The Hunter’s Daughter by Nicola Solvinic – a Review

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Description:
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?

Review:

The Hunter’s Daughter by Nicola Solvinic is an exciting debut thriller. I did not know what to expect, when I started reading this book; but this turned out to be a fantastic story that kept me on the edge of my seat. I am also amazed that this is Nicola Solvinic’s debut, and I will be checking her out in the future.  Well done.

Anna Koray, our heroine, manage to escape her father being a serial killer (Forest Strangler) many years ago. When he was imprisoned, her mother gave her up for adoption, and a psychiatrist helped seal (hypnosis) away from her mind the terrible memories. Anna was adopted, with a new name and loved her new family; when she is older, she became a decorated police lieutenant.

The story begins when Anna, off duty, responds to a domestic assault call, since she was nearby. Anna finds herself in the middle of an assault, and ends up killing the man in the line of duty; with her suffering serious injuries. While in recovery, some of those suppressed memories of her father return. When a number of women turn up murdered, a serial killer using the same copycat MO of her father emerges.  Though this is decades later, she begins to remember much of the past, as Anna tries to interview those who were victims, as well as her estranged mother, who abandoned her. Anna also begins to get cell phone messages revealing that he knows who she is, her father’s daughter (Elena). Anna is deep into trying to solve the case, especially to keep her real identity a secret, which would threaten everything she has built. 

What follows is an exciting, intense, suspenseful story with so many twists and turns along the way, which kept me unable to put the book down.  I will not give any spoilers, as this is a book you need to read from start to finish.  When Anna’s memories slowly return, we get to see her relationship with her father, as well as her mother, and eventually finding out at such a young age that her father a killer.

The Hunter’s Daughter was an excellent psychological thriller, that was captivating and haunting, keeping us guessing. The Hunter’s Daughter was a wild ride throughout, and so very well written by Nicola Solvinic. I am amazed how this is Solvinic’s debut novel.  I suggest you read The Hunter’s Daughter, as this was a fantastic read. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher