(I bought this book.)
Back of the Book Blurb:
Madeline Keye’s gift—to touch someone and see flashes of the past—has set her apart from family and friends. She finds sanctuary in the wilderness, until a backcountry hike in Glacier National Park turns into a hunt—with her as the prey. Because something that’s not human is out there. And it’s hungry.
(Published 2009.)
Review:
This was one intense book! Although published by Jove under their Horror imprint, this book would better be labelled as paranormal thriller with a touch of romance.
Madeline is hiking in Glacier National Park, enjoying the solitude and peace of the wilderness, when she senses she is being watched. Right afterward she is caught in a flash flood and nearly drowns. She is pulled from the flood by a handsome man named Noah. Shortly after Madeline sees a strange, sleek humanoid shape crawling on the rocks by the riverbank, and Noah tells her it is a deadly predator he has been hunting for a long time. Noah is more than he appears to be, and he tries to protect Madeline by sending her down the mountain to the ranger station while fighting off the creature. And from this point on it's a deadly game of cat and mouse, inhuman predator and human prey, and I could not put the book down. It was intense and spooky, and the author did a great job of maintaining a consistent level of suspense and action. Madeline is smart and resourceful and terrified, but she realizes that she is now hunted, and she agrees to use her psychic gift to help Noah hunt the creature.
I really liked Madeline - she has been isolated, a pariah, shunned by her family and community her entire life because of her ability. She was hoping to start a new, anonymous life in a big city when she caught the attention of a millenia-old predator. She is torn between doing the right thing and having the life she has dreamed of, and her inner turmoil is compounded by her increasing attraction and affection for Noah.
Noah and the creature are also really well developed. Their histories are intriguing and detailed. The glimpses into the creature's history are tantalizing as we learn he is thousands of years old, and may or may not have been human at the beginning.
The plot is tightly woven, the pacing fast, the characters interesting and believable, and the action relentless.
**SPOILER ALERT**
My only quibble is that at the very end, the final fight scene between Madeline and the creature felt wrong, like this superfast, superstrong creature was just laying there to allow her to triumph. But the action is so intense and the pace so fast I was quickly past this point, so it didn't really take me out of the story.
I really hope to see more novels from Alice Henderson - this was a great, original read!
Check out the author's website at: Alice Henderson
No comments:
Post a Comment