BookReview ~ HUNTERS by Stephanie J. Pristavu

Book:    Hunters
Author:  Stephanie J. Pristavu
Genre:  Paranormal/vampire/romantic elements
My rating:  3-4 stars - this one was tough to judge

Okay, I've been very on the fence about this review. I actually finished this book over a week ago, and I've been trying to decide how I felt about it overall. In truth, most of the book is very good. I love the story line, vampires being vampires who are actually scary dudes that are bad news. I mean, don't get me wrong, you all know some of my favorite books are Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series and I'm a pretty much in love with Eric Northman, but this was a nice change. Vlad is a bad dude who wants to kill humans, not love them. 

I even liked the hunters, Rachel and Daniel. I liked the idea of a hunter - a human who was only partially changed to a vampire but saved by another hunter's blood giving them antibodies basically against the vampire poison. This gives hunters a lot of human qualities still (the ability to love, stay in sunlight--though it is a bit painful for them so they prefer the night--a beating heart and the need for food). Also, they get a bunch of neat vampire abilities (super strength, speed, fast healing). A hunter's main objective in life is to kill vampires. Pretty neat idea and something I hadn't seen before. 

The parts I didn't like were actually the romance bits, which is weird for me. In the beginning, it was cute and funny and hot, the attraction between Rachel and Daniel. However, about 20% into the book, things got weird. Daniel would want Rachel and then push her away for no apparent reason. Rachel would be sad, mad, whatever. Then it all happened again. As a romance reader, I expect some of this stuff to happen, the characters fight, they have insecurities, whatever, but there is always a reason - something that triggers the change in the relationship. That wasn't the case here. There was never any explanation, just him pulling her close and pushing her away again and again. Nothing would happen to make him change his mind, he just did. The only explanation given was 'he must be bipolar.' I wouldn't have even minded that, but this  went on for about 15% of the book with nothing else happening. I honestly started skim reading and decided I wasn't going to finish the book. 

I put the book away for a few days, but wanted to give it another try because I did like the premise of this book so much, and had enjoyed the parts before the problem started. We finally got on to dealing with vampires, and it was a lot better. I really enjoyed the plot and I love the style of writing. Very clean and easy to read. Several parts that were funny. It was honestly only the romance part that turned me off. If I had skipped the romance parts, this would have been a definite 4 star for me.  FYI - Daniel's odd behavior is eventually explained, but having the same thing over and over again was very frustrating, especially with no explanation at the time. 

I would still recommend this book. The fight scenes are really good and the overall story is too. If you want bad vampires and also a little history of the true vampire, Vlad the Impaler, this story provides all of that. I think a lot of the problems I had about the romance was worked out throughout this story, and I do look forward to the next installment. 






Happy reading everyone!
eeeChantelfff