Hunter

Mercedes Lackey

Sept 2015 · Sold by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About this eBook

New York Times bestselling fantasy author Mercedes Lackey breaks into YA with a dangerous, utterly original futuristic world in which a fearless teen girl leaves behind her close community to be a Hunter in Apex City and finds something worse than the usual monsters.

Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it's taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake of the catastrophe. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous creatures fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky. To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. Then she is called to Apex City, where the best Hunters are kept to protect only the most important people.

Joy soon realizes that the city's powerful leaders care more about luring Cits into a false sense of security than protecting them. More and more monsters are getting through the barriers, and the close calls are becoming too frequent to ignore. Yet the Cits have no sense of how much danger they're in-to them, Joy and her corp of fellow Hunters are just action stars they watch on TV.

When an act of sabotage against Joy takes an unbearable toll, Joy uncovers a terrifying conspiracy in the city. There is something much worse than the usual monsters infiltrating Apex. 

Ratings and reviews

In all honesty this book didn't really feel like it had any major conflict other than the ones that are explained many times over, there are scenes in the book where details are left out like the swimming scene, "oh they raced and I almost won." It seems all the details are in the way the main character thinks and less on a world where so much can be done.

This book is one of the finest YA novels I have read to date. With plenty of action, a cool-headed and strong female lead, and the beginnings of a subtle love triangle, it has all the characteristics of a traditional dystopian novel, while remaining fresh and new. This book opens with Joy Charmand traveling from the little village in the Rockies where she grew up to the biggest city on the continent after the Diseray. Seems like a cliche right? Clueless village girl goes to the big sparkling city only to learn all is not as she thought ... That is not what happens. Without giving away too many spoilers - Joy grew up not in a clueless village as everyone thinks, but in perhaps the greatest center for knowledge on the continent. While lacking some social skills, and city life experience, she knows enough to figure out the politics of the city, while still remaining innocent enough to not understand why the "Cits" - citizens or city dwellers - behave the way they do.

Spend two days looking for this book! Well worth! Remembering only the plot does not help.

About the author

Mercedes Lackey is the acclaimed author of more than fifty novels and many works of short fiction. In her "spare" time she is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. Mercedes lives in Oklahoma with her husband and frequent collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.