'Hunters: The Beginning' by Shiloh Walker

I recently read (and loved!) Shiloh Walker’s stand-alone paranormal romance novel, ‘The Missing’. I had been meaning to read a Shiloh Walker novel for some time, based on the solid recommendations of many fellow paranormal-romance lovers who highly recommend her work.

So I decided to give her long-running paranormal erotica series, ‘The Hunters’ a read. This series is currently eleven books deep, and have recently been re-released to include two-stories-for-one with Amazon.

I was really excited to delve in Walker’s world, especially with the memory of ‘The Missing’ fresh in my mind. Sadly, I found these books to be quick, throw-away reads with little substance but lots of smuttiness.

Declan and Tori:

She was just doing her job, tracking down a nutcase who was stalking a young dancer. And then the unspeakable and impossible happened. She was bitten.

A newly turned vampire, Tori is alone and starving and she doesn't know what to do. But she knows who to turn to—gorgeous, mouthwatering Declan—a police detective who has a few secrets of his own.

Tori is a private investigator on the hunt for a psychotic stalker. This guy is a real nut-job, believing himself to be a ‘vampire’ and frightening his victim so much that she’s also convinced of his fanged bloodthirstiness.

But it’s too late for Tori when she learns the truth – vampires are real, supernaturals stalk the night and she has just been bitten . . . and is turning into a vampire.

She turns to the person she trusts most in the world – a local cop called Declan who she has been lusting after from their first meeting.

Declan can smell the change coming on Tori, because he is a werewolf. He can also smell that she is his mate, his to protect and save from the crazed vampire who is hell-bent on making her his master. Luckily, Declan is a werewolf and can offer a helping-hand with Tori’s transition . . . while at the same time succumbing to their mating bond.

“. . . Humans hate change. Hate trying the unknown.” She led him to the broken down recliner in the corner and curled upon his lap. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

Running one hand down her back, savouring the warmth of her flesh under the silk shirt she had snagged from his closet, Declan said, “I do not know what it is like to live with the monster you now have inside you. But I understand not being completely human. You’re not alone.”

He could feel her smile against his chest, feel the warm caress of her breath through the shirt he wore when she whispered, “I know.”

- Declan & Tori

Walker’s first book in ‘The Hunters’ series feels like half a novel. Reader’s are instantly on the back foot because Delcan and Tori have known (and worked) with each other for months already. Her as a PI, and he has her police informant. They have been fighting a burning attraction since their first meeting, or so we’re told.

It’s hard to play catch-up with this couple and really feel the attraction that Walker tells us is scorching between them. Honestly, it felt like Walker was rushing their romance so she could jump right into their bedroom sport (of which there is PLENTY).

I have no problems with a good bit of erotica. And paranormal-erotica is a particular favourite of mine . . . but even I need a bit more build-up and back-story before being thrown into such scorching sex scenes. It felt like Walker did a slight cheat by putting all of Declan and Tori’s attraction down to months of pent-up sexual frustration and yearning.

Things get particularly heated and ménage when Declan takes Tori to a vampire master friend of his, to show her the ropes. Elijah Crawford feels an instant attraction to Tori . . . and the three of them engage in some more bedroom shenanigans.

Once again, instant attraction + lots of sex didn’t really equal ‘hot’ to me. It all felt rushed, and slightly dirtily-lascivious in the wake of Declan and Tori’s bond (effectively a marriage). And I again felt like Walker copped-out by putting it down to (yet another) instant attraction between Eli and Tori. . .

Having said that, I was very intrigued by Eli. He is a very old, very lonely vampire – and while he enjoys his ménage with Declan and Tori, he also harbours a burning jealousy for what the two of them share. Knowing that Eli’s novel was #2 in ‘The Hunters’ series kept me going when I was experiencing some serious scepticism . . .

Eli And Sarel:

After three long centuries of aching loneliness, Elijah Crawford, Hunter of the Council, has finally found a woman. Maybe she can replace the obsession he has for Torrance Reilly, the wife and lover of his best friend.

Sarel is a lean, red-haired, wild-eyed witch with a soul to match his. She has a thirst for justice, and a yearning for a love to fill the void inside her. Sarel has been searching for Elijah. She is here now, prowling his grounds, waiting to get into his house.

Sarel has come to kill him.

Elijah Crawford is a centuries-old vampire, but he’s lonely and bored as hell. For years now he has watched his best friend reap the benefits of love with the women Eli also harbours an intense lust for. But what Declan and Tori have is not meant for Eli. And when a witch, hell-bent on misguided vengeance, sets out to kill him he almost welcomes the release of death-oblivion.

What he doesn’t count on is an intense attraction to the witchy hellion, and what he is willing to do to keep her, forever.

I quite liked the character set-up for Eli in book #1. He’s that lovely sort of tortured hero – ancient and lonely and on the brink of ending his mortality.

This series started to perk-up for me when Eli meets his mate in the most unusual of circumstances – with her hell-bent on murdering him.

But then Walker lost me again by skipping the novel ahead five years and (conveniently) saying that both Eli and Sarel had been pining for one another throughout those five years. . . urgh. Half a decade worth of wanting and lust and Walker just breezed over it and (once again) went straight to the sex.

I was really impressed with Shiloh Walker’s stand-alone paranormal romance thriller ‘The Missing’. That was a novel of sweet yearning and complex characters, and I thought that Walker’s first forays into paranormal romance would follow along similarly heatedly-multifaceted plot lines. Sadly, no. The first two novels in her ‘The Hunters’ series are cheap tricks; full of smut but little else. Admittedly, the first five novels of the series were published by Ellora’s Cave (notoriously smutty), while the last three books (with slightly naffier front-covers) are Berkley Sensation publications. It does look as though the series was improved over time . . . . but, honestly, I can’t be bothered wading through books 3 – 7 to get to the good stuff.

Admittedly, Walker knows what she’s doing when it comes to writing bedroom sport. Those scenes were gratuitously sexy (and if you want a bit of easy, sexy reading then I highly recommend) – but when there’s no characterization or plot to back it up, the books deteriorate into cheap erotic thrills.

2/5

'The Missing' by Shiloh Walker

From the BLURB:

Her psychic gift drove away the man she loved— and years later has drawn him back to her...

As a teenager, Taige Branch hated her psychic gift. No one could understand—except for Cullen Morgan, the boy who stole her heart. He did his best to accept her, until his mother was brutally murdered—and he couldn't forgive Taige for not preventing it.

Now a widowed father, Cullen Morgan has never forgotten Taige. But what brings her back into his life is another tragedy. His beloved little girl has been kidnapped, and Taige is his only hope of finding her. Working together against the clock, Cullen and Taige can't help but wonder whether—if they find his daughter in time—it isn't too late for the overpowering love that still burns between them . . .

Sixteen-year-old Taige Branch is cursed. Her whole life Taige has been able to predict death and feel spirits. But her psychic ability is useless, because there are always those she cannot save . . . like her parents. Taige can’t control her visions, they come and go – occasionally leading her to an infant in need of help and other times just taking her to a dead body, too late to save.

Taige’s bible-thumping uncle, Leon, knows that Taige is cursed – though she’s not as convinced by his ‘devil-spawn’ label.

One night Taige’s vision lets her down, again, and she finds herself at the mercy of two drunken rednecks hell-bent on a good time . . . until she is saved, by Cullen Morgan. Cullen is a young man holidaying in Alabama with his parents. For weeks he has been watching Taige; noticing the way she moves with unleashed grace, and how she always seems to be around when missing or injured children are saved. So when he sees the stupid drunk on top of her, he’s more than happy to be her knight in shining armour.

That year sixteen-year-old Taige meets the man who will own her heart for the rest of her life. Cullen is the calm in Taige’s stormy life. He understands her ability, and sees it as a gift. And he loves Taige because he sees strength in her that she cannot feel in herself.

But when Cullen’s mother is brutally murdered, he cannot forgive Taige her unseeing vision. He hates her for not being able to help his mother.

Twelve years later and Cullen needs Taige, has never stopped needing her. When Cullen’s little girl, Jillian, is stranger-snatched he knows only his lost love can help him find his baby girl.

‘The Missing’ is a supernatural mystery novel by romance author, Shiloh Walker.

I have heard nothing but good things about Shiloh Walker. Her name is renowned around the romance book blogosphere, and many of her novels have been recommended to me. But ‘The Missing’ is the first book of hers that I've read – and it will be the first of many.

The first half of the novel concerns Cullen and Taige’s young romance between 1992 and 1996. Taige has had a terrible life, losing both parents to a drunk driver and living with her Bible-nut uncle who reminds her daily that she is demonic. Not to mention the nightmares and flashbacks of brutal foretelling that plague Taige on a daily basis. But when she meets Cullen, her life seems ready to change for the better. Their teenage love is intense and sweet; Cullen is the first person to convince Taige that her visions are a gift, and both of them are quietly convinced that they have found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with. But when Cullen’s mother is murdered, he cannot forgive Taige her inability to foresee the brutal event. They part ways on angry words, with Taige’s heart irrevocably broken.

The book skips ahead twelve years – Cullen has turned into a bestselling fantasy author, with a little girl. Jillian’s mother died from complications in childbirth, and ever since it has been just the two of them. Meanwhile, Taige’s life has taken a more violent direction . . . she works for a special FBI task force, officially as a civilian consultant. In actuality, the FBI utilize Taige’s gift to help with child-related cases. She has helped find missing and kidnapped kids, assisted in exposing child-pornography rings and in locating dead bodies. Taige’s life is marred by heartbreak . . . the one light in her depressing existence is the dreams in which Cullen comes to her; fantasies in which he repents and begs forgiveness for turning his back on Taige years ago. Dreams in which he still loves her.

For twelve years Taige has been dreaming and missing Cullen, hoping he would walk back into her life. But when Cullen’s daughter is kidnapped, Taige cannot believe the way their paths cross once again.

‘The Missing’ is quite a dark book. It has to be, when Taige’s premonitions lead her to dead bodies and lets her see the dark heart of paedophiles. The first half of the novel is really a battering for Taige, and readers. Reading Cullen so callously walk out of her life, and then the many ways in which her life has hardened over twelve long years. . . . it’s a lot of sadness to heap upon readers. But Walker intercepts the sadness with glimpses of hope – like Taige and Cullen’s strange interlacing dreams in which they visit one another in mind and soul.

The novel does a fairly quick, romantic turn-around when Cullen seeks out Taige’s help to find his missing girl. His abrupt reappearance is softened by the fact that he has been keeping close tabs on Taige’s FBI-success, effectively stalking her from a distance, and constantly berating himself for his harsh treatment of her twelve years ago. When Cullen sees Taige again, he knows he won’t be walking out on her ever again . . . thus begins Cullen’s desperate bid to win Taige’s heart all over again.

His gaze dropped down, lingering on her mouth. “I don’t know that I'd want to change you.” His thumb stoked over her lower lip, and she felt an answering throb deep inside. “But I'd do damn near anything to change how much you’ve been hurt. From me, from this job of yours, from life.”

Turning her head aside, Taige said in a flat, unhappy voice, “Life hurts, Cullen. That’s just a fact. Nobody can change it.”

“But it shouldn’t hurt,” he whispered. His hand moved to her chin, bringing her face around so that their eyes met. “It’s going to, but there ought to be just as much pleasure as pain. How long has it been since you felt the pleasure of life, Taige?” He didn’t wait for an answer.

Instead, he kissed her.

I appreciated Walker’s amped-up romance in the second half of the novel. I liked that Cullen was (rightfully) repentant and desperate to win back Taige’s heart and trust. But I did feel like Taige bit her tongue throughout a lot of her and Cullen’s rekindled scenes . . . I kept waiting for an explosion of pain and anger, just to get it out of her system. As the story unfolds we realize just how much hurt Cullen heaped upon her – and the more we learn, the more I wanted her to just blow up at him. Just once, I wanted Taige to unleash twelve years of pent-up hurt and feelings of abandonment. As it is, I never felt like Walker completely resolved their issues by the end of the book. . . but that’s my only complaint in an otherwise unblemished novel.

The romance is sublime. Walker writes heated and tender sex scenes that are lush and heartbreaking – especially for the way that Taige lets her guard down when she’s intimate with Cullen, despite still nursing her heartbreak over him.

I also really enjoyed the mystery-angle of this novel. Admittedly, ‘The Missing’ is more romance than anything else . . . but Walker’s deep, psychological thriller storyline was equally interesting, nicely balanced with Taige and Cullen’s tumultuous twelve-year love affair.

I loved this novel, and I really thought it could be the beginning of a new series. I would have liked to revisit Taige and Cullen in the future, or focus on Taige’s psychic friend, Dez. Alas, ‘The Missing’ was published in 2008, with no mention of a sequel. Although, Shiloh Walker has a Missing-themed short story coming out in the Sexy Capers anthology, ‘Hot in Handcuffs’ – due for release July 2012.

‘The Missing’ is my first Shiloh Walker read, but it won’t be my last. The book was dark and gritty, with a broken woman at its captivating centre and a complicated, broken relationship counterbalancing the disturbing mystery plot. Shiloh Walker writes tough; dark, complex characters with messy lives and hardened shells. But the turning point comes with a reformative love of utter tenderness and raw heat.

4.5/5