Book Review: "Wolfhunter River" by Rachel Caine

Imagine what it must be like to discover the man you married was a horrible serial killer, and that he was torturing and killing women right underneath your nose. For Gwen Proctor, that nightmare was her reality. But after fearing him for years and trying to keep her kids out of danger, she has finally been able to pull their lives together into some semblance of normalcy.

But peace of mind and security don't last long. Her ex-husband Melvin had acolytes all across the country, people willing to do his bidding and inflict emotional torture on Gwen and her kids. People make threats against them on a daily basis, some of them bordering on true danger. And even worse, the families of Melvin's victims continue to believe that Gwen was a part of his crimes and are determined to make her pay, even developing a documentary which they hope will finally expose what they believe to be her guilt—no matter who gets hurt in the crossfire.

One day Gwen gets a call from Marlene, a woman in a remote Tennessee town called Wolfhunter. Marlene is among those strangers who call on Gwen, asking for advice or assistance in overcoming challenges like she did. Marlene is afraid of someone, but isn't willing to divulge the reasons for her fears. Marlene asks Gwen to come to Wolfhunter but she fears it's some sort of trap. Yet when the next call from Wolfhunter comes in it's not from Marlene, it's from her teenage daughter, Vee. Marlene is dead and the primary suspect is Vee herself, even though Gwen knows it's not her daughter Marlene was afraid of.

Gwen makes the decision to help Vee out, so she heads to Wolfhunter, along with her boyfriend Sam and her children. While she knows she may be stepping into something dangerous, she has no idea of the viper's nest they'll encounter, and the ripple effects that will be felt by Marlene's murder, Vee's alleged guilt, and the simple fact of Gwen's presence in Wolfhunter. Small, rundown towns are the perfect breeding ground for evil, and as the danger intensifies, so do the crises in her own life.

Wolfhunter River is Rachel Caine's third book in her Stillhouse Lake series (after Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek). Gwen Proctor is an amazing character—flawed, brave, vulnerable, fierce, and utterly protective of her children. I found the first two books in this series absolutely spectacular, tautly plotted and full of action and suspense, and they provided a disturbing view into the heart of evil and how it can spread.

I found that this book took a little longer to build up steam, and once it did, there was so much going on and so many things were tangled together that the plot even got a little muddled. It felt like in trying to build on the intensity of the first two books, Caine thought she had to triple the suspense. Fortunately, there is still a lot of character development, and we learn more about Sam's life before he and Gwen met.

This book might be more of a standalone than the first two books were, but I'd still recommend you start reading the series from the beginning. Caine sure does love to keep you guessing about how the plot will unfold! I'm not sure if she intends to keep writing about Gwen, but I hope she does, because she's definitely one of my favorite female characters of late.

If you're a fan of creepy, well-written, suspenseful thrillers, I'd encourage you to pick up this series, starting with Stillhouse Lake. You may find yourself wondering just how you'd react if faced with the same situations Gwen was, and whether you'd be a total badass like she is.

NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

This book will be published April 23, 2019.