from Val Penny. She certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draw you into the story. For me, ‘Hunter’s Secret’ was perfectly paced- the story started with a bang and maintained a fast pace throughout. To me, the sign of a good book is when you want to jump inside the pages of the story and you want to sort out certain characters. Well that’s just how I felt regarding a certain pair of siblings, who are right charmers…..not. At times I even ended up arguing with the book as if the characters could hear me. I know this is a work of fiction but I find that if I enjoy a book then I tend to ‘live’ the story as it were real. I loved everything about this book from the author’s writing style to the different characters, to the storylines and to the place where the story is based. This story kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat throughout.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Hunter’s Secret’ and I would definitely recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Val’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.