Theresa Meyers
The Hunter
Zebra, $6.99, Nov. 1, 2011
Colt Jackson has gotten his name on many a wanted poster with success in the family business: hunting supernaturals across the frontier. Lately, though, there’s a sulphur stink in the wind and the Darkin population is exploding. A rift in the worlds is appearing. To close it, Colt will have to do the unthinkable and work with a demon to pass arcane boundaries no human alone can cross.
Except when he summons his demon, he doesn’t get some horned monstrosity: he gets a curvy redheaded succubus named Lilly, who’s willing to make a bargain to become human again. He also gets Lilly’s secret expertise on the machinations on the dark side of the rift. And her charm and cleverness help to get them out of what his silver-loaded pistol and mechanical horse can’t. Of course, when all hell breaks loose, he might have to sacrifice his soul. But what’s adventure without a little risk?
In Theresa Meyers’s The Hunter, the brothers Winchester, Remington, and Colt descend from a long line of Hunters—ruthless warriors whose sole mission is to destroy creatures such as vampires, demons, and shapeshifters who emerge from Hell to torment humans and steal their souls.
Colt, the youngest brother, is the only one to follow in his father’s footsteps as an active Hunter. His mission is to find an ancient book that can seal the gates to Hell forever. In order to retrieve the Book of Legend, however, he has to summon a demon, but not just any foul-smelling, horned demon—a succubus named Lilly Arliss. She gave her soul to the demon lord Rathe in order to send her father to Hell and keep her sister out of a life of prostitution. Now she wants her soul back, and she thinks that Colt may be her only chance at redemption.
The sexual tension between Colt and Lilly is constant. Whether they’re fighting hellhounds, battling the ghosts of dead miners, or escaping the clutches of a giant spider, Colt still finds time to revel in Lilly’s floral/cinnamon/honey scent, admire her cliff-like bosom, or ogle her bottom. Honestly, I found it hard to believe that Colt could maintain a constant state of sexual arousal no matter what awful danger he faced or what major setback had occurred. For example, Colt and Lilly nearly plummeted off a mountaintop to their death after being attacked by a skinwalker, and they have to rappel down a cliff. Colt’s still aroused, however.
She wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles together just below his waist, which had the most unfortunate result of pressing her damp, warm heat firmly against his already hard length. Colt groaned.
“Am I hurting you?”
Only in the best way possible. He shook his head. How on earth could he tell her that wounded and half-hanging off a sheer rock mountain face, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her silken heat?
Beyond the sexual tension, The Hunter mixes Indiana Jones-style adventure with the excitement of an old-fashioned Western and the novelty of Steampunk technology. The white-haired genius inventor Marley Turlock was one of my favorite characters, and his fascinating creations bear discussion.
Marley provides Colt with a variety of unique accessories, including a sting shooter that emits a ray of blue light by utilizing a Tesla coil and silver bullets filled with powdered bone, lead, salt and gunpowder—equally effective against both humans and demons. In addition to the useful weapons, Marley gives Colt helpful tools like a vertical mechanical lift, a coil illuminator, and electrically charged crystals.
One of Marley’s grandest creations is Colt’s Tempus—a clockwork horse with brass hooves, a copper belly, silver eyes, a pressure plate on the seat (so that it can’t run off), and a GGD on/off switch activated by twisting the horse’s ear. While a mechanical horse lacks personality, it’s certainly more reliable than a flesh and blood horse and less destructible. I didn’t have to worry about the horse being shot or injured like I do in most Westerns. I just wish Tempus really existed so that I could take a ride on him.
In addition to Marley’s genius creations, I also have to mention the appearance of the requisite Steampunk dirigible: Some old world European vampires fly into town with the oldest brother Winchester, and Colt describes the arrival of the three deck, gas-fueled hot air balloon.
The silver fabric skin of the giant dirigible, at least two hundred feet long and fifty feet across, glittered in the afternoon light as it descended over Allen Street, scattering the citizens and animals below.
A wash of dry heat, smelling of horse, dust, and the oily scent of creosote, tightened the skin on Colt’s face. It shimmered in the air, distorting everything beyond the massive shadow of the dirigible overhead that blotted out the desert sun.
The Hunter is the first Steampunk novel I’ve read, and now I’m hooked on the technology. If only there were more Marley Turlocks in this world—who’s your favorite steampunk inventor? And what did he/she invent?
Brittany is a freelance writer, aspiring novelist and small business owner who hopes that heaven will be like a bookstore with an endless supply of free books, free coffee and super comfy chairs.
