Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine

Gwen Proctor has come a long way since the haunted mess she was in STILLHOUSE LAKE. She's found a new life for herself, met a man who loves her in spite of her demons, and is basically taking life one step at a time with her kids, who are still messed up from the events in books one and two but are far more resilient than Gwen ever dared hope. As far as she's concerned, life is peachy.

Then she gets a phone call from a weirdo living in a place called Wolfhunter. I know what you're thinking-- I was thinking the same thing: "Gwen, seriously. Get the fuck out of the South-- and especially get the fuck out of places with creepy-ass names like Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek and Wolfhunter River. If it has the words Kill, Hunt, or Still in it, just don't, okay, Gwen?"

To her credit, Gwentries her best to stay out of things, but it doesn't work out that way. Gwen gets more involved than she ever wanted to be when the woman who called her to beg vaguely but desperately for help ends up dead and she's forced to trek down over to scenic Wolfhunter to make a statement while also dealing with a mob of people making a documentary about how she's a killer herself. Cinéma vérité it is not, but if truth was a requirement for journalism, FOX news wouldn't exist.

WOLFHUNTER RIVER is such a creepy book. It definitely has a different vibe from the previous two books, where Gwen's own circumstances are the focus of the events happening. This was much more impersonal and it was hard to feel the same sort of stakes, even though Caine did a really good job making the creepy town creepy, showcasing the ickiest rednecks you've ever seen since that movie, Deliverance. I feel like this book is meant to be a turning point in the series, as it makes the switch from mysteries directly involving Gwen to ones that she engages in peripherally. I don't think anything will top KILLMAN CREEK for me, but I do look forward to the fourth book in the series.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars