Review by Sadonna

TITLE:  How to Lure a Hunter

SERIES:  Vampire Related Crimes

AUTHOR:  Alice Winters

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  10 hours and 2 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  March 10, 2021

BLURB:

Alexei
When Marcus Church brings his brother Claude in to help solve an unusual murder, I’m positive he did it just to disrupt my monotonous life. None of my coworkers in the Vampire Related Crimes unit seem to understand that I want to keep a wall between me and everyone else – especially Claude, who does everything he can to break through it with an annoying smile. After more vampires begin to die, Claude pinpoints the actions of the killers to a group of vampire hunters, leaving us in a race to stop them. When I discover that I have a target on my back, I’m surprised that Claude insists on staying by my side, even when things go from bad to worse. I’m determined to keep him out – I’ve lost enough people in my life – but I can’t stop feeling something every time he breaks through.

Claude
When I reunited with my brother, I never imagined it’d throw me right into Alexei Karsynov’s path. He’s short-tempered, stubborn, and dangerously adorable whenever he smiles – he just doesn’t realize it yet. When Marcus asks me to help with a case, it gives me the excuse I need to get closer to Alexei, but what I discover threatens to change everything. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to do anything to protect Alexei and to see him smile, despite his efforts to keep his distance from others. I’m determined to show him that he can’t live in the past when his future is so much brighter.

How to Lure a Hunter is a 107k word book that contains: clothes so bright they could cause retina damage, a ridiculous amount of gifts showered on a reluctant recipient, a cranky Russian with a soft spot he tries to hide, a library full of books that need to be treated with the proper respect, some possibly unhealthy sibling teasing, and a sunshiny 300-year-old vampire with an unexpected protective streak.

REVIEW:

Marcus and the VRC are embroiled in a new case – someone is murdering vampires.  But the MO is strange – religious symbols, unusual ways in which the bodies are treated, no record of any prior trouble for the victims, etc.  But some of the iconography is right up Claude’s alley.  So Marcus brings him in as a consultant to study the strange artifacts found with the victims.  Claude has purchased a house and had his library moved and he can easily look up whatever he needs to.  After all he’s been collecting things for hundreds of years 🙂

Alexei is irritated that Claude continues to try to spend time with him.  But he’s also amused.  And reluctantly attracted.  He cannot get over just how different Claude is to Marcus.  It’s like Marcus got all the grump and Claude got all the sunny.  He’s always immaculately dressed in the most amazingly outlandish clothes.  He doesn’t try to intimidate anyone.  He just uses his brain – and his not insignificant charm.  He plies Alexei with gifts and flowers – much to Alexei’s chagrin.

But as the murders go on, Alexei becomes more withdrawn.  He realizes that something about this seems familiar and that he may be at the center of why these vampires are being targeted – in his jurisdiction.  But he can’t let anyone know his secret – or everything he’s tried to accomplish will be for nothing.  But Claude isn’t about to let that happen.  When Alexei shares his secrets with him, he can’t believe that Claude sticks by him and insists that he help Alexei try to clean up this mess.  Alexei realizes that maybe he can let somebody in and that Claude really does has his best interests at heart.

Oh how I loved Alexei in this one.  He has honestly been one of my favorite characters in this series since the very beginning when he threatened to eat Finn 🙂  I knew there had to be something in his past that made him so obstinate and stubborn when it came letting anyone get close to him.  But Finn and Jackson and DeGray and to some extent, even Brooks have managed to at least get Karsyn to accept that they are his friends.  But Claude – well that’s a different story.   Claude, while being a more recent addition to the cast of characters, is also a hoot.  I love everything about him – let me count the ways!  His wardrobe, his refusal to let Alexei try to get rid of him, his banter with Marcus, his teasing of but also admiration for Finn, but mostly his devotion and persistence in breaking down Alexei’s walls and getting to the truth.  There are so many twists and turns to this story – surprises from both Alexei and Claude.  No spoilers, but there are lots of hilarious moments – particularly related to Claude, some wardrobe malfunctions, some damage to his person and more.  But Alexei and Claude are perfect for each other – even if only one of them knows that for sure 😉

Once again, Michael Ferraiuolo is the perfect narrator for this series.  His ability to convey the pathos, the humor, the snarky banter, the urgency during the climactic moments are unparalleled. And of course then there are the accents.  I love Michael’s Russian accent and he gets to show if off here quite a lot.  There are a lot of side/secondary characters here as well.  He does them all brilliantly!  Bravo and I cannot wait for the next adventure for the whole VRC gang.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Audible