Rachel Caine did it AGAIN! Going into a series I never expect the books to be as good as the first. There is always something about the first that hooks me in and nothing can ever compare. The Stillhouse series is the exception, each book keeps me up at night as I obsess over it and I have to know what happens.
Wolfhunter River was like that. I was so excited to be approved on NetGalley to read it, It was hard to put it down to socialize, since I had company in town, because in my head I was wondering what is going to happen to Gwen next.
I stayed up well into the wee hours of the morning because things were getting good and I had to know how they were going to get through it and what other surprises where headed my way.
These books are definitely getting bought in print and going on my favorites shelf.

She can’t ignore a cry for help. But in this remote hunting town, it’s open season.

Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.

But now, a threatened woman has reached out…

The third in Caine’s immensely readable and thrilling ‘Stillhouse Lake’ series, Wolfhunter River is nonetheless a departure from the norm. The book feels very much like a bridge that had to be crossed before Caine could continue the series the way she wanted. This isn’t a criticism. Actually, I was worried that Caine wouldn’t be able to move Gwen and Sam away from the malevolent spectre that was Melvin Royal, and I’m very pleased to be wrong. I can imagine – given the narrative thread that Rachel Caine introduces toward the end of this book – a very satisfying series coming from this new direction in Gwen’s life.

Part of me just wants Gwen to catch a break. What else can she possibly endure without going crazy? But the other part finds these books way too exciting to let go. In Wolfhunter River, Gwen answers the call of a panicked woman named Marlene Crockett, who is desperate for help to escape a looming threat. She won’t explain what – or who – she’s terrified of, but it’s evident that there’s something rotten in Wolfhunter. After sick Internet vigilantes come after Gwen and her family once again, and she receives another disturbing call – this time from Marlene’s daughter, she heads to Wolfhunter, feeling called to help, any way she can.

The second half of the book is packed with action, but Caine doesn’t sacrifice character and relationship development in the process. Gwen and Sam are struggling both with their romance, and with their pasts. Gwen sees camera eyes in every corner and Melvin in every patch of dark, and Sam is rocked to the core by the re-emergence of Miranda Tidewell in his life – a particularly repellent character that is hellbent on misery and revenge.

There’s also the very real threat from online sources and ghosts from Melvin’s past. He’s made sure that even in death, he’s a part of his family’s life, and like a spider, he keeps tightening the web – until someone is bound to choke. He’s a black stain on their lives, and it only continues to get worse, not better.

By the end, Caine has set up Gwen for a new beginning, but crucially, a beginning that is shaped irrevocably by the blood and horror of her past. I’m very, very happy that we haven’t seen the last of Gwen and her family, and hopefully, we’ll get more glimpses of Melvin (what a name hiding such a monster!)

My favourite part of these books – the beating heart that runs through them like a golden cord of steel – is Gwen’s love for her children, and YES – her love for herSELF. She SURVIVED. *She* did that. And she’s not giving up – not for anyone. It’s such a gorgeous portrayal of what it means to be a survivor, and what it means to be a woman in this world – this world of rape culture and #MeToo and Internet dog-piling and incessant, damaging vitriol. A world where your husband was a serial killer, and somehow it’s your fault for not controlling him, pleasing him, stopping him. It’s still, somehow, all on the woman.

I love Rachel Caine for this honest, unflinching depiction of a woman who has gone through the fire – and come through scarred, but alive, kicking and ready.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate the chance, as always.

I'm not a series reader but I loved this series! Rachel Caine is one of the best thriller writers out there and this one does not disappoint!

Oh how it troubles me to rate Wolfhunter River, the third in the Stillhouse Lake series a 3. BUT, I only liked it. I didn't love it. Which is the opposite of the other two novels. I'm not sure what it was really..action packed?? Ehhh...not as much as I had hoped for. I felt like the last 3/4 of the book was the best. There were ALOT of characters in this book and two stories that collided to make it what it was. Which at times became somewhat confusing because I found myself questioning who was who. With that being said, I did still enjoy the novel.

Although this is part of a series, I do think someone could pick this book up without reading the first two and still understand what was happening. But, for the sake of characters backgrounds, I suggest reading the first two novels before this one.

The only thing that makes me unhappy about reading Wolfhunter River is that I now have to wait a year for the next in the series. Rachel Caine has given us an astounding woman in Gwen Proctor. Her kids and Sam and supporting cast of characters are unlike anything being written today. This third in the series does not miss a beat. What a horrifying world it can be, and Gwen can kick its bootie, one day at a time. Five Stars!

I devoured the first two books in this series – “Stillhouse Lake” and “Killman Creek”, so I was so excited when this third one was available. Rachel Caine has not missed a beat at all with “Wolfhunter River” --book #3 in the series. Although this could be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first two to give you all the backstory for these characters, it makes this one a much richer read.

Gwen and Sam play key roles in this one again as do Gwen’s children. Gwen is still stalked (online and in person) by various victim families and other sickos who are not convinced that she’s innocent. Now other women are reaching out to Gwen for advice and help and trouble just seems to follow this family. It’s a good thing Gwen is such a strong woman, she must be for this nightmare her ex-husband has left.

One such plea for help leads Gwen to leave the stable life she was trying to create for her family in Stillhouse Lake. They head to the spooky backwater town of Wolfhunter, next to the Daniel Boone National Forest. This town is filled with sinister characters and everyone is suspect. There seems to be danger everywhere and Sam is hiding some big secrets.

With a powerhouse ending that I’ve come to expect from Rachel Caine, this was a quick read that kept me up well past by bedtime, because I just HAD to know how it was going to end. Speaking of the ending, I think there is a great future for Gwen and I can’t wait for future installments. I hope that Gwen, Sam, Lanny, and Connor can find some contentment and happiness (but that would be boring and I don’t think that’s how this will go for them . . . )

*My GoodReads review will be updated in mid-April, nearer to publication date.

I almost missed Melvin in this book. He was so complex character and a pure monster. Still, the ghost of him and Sam's dead sister lingers between Gwen and Sam and that is horrific.

Even after being dead Melvin is controlling how Gwen's family feels. Not to mention the internet trolls and locals of stillhouse lake. Gwen is still suffering from that horrific moment with Melvin and tries to cope up with it. She started to help people like her who are blamed because someone related to them did something horrific.

I really liked the development of Sam and his past with this woman Miranda Tidewell, whose daughter was also a victim of Melvin's crime.

Overall I liked this thriller very much. It has more action than previous books and I think people who liked previous books would enjoy it. I wanted to know more about the whole Wolfhunter River town and would've liked more knowing about that stuff.

Really excellent. I think this was the best one yet.

Gwen, Sam, and Gwen’s children Connor and Lannie are still being harassed by the internet trolls who believe that Gwen was a willing participant in her serial killer ex-husband’s torture and murder of several young women.

Gwen has agreed to go on a talk television show, having been convinced that she would at least be allowed to tell her side of the story, but she has been lied to, and she ends up running from the studio.

Once home, she receives a call from a stranger, a woman asking her for help and advice, saying she got her contact information on a chat board from someone she had helped in the past.

Things move in a breakneck speed from here. The book was great, and makes me hope for subsequent ones. The ending seems to portend that.

I'm so sorry. I didn't realize this was third in a trilogy. It sounds interesting, but I simply don't have time to devote to reading the first two before this one at the moment. Thank you for the "Read Now" option!