Anna considers herself a good cop despite being the daughter of a notorious serial killer. She has worked tirelessly to conceal her past but her suppressed memories of her childhood begin to emerge after she kills a man in the line of duty. When bodies are discovered murdered in the same unique fashion her father was known for her entire world is upended. Anna‘s father passed down his deep connection and reverence of the woods to his daughter, but did she also inherit his propensity for killing?

THE HUNTER’S DAUGHTER is a fresh take on the police procedural with a flair for the supernatural. Debut author Nicola Solvinic blurs the lines of reality in a way that will keep readers on their toes as they attempt to sort fact from fiction. The story has a contemplative pacing as Anna wrestles with her past and seeks to find herself in light of her father’s crimes.

The story touches on some interesting themes including our collective fascination with true crime and desire to be close to tragedy, the ethics of memory erasing, and the unrelenting nature of living with trauma.


READ THIS IF YOU:
-enjoy a character study that explores nature vs nurture
-seek out well-written mysteries with complex characters
-love stories that incorporate a connection to nature

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars)
PUB DATE: May 14, 2024

Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was completely engrossed with this book.
Anna, a LEO, has demons that need slayed. She unlocks her memories from her past and wonders if her predator father did live behind the grave.
I was rooting for her and Nick and wondered if they’d ever get it right.
I thought her psychiatrist was creepy and was using Anna for her own sordid research.
Anna;s biological mother was the coldest fish I’d encountered in a book.
There’s a lot of mystical elements that I wasn’t too enthused about simply because I’m pragmatic and don’t imbibe In the mysticism.
Still., it’s a good book and the ending is good.

We might have been monsters, but maybe everyone had a monster within them. Our job was to be sure those monsters slept.

The Hunter's Daughter is a story about Anna (Elena) who is the daughter of the infamous serial killer, The Forest Strangler. Now an adult, and with no memory of her childhood or who her real father is thanks to therapy, Anna works as a lieutenant detective who is battling with her own inner struggles and turmoils while investigating horrific crimes. When a string of murders begin unfolding in her jurisdiction that are eerily similar to those of the Forest Strangler, Anna finds herself uncovering more clues than just those surrounding the murders. Is the Forest Strangler back and again carrying out his dark ritualistic killings? Or is there a new monster who has now decided to copy the Strangler's horrific MO in a new series of killings? Anna must race to uncover who the killer is, while also working to re ember her own past and the monsters that haunted it.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were likeable, the writing kept me up way too late most nights, and there were a good number of twists I didn't see coming. I'd give The Hunter's Daughter 4.25/5 because I was able to figure out a few of the twists before they were revealed, but overall it was a great time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nicola Solvenic for providing me this ARC of The Hunter's Daughter to read and review.

"A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.

Anna Koray escaped her father's darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She's now a decorated sheriff's lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father's shadow.

When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.

To Anna's horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father - and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?

But as she haunts the forest, using her father's tricks to the hunt the killer, will she find what she needs most...or lose herself in the gathering darkness?"

I love the Hannibal vibe of this. To be clear I mean the television show not the book.

Perfectly weird and creepy. I always enjoy when a book never quite answers the question of whether or not its supernatural element is “real.” Maybe a little rushed at the end but that’s my only quibble and it’s a small one. Overall enjoyable and interesting. Liked the meditation on nature vs nurture

What an amazing debut novel! I was completely immersed from beginning to end.
Anna, the daughter of a notorious serial killer, is now a lieutenant at a police department.
He was caught when she was a child and her memories were limited. They now are coming back as murders are happening that replicate her father, The Forrest Strangler.
Is it her father? A copy cat? Or is something even more sinister happening?
It kept me guessing until the end. You’ll definitely want to pick this one up!

I started this book even though I already had two other books in process because I knew I’d get through it quickly and bolster my reading stats. There wasn’t anything wrong with this but it wasn’t mind blowing either. I did like that I flipped around between theories multiple times while reading and the clues kept pointing in all different directions. If there’s one thing I had to fault about this story it’s that there were too many coincidences to make it believable. And the supernatural concepts - I respect the Stephen King technique even though they didn’t blend quite as well with reality here as they do in the Outsider.

This was another one that sort of fell flat for me. Something about the main character just didn’t sit right with me. And maybe it isn’t supposed to. But it just didn’t work for me.

Anna is a sheriff's lieutenant and - unbeknownst to her colleagues - she is also the daughter of a notorious serial killer. Most of her childhood memories have been blocked by a therapist using a controversial and unlicensed hypnosis technique, but Anna starts remembering things after a traumatic incident at work. And then the bodies start showing up, adorned with flowers and displayed in a ceremonial fashion, just like her father's victims.

This is becoming one of my favorite serial killer sub-genres: the daughter of a serial killer has to solve a copycat case and deal with all sorts of terrible memories from her past. SO GOOD! (Another one I really enjoyed recently was The Killer's Daughter (Detective Margot Phalen Series)) This one had some super disturbing imagery, and I loved all of the creepy forest god business. I will say that I did not love the way the story ended/the explanation of the copycat, but I'm not sure how else it could have ended, and I loved everything else, so whatever.

Solvinic has written a VERY impressive debut, and I'm so excited to see what she writes next -- highly recommend!

Lt. Anna Koray has a secret: she is the daughter of an infamous serial killer, the Forest Strangler. Though a psychiatrist has helped her with repressing most of her childhood memories, when a copycat killer starts killing women, Anna's secret past is at risk of being exposed. Can she get to the bottom of the murders without anyone finding out her true identity?

The story kept me engaged and I enjoyed all of the different threads that were kept going throughout the book. Unfortunately, the ending felt a bit underbaked and rushed which is a shame because I enjoyed most of the book. I think if you are interested in serial killers, true crime or unreliable narrators, you'll enjoy this. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to Berkley & Netgalley for the ARC.

The Hunter’s Daughter was the perfect blend of moody and atmospheric, a dark forest beckoning the reader into its maw. I loved the character’s drive and the role her father’s spirit and beliefs played in her presence, haunting her and discoloring every step she takes. I can’t wait to read more books by this author. I really enjoyed this.

This was a fantastic read! And certainly a more unique take that I really enjoyed. I loved how the author dealt with our main characters trauma, being a serial killers daughter and all. The twists and turns were fun and kept us guessing. The ending wasn’t unpredictable but it was still easily enjoyable and added to the story for me!

huge thank you to netgalley for the copy of the book! after initially reading the description i was super intrigued and it did not disappoint. the plot was well thought out and had a lot of twists and turns that keep you interested the whole time. my only complaint would be that the ending felt a little rushed-would have loved a little more explanation. but for a debut novel this was great and i can’t wait to see what nicola solvinic does next!

Locked away in her mind is police officer Anna Koray’s childhood memories. When she kills a man in the line of duty, fractured memories slowly start seeping in, including the fact that her father was a serial killer. Though he is long dead, the killings have started again, which has Anna questioning if she is following in her father’s footsteps. A creepy, dark-edged, suspense-filled book with just enough of a supernatural twist. A captivating page-turner.

A suspenseful debut that leaves the reader questioning what is a dream and what is the true reality.

I don’t read thriller/mysteries that often but I was intrigued by this one when reading the blurb. The Hunter’s Daughter follows Anna, the daughter of an infamous serial killer in the 80s. Her memories have been repressed and she has started a new life as a cop. After she kills someone in the line of duty, her memories start to resurface. When bodies start appearing in the woods in a similar fashion to her father’s victims, her grip on reality starts to feel a lot more tenuous.

This book was a wild ride in that I really did not know where we were going. I thought I had this book figured out from the first chapter and I was pleasantly surprised to find that not to be the case in the end. What really worked is that when Anna started to feel the lines blur and was questioning her viewpoint in the real world, I always felt myself wondering what was real and what was only a dream. The descriptions of her father’s victims had me so creeped out in the best way.

I highly recommend checking out this thriller if you’re into murder, serial killers, and an unreliable narrator. Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for this advanced copy, all thoughts are my own.

Anna Korway, a lieutenant in a rural sheriff's department, is also the surviving daughter of a prolific serial killer and is living under an assumed name used to erase her past. When she kills a man in the line of duty one day she starts to get long-suppressed memories back, and when a copycat killer using her dad's MO appears in the area, she starts to question her memories and her sanity all while trying to solve the case. Fast-paced, with enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing almost to the end.

The Hunter's Daughter
by Nicola Solvinic
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.
This was a breakout debut novel. Nicola created a damaged character her felt on edge. Anna was unreliable and just on the brink of crazy. Her story is well defined and evolves. There were a few side stories that didn't seem super important and the ending could have been stretched a little longer. There was a sense of urgency and everything was tied up in the end.
I liked this book very much.

Intriguing story line; the daughter of a notorious serial killer who has been executed for his crimes, is now a respected cop, investigating murders of what appears to be the same MO that her father used. But he's dead isn't he? I wasn't a fan of her though and I think that took away from the story a bit. Good writing but the execution fell somewhat flat. A good enough read.

I thought this was really unique. The mystery and thrilling aspects of this book held up from beginning to end. I got invested in the characters and the paranormal levels to the story. I am an avid reader so it doesn’t take me too much for me to figure out the murderer in some cases. I thought I had this one figured out right away and was still so pleased that it kept me entertained and engaged. Turns out, I didn’t have it figured out! Kudos to you Solvinic!! Great first debut! I gave this novel 4.5 stars. Lots of intriguing characters and twists and turns. Besides, anything novel that can catch me off guard is always a win for me!

DNF.

Interesting premise on what it would be like to be the daughter of a serial killer and how that reverberates in every aspect of one's life and identity. However, didn't love the main character. She seemed flighty and her decisions were questionable from the very start. Also didn't love the supernatural aspect. Wanted more from this one .