This was my first Lisa Unger book, but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed it.

With her new stand-alone novel, The Red Hunter, Lisa Unger ventures beyond her beloved locale of The Hollows, to present a novel which succinctly and effectively details the long legacy wrought by violence in the lives of two complex women.

Claudia Bishop moves with her teen daughter, Raven, to a recently vacated rustic house long owned by her family. She is struggling to start afresh after a harrowing history and has begun a blog detailing her restoration plans for this new home in an effort to re-center herself and make a new life for her daughter.

Zoey Drake has a history with that house. Her parents were murdered there years ago during what seemed like a random home invasion. But years of reconnaissance and training have prepared her to take revenge on those that destroyed her life.

Through an inevitable convergence of events, the men responsible for the death of Zoey’s parents are headed back to the scene of the crime. Unbeknownst to Claudia, in trying to protect her child, she may have only increased the risk – unless Zoey’s plan for justice unspools before disaster strikes this homestead once again.

Needless to say, Lisa Unger has written a page-turner. These two women, shaped by the traumas in their lives, lead readers down a twisted trail, as though they are sirens asking strangers to share their journey and their pain. This is a writer who excels at creating characters who will elicit sympathy from readers. In particular, the relationship between, Claudia and her daughter feels realistic and suitably fraught with obstacles – both real and imagined.

With a novel in which so much of the impetus for action resides in the past, Lisa Unger does an admirable job of juggling the time-shifts. By employing multiple points of view, she is able to control how and when information is revealed to the reader.

The Red Hunter is a tough read. Not in the sense that it is difficult to follow or to understand, but rather on a visceral level. The psychological portraits Lisa Unger has crafted feel so authentic that spending time in that head space can be exhausting. Often, it is the emotional scars that run the deepest, and this is a writer who is not afraid to put her readers through the paces right along with her characters. The rewards are vast, if the reader is up to the excavation.

Claudia Bishop gives up her life and successful career in publishing to move her teen daughter to the country to renovate an old house that has been in the family forever. She blogs about her experiences and feels as if her life is finally starting to come together. The country is good for her soul, as she is still dealing with the scars of a brutal rape that changed her life forever. Her daughter, Raven, is less than thrilled about the move and even less thrilled about knowing that there is a 50% chance that her father is the man who raped her mother.

Zoey Drake's life was changed forever the night her parents died in a violent home invasion where the intruders were looking for money they thought her father had. Until that night she had been your typical teenager living a life untouched by bad stuff. Now she is a professional housesitter who uses the martial arts to help police the streets of New York City and cares for her ailing uncle in her spare time. Her soul is a dark one and she feels no remorse at killing one of the men who killed her parents. Now she seeks to find the others who were a part of changing her life.

Zoey and Claudia know nothing of each other, but they have one thing in common, The crumbling farmhouse that Claudia is renovating. As Claudia peels away the decades of grime and dirt she discovers the dark secrets the home hides. Will she be able to get to the truth before her life is touched by violence once again?

The Red Hunter is a well-crafted mystery that centers around money. After all, money is the root of all evil, right? A million dollars was stolen from a drug dealer and has not been found since it's theft. In fact, the missing money is what led to the murder of Zoey's parents. This missing money has an impact on both Zoey and Claudia. The story is told from multiple narrators and you have to pay attention because the chapter titles don't reveal who is currently narrating the story. Claudia and Zoey were both likable characters. They were both deeply damaged by the events of their past, but I think that Claudia was a little bit further in the healing process. One of the reasons why I like Lisa Unger is because she always keeps me guessing at the "whodunit" part of the mystery. Lisa Unger is known for building tension with craftily written chapters that unpeel a layer by layer - like an onion. Each chapter causes your heart rate to pick up a little more, building to a volatile conclusion that will leave you saying "I didn't see that coming." -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom line - Unless you are new here you know that I love a good mystery. Lisa Unger can craft a good mystery with the best of them. Diverse and damaged characters are what make her novels so compelling and so hard to put down.

Details:
The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger
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Pages: 368
Publisher: Touchstone
Publication Date: 4/25/2017
Buy it Here!

Woman (Zoey) seeks revenge on the men that murdered her parents when she was only 14 years old. Meanwhile, another woman (Claudia) recovers from rape while raising a daughter (Raven) that might just be the rapist's child...

As far as I can remember, Beautiful Lies by the same author was my first time reading a psychological thriller. Even though it's been 11 years since I read it, I still remember not being able to turn the pages fast enough and the strong emotion provoked by Ridley, the main character. It earned a rarely given, 5 star rating from me and remains one of my favorite books ever!

Ever since then, I've been a huge fan of Lisa Unger's, so I was ecstatic when I received an advance copy of The Red Hunter! While reading, I found myself immersed in the story and again, like with Beautiful Lies, I could not turn the pages fast enough to find out how it would play out.

The book follows Zoey as she searches for the truth about her parents' murders, while also exploring the what if's of life. How does each and every decision made affect your path in life? ... What if I had turned left, instead of right at that intersection? ... What if I had made that decision instead of this one? ... Would I have avoided a negative outcome? ... Would I have been happier/sadder/richer/poorer? ... How would my life have been different? ... In this book, the author explores 14 year old Zoey's reaction to her parents being murdered in cold blood. Will she choose revenge or justice? This was a twisty, turny thriller chock full of revenge, and especially during the second half of the book, I could not turn the pages quickly enough to reach the final conclusions, and I highly recommend it to fans of the mystery/thriller genre.

Parts of this book reminded me of the Revenge TV series when it was still riveting and in its heyday. Not in its later seasons hehe.

Last but not least, I do have to add that I was disappointed by one pivotal point of this story, but to avoid spoilers, I will not mention specifics in my review. If, after reading this book, you'd like my opinion, please let me know. Don't let this keep you from reading the book though; I still highly recommend it!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Good story! Looking forward to reading more by this author. Highly recommend!

What is the difference between justice and revenge? In this buzzworthy new standalone thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, two wronged women on very different paths find themselves in the same dark place…

The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger is a very highly recommended thriller that begs the question "What is the difference between justice and revenge?" Two women have been through two violent events and unexpectedly have something in common.

Claudia Bishop was violently attacked and raped in her own apartment. Her daughter Raven was born 9 months later and, eventually, her marriage fell apart. Claudia loves Raven, and her ex-husband, Ayers, considers Raven his daughter, but they don't know if her conception was a result of the rape or not. Claudia has been honest about the violent attack, her anxiety, and her strides toward healing on her blog. Claudia and Raven take a huge step when they move out to a house in the country that she inherited. Her father owned it as an investment and rented it out for years. Claudia is going to blog about their restoration of the old farmhouse as part of her healing and creating a new life for herself through the rape and divorce.

Zoey Drake survived a horrific home invasion that left both of her parents dead. She was supposed to be a victim too, she and her mother were both tortured by the killers, but she miraculously survived. A decade after the attack, Zoey is a strong, tough woman who has been training in the martial arts for years, fueled by the inner rage she feels. She is looking for revenge. She is the watcher, the Red Hunter, and it's time for the men who murdered her parents and tried to kill her to pay for the pain they caused.

Neither Claudia nor Zoey know each other, but the house ties them together. It is where Zoey's parents were murdered. It is also the fuel for rumors flying that there is a million dollars hide somewhere in the house and that is why Zoey's parents were murdered. Zoey has found one of the men, now an old man, and she has eliminated him. Now she is searching for the others. When handyman Josh Beckham is hired by Claudia to assist in some repairs, it sets into motion a collision between the past and present that will bring both women back to the house.

The two narratives of this complex thriller/mystery are intricate and complex. Unger keeps the plot and the action fast-paced through both storylines until they converge with an explosion of action. The reveals of additional information are also perfectly planned. All the characters in this novel are complex and their stories are equally intriguing. The question of how to handle a violent attack should resonate with many. Like Claudia, do you try to overcome the anxiety and more on to create a positive life while facing full-on what happened to you? Or do you take Zoey's tactical plan and train for years until you know you can defend yourself and extract revenge on those who hurt you and those you loved?

There are other interesting plot points to this complicated novel too. Would you want to know if you are your parent's biological child or the result of a rape? How do you handle a violent traumatic event in your life? What is your responsibility to a sibling? Lisa Unger has written a tense page-turner here that should engross most readers.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Touchstone.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/04/the-red-hunter.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1986931893
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This is the second book by Lisa Unger that I've read. I'm sure I'm going to read them all at some point if they stay this good. Lots of twists and turns, but no huge surprises. Just good solid writing and a good story with good characters.

Lisa Unger is a masterful storyteller!
This title is complex and carefully knitted to combine so many subplots and still make sense to the reader. It pulls you in so many directions, with a cast of characters artfully created to fit a diversity of emotions that can only surface through tragedy and a strong will.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

My thoughts: I am a big fan of Lisa Unger's books - I have read just about all of her published books already, and those I haven't I have on my to-be-read list! Her thrillers keep you on the edge of your seat and she creates the most complex, compelling characters that just get under your skin.

I loved the way this story was told - it's so intricately plotted, connecting two seemingly unconnected women together by one object - a house. But these two women are also connected by something else - they have both survived the unthinkable, an attack on their lives. The difference is how they decide to move on from this attack.

I loved how the different threads of this story were woven together. This book moves fast, but not so fast as to gloss over anything. Everything is given it's due course. And everything is flushed out. We learn about the attacks on both women in due time, though, that all happened prior to the start of the book. We also learn about the importance of the house - again, not all in one fell swoop, but slowly, bit by bit, we find out why the house is so important.

I loved all the moving pieces to this book - and believe me, there are a lot! While there are primarily the two narrators, we do meet quite a lot of characters and I felt that they were all pretty well developed. At times, there is a jump from the present to the past, sometimes without much notice, but once you realize that particular plotline only occurs in the past, you are ready the next time it happens.

This book definitely kept me on my toes - between the secrets and the engaging characters, I was desperately trying to keep up and try to put everything together before the final reveal. While I did guess some of it, I wasn't able to put all the pieces together...this layered book really surprised me!

Lisa Unger is definitely a go-to author for me and I always look forward to when she has a new book out. This latest book certainly did not disappoint - and whether it is her series or her stand-alones, this author can do no wrong!!!

Fast-paced action and family secrets and a crumbling old house all twist and combine to make this into a story I couldn't put down... rage and revenge, murder and stolen money... the cast of colorful characters even includes two felines! I loved this book, and it just reiterates once again that Lisa Unger is definitely a name to watch.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

Not my first time reading a book by Lisa. She is an extremely talented author and takes great care in creating her stories. I was completely lost in this story. Such a gripping read. I didn't want it to end.

Take your time with this one. It's not a speed read. It's one to really immerse yourself in and enjoy. You get to know and love the characters through glimpses of their past and their present. More than a mystery or thriller, this is a book about strong women: warriors. They're fighters. They are very different and they fight in different ways for different things, but their traumatic past and determination to make their future their own unites them.

Claudia has undertaken a new project: renovating a giant old house. She's also writing a blog about it, and with blogging, remodelling, and caring for her teenage daughter... she has her hands full. Daughter Raven is having some trouble adjusting to her new school. Beautiful in the kind of way that can make some other women viciously jealous, she's not fitting in. The blog is not Claudia's first. She also documented her recovery process after she was brutally raped years ago. That was the night Raven was conceived. Because she was with her husband earlier that terrible night, they're unsure who Raven's biological father is. Her real father is without a doubt Ayers, Claudia's ex husband who lives in the city and is everything a father should be to Raven. They've always been honest with their daughter, and now that Raven is getting older she wants to know for sure exactly where she comes from.

Zoey lives in the city, miles away. She's trained in martial arts, closed off, and a bit of a vigilante. She spends most of her time devoted to teaching young women to defend themselves, turning "kittens into dragons". She, of all people, would know the importance of the training. She was the survivor of a home invasion where her mother and father were killed and she was tortured. The men who broke into her house that night were after something they didn't get... and it might still be hidden.

The house where Zoey experienced the worst night of her life and the house Claudia is lovingly trying to transform is one and the same. And neither woman's troubles are over. Characters from the past are reappearing, and they're after something they would kill for.

Lots of characters to keep track of here, I had to look back a few times but it was so worth it. This is a great book, gripping and absorbing.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Touchstone, thank you! My opinion is honest and unbiased.

4.5/5 stars

I am completely obsessed with suspense/thrillers. So I was very excited to read this book. This is actually my first book by this author.

The Red Hunter is a standalone suspense/mystery/thriller. The book is divided into two parts.

The book starts with a chilling prologue, which completely hooked me. I could not put the book down after that.

The book follows two women: Zoey and Claudia.

Zoey's story is told in 1st person POV. Zoey is 24-25 years old. Something bad happened to her parents when she was a girl. She is full of rage. Her uncle Paul plays a big part in her life. Zoey is a cat sitter and an expert at self defense.

The other key player in this book is Claudia. Claudia's story is told in 3rd person POV. Claudia is 40 years old. Her daughter Raven is 15. Something bad happened to Claudia when she was married. She has moved with her daughter to a farmhouse and is now a home repair blogger.

The book features alternating narrators. And we are also occasionally shown different time periods.
The story went back in time a few times. However, interestingly those chapters were not marked as being in the past so you had to pay attention.

This is Zoey and Claudia's stories. But we also have a 3rd person POV from Joshua Beckham, a handyman who lives near Claudia's farmhouse. His bad news brother is Rhett.

We also have Raven's 3rd person POV (Claudia's daughter).

The book is basically about two women both overcoming tragedies in their pasts.

There are so many parts to this story. I was very curious to see how everything would fit together.

Zoey and Claudia were both such interesting characters. They were both damaged from past events. But it was very intriguing to see how they each chose to deal with their past issues.

The last part of the book was very strong. It was definitely interesting to see how everything tied together.

Overall, this was a very captivating thriller. The book was riveting and compelling. And the story was very good!

Thanks to the publisher, Touchstone, via NetGalley, for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I regret to say I've never read Lisa Unger before. After reading this novel, I have become a fan and plan to read more of her novels. She's a brilliant author who has written a fast-paced, well-plotted suspense novel. She drew me in at the start and I didn't want to put it down.

Saying much about the plot isn't something I want to do because of spoilers. The setting is a New York City suburb and occasionally the City itself. There are two female protagonists who have an old country house in common. Each of them has been traumatized and is trying to find her way. This dark mystery involves police officers, criminals, murder, rape, self-defense, a million dollars, revenge, love and forgiveness. The chapters alternate between the present and past and Ms. Unger does an excellent job of switching between the time periods. Her characters are well-developed and written in such a way that I found myself liking the good guys and disliking the bad guys which is the way I prefer relating to them! I'll be thinking about this novel for a long time.

I liked the story line and thought this was going to be a decent read but I was disappointed. Very slow and couldn't keep my interest. It could have been better.

What do you do when you watch your parents getting killed? You try your best to find out who’s responsible and avenge them, right? That is Zoe's goal in life and she’s making progress. Then Claudia and her daughter Raven are moving into the house where Zoe's parents got killed. Claudia doesn’t know anything about the crime from ten years ago, trying to build a new home for herself and Raven. But the bad guys from the past aren’t finished with the search after the money which is supposed to be hidden somewhere in the house. When the present and the past meets in the dark basement there will be lifes at stake and secrets coming out.
This was a thrilling, suspenseful read. I was hooked from the start and the twist and turns had me guessing till the very end. I got really invested in all the characters and was very pleased with the ending. I highly recommend “The Red Hunter” to everyone loving a well written thriller. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Touchstone!

I really enjoyed this read! It was highly entertaining, creative, and exciting.

The Red Hunter is the story of how people's lives intersect in intriguing ways. In this case, specifically, the intersection happens at an old farm house built in the 1850's. Two women (and several others) converge there in the middle of the night, when violence and greed are paramount. What the house means to one woman is vastly different than the the sentiment the other brings to the property, but somehow, despite all their differences, their shared trauma sends them down the same path to this old run-down farm house. Naturally, chaos ensues!

As I said, I enjoyed this read. The Red Hunter is a solid thriller, if no more exceptional than that. Lisa Unger excels at creating anticipation in her writing. I was yelling at my phone late last night as I frantically read the last few chapters. However, in The Red Hunter, the various character perspectives - of which there are several - were not distinct enough for any real relatability. I had trouble telling Claudia and Zoey perspectives apart. Their voices were not noticeably different from one another. The blending of their characters was further compounded by perpetual flashbacks, which hindered the pacing.

Also, I feel Unger missed the opportunity to really expand her "Red Hunter" premise. The connection between the title of the plot was made in Part One of the novel, but not significantly developed throughout the novel. Red Hunter as a term is only used subsequently a few times. Leaving the reader to scramble to figure out the importance and relevance of the term. At best, this was a lack luster attempt at tying the title to a character arch that ends up feeling sluggish.

With the exception of pacing, and non-distinct main characters, this was a good book. The resolution to this novel, is not. However, in the scheme of things, if you enjoy ensemble casts, modern mysteries, heists, and strong, empowered, female characters - you will enjoy the Red Hunter.

A gripping story with strong characters and a plot line that will make you think. The violence Claudia and Zoey experienced is horrific; how they deal with the aftermath is at the guts of this novel. Be aware that that the chapters alternate the voices of each of them and this can sometimes be a little distracting. There are secrets here and if you guess them ahead of the revelation, well, that's too bad because this is a well done thriller. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to net galley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Ok, I LOVED this book, even though it kept me up reading way past my bedtime.
I absolutely adored all the female characters in this book; Raven, Zoey and Claudia. Each woman has suffered trauma in her life and has a different way of coping with it. Claudia is relentlessly positive and has built strong defences against what happened to her. Zoey is determined to get her revenge against her attackers and Raven wants to understand her origins. Their back stories are cleverly woven with the present and Lisa Unger has created strong, complex women, who are not afraid to admit that they are not always right, and self aware enough to realise that their actions have consequences. There are elements in all the women that resounded with me, and I take my hat off to the author for creating such believable characters.
The novel is incredibly tense, as the paths of Claudia and Zoey converge and the suspense is off the scale. Is there really something hidden at the farm house? Who were Zoey's attackers? Can any of the men in the novel be trusted?
This is a book I would urge anyone to read and I will be buying it for myself and my friends when it is released.