Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Hunt 
AUTHORS: J.M. Dabney & Davidson King
NARRATORS: Kirt Graves & Tor Thom
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2019
LENGTH: 5 hours, 23 minutes
BLURB:
Disgraced detective turned private investigator, Ray Clancy, left the force with a case unsolved. Finding the killer was no longer his problem, but it still haunted him. How long would he survive the frustration of not knowing before he gave into the compulsion of his nature to solve the crime?
Server Andrew Shay existed where he didn’t feel he belonged, living behind the guise of a costume. Yet it paid the bills, and he refused to complain about the little things in life. One night he returned home from work to find his roommate dead and the killer still there. Afraid and alone, his life spiraled, and he didn’t know what to do. Could a detective at his core and a scared young man join forces to bring down the killer in their midst?
REVIEW:
Let’s go hunting for a serial killer shall we? A vicious serial killer is mutilating young and pretty gay men across town. (Most) of the police force is turning a blind eye, but detective Ray Clancy isn’t one of them and he’s determined to put a stop to the killer before more bodies turn up. That is until he is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and subsequently kicked off the force.
Now six months later he’s started his own private investigator’s firm, but he’s getting fed up with the cheating spouses’ cases he’s forced to take on to pay his bills. Until one day when he gets a phone call from Andy asking for his protection after witnessing his best friend’s murder. A murder the police is still reluctant to tie to the previous ones. As for Ray; he’s determined to once and for all catch the sadistic killer – before he gets anywhere near Andy, the sweet young man he’s starting to fall for.
The first part of this book hooked me. It had me forget everything in real life and I was immersed in this story and these characters. I wanted to solve the heinous crimes and put the killer behind bars – or six feet under – either option would work for me. The characters were engaging and the mystery so gruesome that you just had to know more, to prevent there from being more victims. I did have an issue with this book and that was the dialogue. At times it just felt off – especially the ones involving the killer. It felt like it was trying too hard and it just didn’t work – at least not for me.
Kirt Graves narrated the parts told from Andrew’s POV and he did them really well. He captured his personality just right and it felt like you got to know him. He also varied the intensity of his narration depending on the mood of the book; sad, suspenseful, terrifying, or tender. This performance really enhances the listener experience, for me at least. It draws you in and makes you a part of this hunt – or in Andrew’s case – being stalked by a deranged killer.
I love listening to new (to me) narrators, love to find new gems. However new narrators are also always a risk as you don’t know what you’ll get. Tor Thom had a nice enough voice to listen to, but in general his narration didn’t work for me. He felt uninspired and bored while reading the words in front of him. I don’t know if that was because he was uninspired or if it was due to his monotone narration. Either way it didn’t do anything for me, which is a shame because the rest really did.
RATING: 
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