HUNTER'S RISE - Shiloh Walker
The Hunters , Book 14
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-24837-9
April 2012
Paranormal Romance

Memphis , Tennessee - Present Day

Currently going by the name Sylvia James, she is a mercenary, an assassin, and a vampire.  She hunts the monsters in the world for money, but sometimes she'll come across a case that she's willing to do for free, and Alan Pulaski is such a case.  Arrested for murder and being a pedophile, Pulaski was let out on bail awaiting his trial, and has now escaped.  The parents of one of his victims have contracted Sylvia to deliver the justice they aren't sure he'll get through the legal system.  The face of the victim, Toby, haunts Sylvia, and reminds her too much of a boy from her own past.  She'll do whatever it takes to hunt down Pulaski and kill him.

Toronto knows that he has to be the one to find Sylvia from the moment Rafe presents the case to the Hunters.  Much as they don't mind Pulaski finding justice at Sylvia's hands, there are other victims out there—and other families looking for answers.  As someone who has spent the last century looking for answers to his past, Toronto understands the torture of not knowing, so he'll make sure to stop Sylvia from killing Pulaski—until they find out about the other missing boys.  Something about the vampire draws him in, though, and Toronto , who doesn't work well with others, finds himself wanting to work with her.  Wanting more than just to work with her.

In what looks to be the final book in the Hunters series, HUNTER'S RISE gives us an exciting story about two tortured characters, while also giving fans a chance to check in with some favorites.  Attacked by feral wolves when he was a teenager, Toronto was saved by Nessa (the heroine of HUNTER'S NEED), and eventually he came to live at the Enclave.  Yet, Toronto doesn't feel as if he fits there, and he's too lost in his own missing past to do much more than what's demanded of him.  This case and this woman have him wanting to be more, though, and he starts to see himself in a clearer—and not very flattering—light.  Sylvia is tortured by her past and all she's endured, and she feels it necessary to fight the monsters of the world.  She has little use for the Hunters as a whole, seeing them as a bunch of do-gooders, and she's very reluctant to work with Toronto .  As much as Sylvia would like to, she can't deny the attraction to Toronto , or that he makes her feel something she hasn't felt in longer than a century…safe.

Several of the characters from earlier stories make appearances in HUNTER'S RISE when Toronto realizes that there's a lot more going on in Rafe's territory than one missing pedophile.  However, the story really focuses on Toronto and Sylvia and can be read as a stand-alone novel.  A riveting tale, you won't want to miss HUNTER'S RISE.

Jennifer Bishop