Book Review: Hunter’s Trail by Melissa F. Olson

Guest Reviewed by Ami

Title: Hunter’s Trail
Author: Melissa F. Olson
Series: Scarlett Bernard #3
Heroine/Hero: Scarlett Bernard/Jesse Cruz
Genre: MF Urban Fantasy
Length: 377 Pages
Publisher: 47North
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Available at:  47North, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Actions have consequences—a lesson Scarlett Bernard is learning the hard way. As a “null,” Scarlett has always been able to negate the powers of the supernatural beings that surround her. But now her reckless decision to permanently change Eli from a werewolf to a human has left the Los Angeles werewolf pack in shambles, and upset the balance of power among the city’s supernatural factions. To make matters worse, Scarlett’s employers discover that a newly changed werewolf is running amok in the city. To catch the rogue werewolf, Scarlett will need help from both Eli and Detective Jesse Cruz of the LAPD…a situation that will force her to finally choose between them.

However, Scarlett and her friends aren’t the only ones on the hunt—someone else is chasing the wolf. Someone with no reservations about collateral damage. Now Scarlett and her allies must stop both the rogue wolf and the deadly hunter before the full moon rises and all hell breaks loose.

Filled with the same suspense and wit readers loved in Dead Spots and Trail of Dead, this may be Scarlett Bernard’s most harrowing adventure yet…(

Review: Hunter’s Trail is the end of the trilogy of what Melissa F. Olson said might be the first arc of Scarlett Bernard series. There might be more Scarlett Bernard books in the future, but for now, the story arc started from the first book, Dead Spot. As a small recap, Scarlett is a null who has ability to make all supernaturals lose their power when they are in her radius. Her job is a ‘cleaner’ who helps removing evidence of any supernatural-related crime. Meanwhile, Detective Jesse Cruz is a homicide detective who sometimes works together with Scarlett after being ‘roped’ into one of the supernatural crimes in book 1. There is a very big development in book 2, which ends up in creating a power vacuum in the Los Angeles werewolf pack. Some of the pack members are demanding Scarlet’s help. Someone is leaving dead female bodies on Will’s (the werewolf Alpha) doorstep. And oh, there is another hunter who also murders pack members.

Now I am going to try to separate my feelings into two elements of the story: the mystery/urban fantasy and the (slight) romance.

The mystery/urban fantasy …

This story definitely ties up loose ends, especially related to Scarlet’s power and the consequences of what she did in book #2. I thought the conflict was really good; I enjoyed reading about the pack dynamics, including the magic that kept the pack together. I also enjoyed the mystery and the new myth introduced regarding the villain that killed the female humans. In addition, Ms. Bernard also introduced a group of werewolf hunters and a new supernatural being — the latter was a character that I would truly loved to read more about in the future books.

Without spoiling too much, I must say that there were some downfalls … we had pack members killed, we also had sort of a ‘break-up’ in friendship between Scarlett and a female character (one that I truly felt sad about), but at the same time, we also had Scarlett finally living up to her power and making demands on the vampire and werewolf leaders. I thought that was really cool of her! You go, Scarlett!! The conclusion about the power vacuum was something that I didn’t really see coming, but at the same time, I couldn’t see any other way as well. So it was pretty satisfying.

The (slight) romance …

This series has two point-of-views: one from Scarlett (using 1st person), and the second from Jesse (using 3rd person). It was due to this format, as in the first book, I thought that Jesse would be a love interest for Scarlett, because clearly he was important enough to get his own chapters. However, to be perfectly honest, I never really felt that Jesse was right for Scarlett. Oh, he would be good as her partner, as a sounding board when they were both dealing with the crime, but Jesse was too … ‘morally’ rigid when it came to the Old World and its justice system. I was quite annoyed with his point of views and the way it felt like he wanted Scarlett to change.

Then there was Eli … a werewolf who also used to be Scarlett’s fuck-buddy. As a supernatural being, he clearly understands Scarlett better. UNFORTUNATELY, he doesn’t have enough scenes in this book to create a stronger bond with readers to support him (which was totally unfair for Eli).

Scarlett did make a decision though … and one I fully supported, because it was what felt right for the time being. I would probably be pissed if it went the other way, because it wouldn’t feel natural.

So overall, I thought Hunter’s Trail as a very good conclusion and definitely my favorite of the series. I would love to read more about Scarlett, of course, to get updates about her and her apprentice. But even if it doesn’t happen any time soon, I’m quite happy about where the arc ends at this point.

Overall Impression: I really liked it

*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*