The story promises an interesting concept, but there was something about the writing that I just couldn't get into.

This book grabbed me right from the beginning, kicking off with some action and diving into the plot. There’s some then/now timeline changes throughout the book, and I loved getting the backstory on our MC Anna and finding out what happened to her, and seeing how it tied to the present timeline. The psychological aspects really messed with me, along with Anna being an unreliable narrator. I thought I for sure knew what the twist was going to be, but I ended up being completely surprised. This book was creepy, weird, and a little spooky, but not scary (which was ok with me - not all horror needs to be super scary). It wraps up pretty quickly and I maybe would’ve liked a little more there, but I did like how it ends. I think the crime, mystery, and thriller components were all well balanced, and I’m already interested in what this authors writes next.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Pub, for my free book for review.

As I followed Anna Koray's journey, her suppressed memories began to unravel, unveiling a haunting childhood and her complicated situation as a dedicated policewoman. The stark contrast between her straight and narrow present and the chilling truth about her father weaves an atmospheric and gripping narrative, pulsating with emotional depth. Anna's internal struggle, a gripping portrayal of her relentless battle with her past and her tumultuous relationship with her father, permeates every page of the story.

The unexpected supernatural element in the book adds a tantalizing layer to the narrative, infusing it with an enigmatic and otherworldly allure. The vivid descriptions of the woods transport the reader into the very heart of the forest, evoking an ethereal sensation of feeling the earth beneath one's feet, enhancing the immersive experience to an unprecedented level.

The suspenseful nature of the novel kept me riveted, casting a shadow of doubt over Anna's character, particularly concerning her mysterious blackouts. This skillfully crafted element not only served as a beguiling distraction but also kindled a lingering sense of suspicion, enveloping the narrative in an aura of relentless intrigue.

I found myself irresistibly drawn into the world of this book, unable to tear myself away until the final page. It masterfully fuses an eerie atmosphere with a spellbinding mystery, rendering it an utterly enthralling and unforgettable read.

When I was pitched this book for review, it sounded like everything I could have wanted and I’m thrilled to report that it really was.

I loved Anna. She’s so sure of herself, until she’s not and it was fascinating to read her inner monologue while she spirals into an unreliable narrator. There are several characters here, but this story is firmly Anna’s and it really works.

Plot wise, it was fantastic. The slow unfolding of the now events coupled with the slow barrage of memories helped to show how chaotic Anna’s headspace was. It was easy to root for Anna as we were pulled along on this rollercoaster of childlike hurt to adult confusion.

Overall, I would say to go into this one with as little information as possible to let the story be told as the author intended. I can’t wait to read what’s next from Nicola.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

The Hunter's Daughter is the debut novel by Nicola Solvinic. Nicola has a master's degree in criminology and has worked in and around criminal justice for more than a decade at local, state, and federal levels. Much of that time was spent in law enforcement policy and corrections in the Midwest which makes this story a bit more realistic in nature. Nicola's main character is Anna Koray. Anna is a Bayern County Detective Lieutenant who has had something of a twisted upbringing.

Anna's father, Stephen Theron, was the serial killer called The Forest Strangler. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. To make things worse, Anna was abandoned by her own mother who felt that she was too close to her father. She was adopted by the Koray's who allowed her to shine. She’s now a decorated sheriff’s lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father’s shadow.

When Anna kills a man in the line of duty after responding to a domestic violence call (which is one of the most dangerous calls a police officer responds to on a daily basis), her suppressed memories return after being exposed by a hallucinogen. She dreams of her father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest named Veles. When a young woman's body is discovered in the same manner as her father's victims, rumors of a copycat serial killer arise.

To Anna’s horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Is it possible that Anna has the same gene's as her father, and therefore is likely to have sociopathic moments? As Anna and her colleague Captain Wozniak learn some twisted secrets about Anna's father, a retired FBI Agent who helped stop Anna's father, is now back helping the FBI investigate the newest killer. Does this Agent know who Anna is? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?

*Thoughts* One of the basic premises of psychology is nature verses nurture. Just because you have the same genes as your parents, does that make you have the same tendencies? If your father was schizophrenic, does that mean you are as well? If your father, who you loved unconditionally, murdered almost 30 innocent women, does that mean you will do the same? Anna's past has prevented her from moving on with her future, especially with her on and off boyfriend who she has trouble showing true emotions for fearing she will just disappoint him. She's already lost her father, and her mother abandoned her after finding a new life for herself. As Anna struggles to deal with the past and the present which are on a collision course, the real emotions come out and maybe, just maybe, the truth will as well.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Pub for the digital and physical ARCs of this trippy title!**

The Hunter’s Daughter is amazing and feels like a book I can easily recommend across a handful of genres. This one is thrilling and twisty, while also presenting as a police procedural during a string of grisly murders. True crime fans will also enjoy this one as it dives a bit into copy-cat killers, and has a really yucky podcaster as well.

Anna Koray is the daughter of the notorious serial killer known as The Forest Strangler. Her memories have been locked away under hypnosis and an entirely new identity created for her. Once these memories start coming back following a shooting in the line of duty - nobody can stop them.

With supernatural elements mixed in, this one has a bit to offer for all sorts of readers. Check this one out if you like thrillers, police procedurals, true crime, and crazy twists!

3.5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Hunter’s Daughter presents an intriguing premise exploring the idea of whether evil can be genetic. While the concept of nature vs. nurture has been discussed to death, in both fact and fiction, Nicola Solvinic presents an intriguing take on it, even if it wasn’t entirely what I expected at the outset.
Anna is a compelling lead, and I appreciate the gravitas with which her trauma was explored, especially since she had repressed it for so long through the means of hypnosis. And while there’s a lot more that could have been said about the cops and the tainted police institution as a whole, with the Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting being a very minor plot line, I can somewhat understand why she might choose to become a cop due to her background. And ultimately, it does serve as a great way to bring her into a situation that could make her question herself as a result of the shooting and regaining those memories of her father.
I enjoyed the mystery following a potential copycat killer following her father’s pattern, and while there were some predictable turns, it complemented Anna’s internal arc well. I did find some of the more surrealist elements a little strange. The ending also left me feeling a tad underwhelmed.
While I had some nitpicks, this is a solid debut, and I’m open to reading more from Solvinic in the future. If you’re interested in a thriller that has both solid character development and a twisty plot, I recommend checking this out.

This was an eerie suspense novel.

At times I wasn’t sure if Anna’s history with her serial killer father was the creation of magical surrealism or the intimate workings of a deeply disturbed man.

The ending was one I didn’t see coming, but also didn’t mesh with the overall story.

Still a very compelling read.

This was so incredibly well paced and plotted! The cast was fantastic and I loved how the dual timeline was completed in each chapter and connected to one another. I didn’t see that ending coming one bit!

The Hunter’s Daughter by Nicola Solvinic is an exciting debut thriller. I did not know what to expect, when I started reading this book; but this turned out to be a fantastic story that kept me on the edge of my seat. I am also amazed that this is Nicola Solvinic’s debut, and I will be checking her out in the future. Well done.

Anna Koray, our heroine, manage to escape her father being a serial killer (Forest Strangler) many years ago. When he was imprisoned, her mother gave her up for adoption, and a psychiatrist helped seal (hypnosis) away from her mind the terrible memories. Anna was adopted, with a new name and loved her new family; when she is older, she became a decorated police lieutenant.

The story begins when Anna, off duty, responds to a domestic assault call, since she was nearby. Anna finds herself in the middle of an assault, and ends up killing the man in the line of duty; with her suffering serious injuries. While in recovery, some of those suppressed memories of her father return. When a number of women turn up murdered, a serial killer using the same copycat MO of her father emerges. Though this is decades later, she begins to remember much of the past, as Anna tries to interview those who were victims, as well as her estranged mother, who abandoned her. Anna also begins to get cell phone messages revealing that he knows who she is, her father’s daughter (Elena). Anna is deep into trying to solve the case, especially to keep her real identity a secret, which would threaten everything she has built.

What follows is an exciting, intense, suspenseful story with so many twists and turns along the way, which kept me unable to put the book down. I will not give any spoilers, as this is a book you need to read from start to finish. When Anna’s memories slowly return, we get to see her relationship with her father, as well as her mother, and eventually finding out at such a young age that her father a killer.
The Hunter’s Daughter was an excellent psychological thriller, that was captivating and haunting, keeping us guessing. The Hunter’s Daughter was a wild ride throughout, and so very well written by Nicola Solvinic. I am amazed how this is Solvinic’s debut novel. I suggest you read The Hunter’s Daughter, as this was a fantastic read.

Given the premise, I was expecting a different novel. Perhaps my assumptions were unfair but I thought this would be a grittier story.

Instead this one was more an emotional character story. The novel was an easy read but without some "bite". The crimes committed in this novel are dark and perhaps I am a bit discentized but I wanted darker.

It took a while to hook me in but eventually I found myself caring about the copycat and wanted to see the criminal get caught.

I have read a lot of books about the "daughter of a serial killer" and it strangely is becoming a tired trope. I like when it's done well but this was just a safer story and I wanted more. For readers who are newer to this kind of storyline, I imagine the story will feel fresher.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This is a fantastic debut by this author. I was riveted from the first page. I couldn't put this down. Anna Koray is a police officer and no one knows about her past as the daughter of a serial killer. The story flips back and forth about Anna as a child playing in the woods with her father and the present with Anna as a cop. The chapters of Anna as a child playing and exploring the woods with her dad are so vivid I felt like I could smell the trees and hear the birds and animals. In the present Anna still loves the woods and still leaves small offerings to the fairies and gods of the forest.

Anna doesn't remember all of her past, just catches glimpses of her past with her father. When she was a child, a psychologist hypnotized her and locked her memories about her father away in a memory vault. When bodies start turning up, killed in the style of her father, Anna decides to unlock these memories.

This is a fast paced thrill ride with mystical elements. Anna believes that the spirit that possessed her father to kill is back and looking for her. There are strange things that are happening around her and she is losing time. Her boyfriend is worried about her, but when she is asked to help with the investigation of these new killings she can't say no despite them taking her deeper into her memories.

I found myself thinking I knew what was happening only to switch what I was thinking a few pages later. This book keeps you on your toes. I know some people didn't like the mystical element but I loved it. It reminds me a bit of John Connolly's Charlie Parker Series.

I received a digital advance copy of The Hunter’s Daughter by Nicola Solvinic via NetGalley. The Hunter’s Daughter is scheduled for release on May 14, 2024.

Anna is The Hunter’s Daughter. She survived her father’s capture for murdering and staging women in the forest as well as her mother’s abandonment. Anna is now a sheriff’s lieutenant with no memories of what her father did or her involvement in his capture. This all falls apart when she kills a man in the line of duty and memories long suppressed begin to surface, along with dreams of her own nighttime wanderings. Anna is forced to confront her past to discover who is responsible for the new string of murders that look oddly like her father’s.

Solvinic does an excellent job of describing Anna’s childhood world and her adventures in the forest with her father. These chapters are heavy with nature and hints of mysticism. This bleeds into adult Anna’s life in ways that feel vivid and realistic. While Anna makes many questionable choices, we understand how her past has led her to them.

The weaving of the past and current day works well in this novel to create questions and pull the story forward. Like Anna, we are learning about her past in pieces, and drawing connections to what is happening in the current day of the story. Once we got to the last quarter of the novel, however, the plot stumbled a bit. All of the elements for a great ending were there, largely in the form of questions that had been raised throughout the novel. Unfortunately, those threads were not woven together well, leaving the ending of the novel a little underwhelming.

I also found some of the specifics of the science, psychology, and police procedure elements a bit unbelievable. Again, the elements were there, but felt a little hand-wavy. A bit more research could have clarified these elements to make the story feel more solid.

Overall, The Hunter’s Daughter delivered an intriguing mystery in an unsettling atmosphere. While the novel could have used a bit more editing to nail the ending and some details, there was an interesting story at its heart. I look forward to future novels from Solvinic.

The Hunter's Daughter by Nicola Solvinic is a captivating debut mystery that follows the story of a seemingly upstanding police officer who harbors a dark secret - she is the daughter of a notorious serial killer. This sinister tale is filled with unexpected twists and turns, making it a truly engrossing read. I was hooked from the beginning and could not put this one down. I had to know what was going to happen next!

It’s hard to believe this is a debut book, it is that well done. Full of twists and turns, heart-pounding investigations, and the feeling of being watching, this book is perfect for horror/ psychological thriller lovers but is also perfect for readers who may want to get into the genre. It’s not too gory but plays tricks on your mind in just the right way.

This story was truly unputdownable, I would’ve read it in one sitting if I didn’t have to be a productive adult and work. I’ve always been a huge fan of the serial killer v cop trope and this one is just done so well. Anna Koray is a Lieutenant at the local sheriff’s department. When bodies of girls start appearing in the same MO as The Forest Strangler decades earlier, Anna must figure out who is responsible. After all, who better to investigate the case than a cop who is secretly the daughter of a serial killer.

A rollercoaster ride of mind-boggling proportions, this book is everything I needed it to be and more. What a way to start off the month. I can definitely see readers staying up til 1 am with a flashlight to finish this book it is that good. I walked around my house biting my fingernails as I tried to figure out what was going to happen next.

As a person who predicts the endings to thriller often, I had my suspicions as to who was responsible but when we reached the ending I knew I was very wrong. I found out the author has a degree in criminology and it shows in this book. The reader is taken through the intricate ins and outs of police investigations and I think it really allows the reader to become a part of the story.

If you need a bingeable read be sure to pick this up May 14th!

Anna considers herself a good cop despite being the daughter of a notorious serial killer. She has worked tirelessly to conceal her past but her suppressed memories of her childhood begin to emerge after she kills a man in the line of duty. When bodies are discovered murdered in the same unique fashion her father was known for her entire world is upended. Anna‘s father passed down his deep connection and reverence of the woods to his daughter, but did she also inherit his propensity for killing?

THE HUNTER’S DAUGHTER is a fresh take on the police procedural with a flair for the supernatural. Debut author Nicola Solvinic blurs the lines of reality in a way that will keep readers on their toes as they attempt to sort fact from fiction. The story has a contemplative pacing as Anna wrestles with her past and seeks to find herself in light of her father’s crimes.

The story touches on some interesting themes including our collective fascination with true crime and desire to be close to tragedy, the ethics of memory erasing, and the unrelenting nature of living with trauma.


READ THIS IF YOU:
-enjoy a character study that explores nature vs nurture
-seek out well-written mysteries with complex characters
-love stories that incorporate a connection to nature

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars)
PUB DATE: May 14, 2024

Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was completely engrossed with this book.
Anna, a LEO, has demons that need slayed. She unlocks her memories from her past and wonders if her predator father did live behind the grave.
I was rooting for her and Nick and wondered if they’d ever get it right.
I thought her psychiatrist was creepy and was using Anna for her own sordid research.
Anna;s biological mother was the coldest fish I’d encountered in a book.
There’s a lot of mystical elements that I wasn’t too enthused about simply because I’m pragmatic and don’t imbibe In the mysticism.
Still., it’s a good book and the ending is good.

We might have been monsters, but maybe everyone had a monster within them. Our job was to be sure those monsters slept.

The Hunter's Daughter is a story about Anna (Elena) who is the daughter of the infamous serial killer, The Forest Strangler. Now an adult, and with no memory of her childhood or who her real father is thanks to therapy, Anna works as a lieutenant detective who is battling with her own inner struggles and turmoils while investigating horrific crimes. When a string of murders begin unfolding in her jurisdiction that are eerily similar to those of the Forest Strangler, Anna finds herself uncovering more clues than just those surrounding the murders. Is the Forest Strangler back and again carrying out his dark ritualistic killings? Or is there a new monster who has now decided to copy the Strangler's horrific MO in a new series of killings? Anna must race to uncover who the killer is, while also working to re ember her own past and the monsters that haunted it.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were likeable, the writing kept me up way too late most nights, and there were a good number of twists I didn't see coming. I'd give The Hunter's Daughter 4.25/5 because I was able to figure out a few of the twists before they were revealed, but overall it was a great time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nicola Solvenic for providing me this ARC of The Hunter's Daughter to read and review.

"A hypnotic, sinister debut mystery about a seemingly good cop who is secretly the daughter of a notorious serial killer.

Anna Koray escaped her father's darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She's now a decorated sheriff's lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father's shadow.

When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.

To Anna's horror, a serial killer emerges who is copying her father - and who knows who she really is. Is her father still alive, or is this the work of another? Will the killer expose her, destroying everything she has built for herself? Does she want him to?

But as she haunts the forest, using her father's tricks to the hunt the killer, will she find what she needs most...or lose herself in the gathering darkness?"

I love the Hannibal vibe of this. To be clear I mean the television show not the book.

Perfectly weird and creepy. I always enjoy when a book never quite answers the question of whether or not its supernatural element is “real.” Maybe a little rushed at the end but that’s my only quibble and it’s a small one. Overall enjoyable and interesting. Liked the meditation on nature vs nurture