The Hunters by Heidi Angell

It is so refreshing to see a vampire book that actually involves vampires, not shiny creatures that don't kill humans. The Hunters was an interesting look at the world of vampire hunters, and the challenges faced by a young group as they hunt the vampires that were their friends and neighbors before being turned. I enjoyed this story, and felt like it was well written and worthy of a 4 out of 5 star review, although I did have an issue or two with it as well.

From the publisher:
What would you do if you found your town had been infested with vampires? For Chris and his brother Lucas, the answer was simple enough: you fight back. Gathering a small band of other people in their town who have been affected by the vampires, they begin a resistance. But after a year of fighting, they have only managed to kill a handful, while the vampire leader has turned five times that many.

Then two enigmatic strangers appear, changing the groups lives even further.

Fury and Havoc. They call themselves hunters, and want no part in this little band of heroes. Ordering them to lay low, the duo vow to rid their town of vampires. When Fury is injured, Chris aides these strangers, entwining his future with theirs.

Now that the vampires know the hunters are here, and that Chris and his friends have helped them, the group is in more danger than ever before. Lucas is torn between protecting his new family from the vampires, and protecting them from these seemingly inhuman beings who say they are there to help.

After all, what beings could be so powerful as to scare a vampire?

My thoughts:
Chris and Lucas were just two young brothers who, after a vampire infestation in their neighborhood, bands together with a jumbled assortment of others who had been victimized and affected by the monsters. These people have been through a lot, Lana even having to handle her own father becoming a vampire. They are tough and resilient, and it was great watching them fight to defend their town against the relatively unknown. It's easy to feel the protective urges of Lucas over his younger brother, or Chris' need to prove himself and actually do something instead of just talk and plan. You can't read this story without feeling sympathy for these characters, having to fight something they know so little about, and having to fight against people they used to know and speak with. Family, friends, the mailman, they could all be vampires now that you have to fight and kill, or be killed yourself. That can't be an easy thing to go through.

One of my favorite lines from The Hunters comes after Fury and Havoc are brought to the sanctuary by Chris, and Lucas is fighting to have them kicked out. Doc, who he believed would understand and back him up, agreed with the rest of the group that the two strangers should be allowed to stay as a source of knowledge and assistance. The betrayal Lucas felt "was akin to that of Caesar and Brutus..." and as someone who loves Roman history and mythology and stories, I was pretty excited to see this comparison.

One thing I wasn't completely sold on was the necessity of sex scenes in this book. The Hunters is about a group of vampire hunters taking a stand against the plague that's overcome their town, so why are we treated to a barn romp between Fury and Havoc, which Chris watches? I feel like while the later dialogue between Chris and Carissa makes sense, given that any of them could die that night (so why not give it up for the afternoon?), the barn scene almost served as filler. Maybe you could fill me in a little bit Heidi? Why show that side of Fury and Havoc?

All in all I had a great time reading this, and hope the author decides to write a sequel, or at least another story about Fury and Havoc because I would love to learn a little bit more about who they are and where they came from. And of course, I'd like to know what becomes of the ragtag group of vampire hunters, whether the town is truly scourged and what they do in the aftermath of the final battle in The Hunters :)

- Justin