What's more terrifying than a serial killer? Living under the same roof as one.

Can you imagine the emotional and psychological turmoil of this harrowing experience?

Audrey J. Cole gives readers a unique window into the mind of a serial killer and what living in the shadow of his terror meant for his son. Readers will see what led The Green River Killer to his victims, how he came to be, if he got caught and how his son grappled with what he knew and what he felt compelled to share.

Do you love playing detective? Like true crime? Live for an adrenaline rush? Love survival stories?
Cole writes compelling fiction. If you haven’t experienced the heart-pounding series yet, check out the three books that chronicle the hunt.

I was gifted this copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This was especially thrilling to me because I finished The Final Hunt not long ago and I always enjoy the continuation of a good storyline! Holly is obsessed with finding her sister's killer and gets herself entangled in more trouble than she ever imagined in her search! I'm invested in the main characters and the storyline already, so getting me interested in more adventure wasn't a stretch! I think I've read almost all of Aubrey Cole's books and truly enjoy her writing and it's always satisfying to read a new tale and already know the cast of characters! I would highly recommend this book, even without reading the first in the series because it's a great standalone!

A wonderful prequel to the series. I read the other 2 books last year. Finishing this book made me want to re-read the rest of the series as it seamlessly transitions into the next/first book. I highly recommend picking up all 3 books and reading them one after another, starting with this one when it comes out June 17th.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Pub Date Jun 17 2025

I really enjoyed the first 2 books in this series and was excited for the prequel. It is the third but the prequel. I really enjoyed it. The author always has interesting plot ideas and great twists. Definitely a series worth reading.

Loved it! A fast-paced and engaging serial killer novel that adds depth and backstory to the series. The twists and turns kept me guessing until the end. Highly recommend! 4.5 stars. Thanks to Booksgosocial, NetGalley, and Audrey J. Cole for the ARC. Releases June 17th

I haven't read the other book in this series and now I definitely will! The writing and plot was engaging, hard to put down. The mystery was interesting and had some creepy elements. I would recommend this book and writer for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and Audrey J. Cole for the advance copy.

It’s 1984 in Seattle, during the reign of the Green River Killer. As John grows up, he is thrown into his father’s secret nightlife. He soon realizes his father is a serial killer, and his inner conflict intensifies. That’s all I can say without revealing too much of the storyline.

I love Audrey J. Cole. She is an auto-read for me, so when I saw this prequel to The First Hunt available on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to review it. I loved the setting of the story and how it revolves around the real-life Green River Killer. I loved the pace, the plot, and the twists. I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys serial killer thrillers! I give it 4/5 stars.

THE FIRST HUNT is the prequel to THE FINAL HUNT. This is an engrossing story about the Green River Killer. It was fast paced and will have you quickly flipping through the pages. I really liked the character of Holly, she worked so hard and for so many years to find out what happened to her missing sister. This story kept me on the edge of my seat. I finished this book in one day. That’s how good it was! I highly recommend this series if you enjoy a lot of suspense.

Many thanks to Audrey J. Cole for my gifted copy.

This review will be shared to my Instagram account
(@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

3 stars

This book, which is part of a series that includes _The Final Hunt_ and _The Last Hunt_ made me think of one thing the entire time I was reading it: _Dexter: New Blood_. Unfortunately, the show is more compelling than the book that reminded me of it.

I enjoyed this book, but it felt less developed than its predecessors. The most intriguing character here is Holly, a reporter who is reasonably obsessed with her sister's unsolved murder. Holly's personal life even becomes part of this when she finds herself seriously involved with a police officer who also becomes a suspect. Look. If you're going to live in the Pacific Northwest, you can reasonably suspect that all dudes in Holly's demo are potential serial killers, so it's not surprising that with the indicators and geography, she grows suspicious. Holly's partner takes things to another level; he's not the kind of guy to break up and move on. So, when he finds new ways outside of their relationship to terrorize her, readers must also wonder what this guy and various other suspicious characters have to do with Holly's sister's death and if she will ever get the answers for which she is searching. The answers WE get? Well, they are definitely concerning.

The audiobook is well narrated, and this added to my overall enjoyment. I recommend this option when and where accessible and available.

The First Hunt by Audrey J. Cole is the prequel to her heart-pounding thrillers The Final Hunt and The Last Hunt—and let me tell you, this one was absolutely chilling.

This book gives us the backstory of John—and whew… it’s intense, dark, and deeply unsettling in all the ways a good crime thriller should be. The pacing was sharp, the atmosphere tense, and the way Audrey Cole unravels John's descent into darkness? Masterful. This prequel doesn’t just add context—it seems as it will elevate the entire series.

If you're into true crime-inspired fiction, gritty investigations, or anything that gives off Green River Killer energy, you NEED this on your radar. It has that addictive “just one more chapter” feel that makes you lose hours in the best way.

Audrey J. Cole has officially landed on my auto-buy list. I cannot wait to dive into The Final Hunt and The Last Hunt next.

If you're sleeping on this series—WAKE UP. This is your sign to start reading.

The first Hunt is a captivating fast-paced thriller that I enjoyed immensely. I was really drawn in by the loose plot line of the Green River Killer and that the story used a true crime as part of the mystery. There was multiple times where something happened or there was a twist that I definitely did not see coming. The only issue that I had was I had a little bit of confusion over some of the plot points mainly what I think might be editing errors. There's two instances in the book where there is the same scene repeated and I had to go back a couple times. The first one has to do with the main character and her current boyfriend during a scene where she is talking to him about a specific interviewee that he had interviewed and then a couple pages later she starts talking to him about the exact same thing again and he acts surprised like they weren't just talking about it. How is he acting so surprised and ends up having a turn in the scene when they were just talking about it and he was fine . Towards the middle of the book there's another scene very similar where our main character is getting groceries, she's walking out to her car and she gets home and something happens. She's very stressed so she decides to go to the grocery store and get groceries even though she was just there. Both of these scenes contain the same conversation/event happening twice in one scene which was confusing to me as a reader .

Besides those couple Issues that I personally had (which had nothing to do with the actual story itself) I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys fast paced, psychological, crime drama novels. I am definitely going to be checking out the rest of this series as well as the author's other books.

This was action packed and filled with unpredictable twists and turns. The plot is fast paced and gripping. The characters are interesting and engaging even as anti-heroes. It was exactly what I was looking for in terms of pace, plot, and characters. This is my first time reading a book by this author and I was not disappointed. I prefer reading books in chronological order so when I saw this I just knew I had to read this first. I definitely need to read the other books in this series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

This is the 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙡 to Audrey J Cole’s The Final Hunt and The Last Hunt. This one is John’s backstory and it was absolutely chilling!!! This series is one you don’t want to pass up!! I have definitely found another favorite author!!

Thank you so much NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!!

This was another great book by Audrey J. Cole. I love this series so much and to get some back story on how a killer comes to be adds so much depth to the first few books. There was so many twists and the suspense keep me reading until I'd finished this in one sitting. I especially loved the link and references to the Green River murders and how the characters distinguished between the two cases.

The ending was a great closure to the book, bringing a full circle back around to the first book. I would definitely recommend this book, as well as the whole series, to anyone that loves a fast paced, easy reading serial killer novel. 4.5 stars from me!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Audrey J. Cole for the advance copy.

This was a decent thriller but I didn't realize there were other books in the series which made me wonder what I was missing. Overall decent pace and enjoyable.

I have loved every one of Audrey’s books and this was another great one. Didn’t want to put this one down! Thanks for the opportunity to get an early read on it.

Fast paced with an engaging plot. Fans of the series will devour this prequel. The tension is through the roof. Complex characters and different points of view suck you in. I honestly thought I knew exactly where it was going and was wrong. The author gives you great twists that enhance the experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of The First Hunt by Audrey J. Cole. This chilling thriller serves as a prequel to The Final Hunt, offering readers an insight into one of the main character’s backstory. However, it can be read as a standalone novel.

Set in the 1980s, The First Hunt transports readers to a time when people felt safe walking alone, even after dark. Serial killers were haunting the west coast but most people didn’t have a clue about it. Cole skillfully creates a story around the Green River Killer and the possibility of how likely it could give a copycat motive to commit similar crimes. We follow along with the main character Holly’s journey as she works to uncover whether or not these murders are connected in addition to solving the murder other own sister.

Many of the murders she researched went unsolved or were assumed to be the responsibility of the well known Green River Killer already at large. But what if it was actually someone else?

The First Hunt is a gripping, fast-paced read that blends true crime and history into a page turning thriller. You will definitely want to read the next book in the series!

The First Hunt is set in 1985, and follows Holly, a crime journalist who lost her sister to murder several years before. Holly believes her sister was the first victim of the Green River Killer, but no one else does. As Holly begins to write her first true crime book, she starts to develop a theory about not only her sisters murder, but several other murders in the area. Five years later, Holly is a published author. Her abusive ex finance gets released from prison, and murders very similar to the Green River Killer’s start up again, and Holly has to try and figure out if he is the killer or not.

This was a pretty enjoyable book for me. I enjoyed the fact that it was set in a past timeline rather than the present day. The mystery was interesting, and there is a point of view in this book that added a really creepy element to the story. I did find some elements of the story pretty unbelievable, which lowered my rating of the book somewhat, but overall, I enjoyed it.

I couldn’t stop reading this! Having read Audrey Cole’s books before I was excited for this one. It’s is so exciting I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough. I totally connected with Holly and loved her relationship with Andy. It was a very clever plot with John twisting in and out: excellent read and can’t wait to read more from her!