The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger

Author: Lisa Unger
Publisher: Touchstone
Date of publication: June 2017

Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her. Now, looking for a fresh start with a home restoration project and growing blog, Claudia takes on a crumbling old house—one that unbeknownst to her has an ugly history and may hide long buried secrets.

For Zoey Drake the defining moment of her childhood was the horrific home invasion murder of her parents. Years later, she has embraced the rage that fuels her. Training in the martial arts has made her strong and ready to face the demons from the past—and within.

Strangers to each other, and walking very different paths in the wake of trauma, these two women are on a collision course—because Zoey’s past nightmare and Claudia’s dreams for her future take place in the very same house. As Zoey seeks justice, and Claudia seeks peace, both will confront the monsters at the door that are the most frightening of all. 

The Red Hunter is the latest stand alone by Lisa Unger.  When the book opens, we meet two women who are on very different paths in life.  Neither seems to have anything in common, but as the story progresses, their paths soon seem to be headed toward each other.

I ended up enjoying this book.  I thought it was a pretty good mystery.  About halfway through, i thought that I had it all figured out.  While I did get a couple of things right, there were couple of surprises as well.  For the most part, I liked all of the main characters.  There are multiple points of view and I felt like learned enough about the main characters to care about what happened to them. The story also goes between past and present. This did allow for the plot to be laid out in a timely fashion without a huge reveal at the end.  I really enjoyed that pace.

The one thing that I wasn't a fan of was Zoey's part being told in first person and the rest of the story being told in third person.  I will never understand why authors choose to write a book that way.But that is just a personal preference, I guess.   I think fans of Lisa Unger will enjoy this stand alone.  It's a good solid mystery and one I do recommend.