Review: Hunter Deceived by Nancy Corrigan (Wild Hunt #1)

Hunter Deceived (Wild Hunt #1)
Nancy Corrigan
Published: Dec. 29, 2015 (Samhain)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amanda

Rating (out of 5): 2.5 stars

Everyone has bad thoughts. Everyone feels anger. But for Harley bad thoughts and darker feelings like anger could turn her into a monster. Born half-Seelie, a little bit of her goodness and light die out whenever she gives into her rage.

Calan was created to destroy creatures like Harley. He’s not supposed to fall in love with her. He’s definitely not supposed to mate with her. But he’s determined to save her and make her his. Trapped by a curse and forced to wait as his brothers and sisters endure unending torture, Harley’s the only one who can free him. Fate has other plans, though. Harley may be the key to his salvation…but it may end up costing her her life.

Hunter Deceived had the potential to be something dark and original and ended up leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll be blunt: I would have liked it a lot better if there hadn’t been any sex in it.

Part of the character development for both Harley and Calan relies on their fire-hot chemistry and the need to claim and mark the other physically. To an extent, this would have been fine, if it hadn’t gotten in the way of the story. In the first half of the book, neither makes much of an effort to resist the other, and they end up having sex at questionable times. At first, Harley did try to resist Calan, knowing she was needed elsewhere. But she caved pretty quickly when Calan pressured her. Hence the bad taste.

The world Nancy Corrigan’s built is pretty interesting, though. Redcaps—humans who have sold their souls to the Unseelie in return for immortality—have been chasing after Harley for years. They get their names from the swaths of blood-soaked cloths wrapped around their heads. The Huntsmen themselves are terrifying things straight out of nightmares. With beast-like faces and gruesomely muscled bodies, they ride into battle on spectral horses. Kind of like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The second half of the book is better, with Harley and Calan putting aside their physical desires to clean up the messes left by the redcaps. One redcap in particular has a plan for Harley, and he’s determined to claim her no matter how many bodies pile up. Calan and Harley’s brother, Ian, are just as determined to keep her safe. We get a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen in the next book in the series, and the build up is almost intriguing enough to make me want to read it.

Hunter Deceived will probably appeal to some readers. If you’re looking for a different take on the fae, this might be your bag, baby. But it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Sexual content: graphic sex