Allison Brennan The Hunt

The Hunt

Allison Brennan

Ballantine, Feb 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0345480244

Miranda and Sarah were fleeing the killer, but the latter was falling behind. Miranda wants to live, but cannot ignore her friend. She goes back to help Sarah, but the predator closes in on them with his rifle, aims and fires. Sarah is dead while Miranda manages to escape.

Twelve years later in Montana, the seventh mutilated victim Rebecca Thomas of the serial killer the Butcher shakes up Sheriff Nick Thomas, who is pleased his friend FBI Agent Quincy Peterson will help on the investigation. Quin needs to end the reign of terror for Miranda Moore, a tough survivor who he carried to safety when she fled the Butcher twelve years ago. He loves her, but she is fixated on the Butcher, the reason he kicked her out of the FBI Academy. When another young woman is abducted, Quin leads the investigation with Miranda, a member of a Bozeman search-and-rescue unit, on his team.

The second Allison Brennan FBI thriller (see THE PREY) is an exhilarating tale that grips the audience from the moment that Nick, Quin, and Miranda converge on the latest murder scene and never slows down until the final conflict with the Butcher. The police procedural serial killer story line grips readers as they hope the cops can rescue the college coed before she becomes the latest brutalized Big Sky victim. The romantic subplot between Quin and Miranda adds tension as they love one another, but she has not forgiven him for flunking her at the FBI Academy, the hardest thing he ever did. Nick augments the pressure as he wants Miranda as his wife. Romantic suspense fans will cherish this taut thriller and look forward to more with THE KILL coming soon.

Harriet Klausner