This mystery/suspense follows Nell, a factory worker in the small town of Presley, Arkansas. A town known for their Annual Hunt for the Golden Egg - and the rumored serial killer who stalks the hunt. For the last seventeen years, someone has died during the Hunt and while the deaths have been overwhelmingly ruled as accidents, some members of the town aren't so sure. Nell's brother is rumored to be The Hunter's first kill. Now, another year of the Hunt is starting and Nell's focus is keeping her nephew safe and avoid the Hunt as much as she possibly can. But it isn't going to be easy to hide out this year and when the danger comes too close for comfort, Nell will have to face her past.
This is one of those books where, I think, if you go into it with certain expectations you will be disappointed. I'll admit, I went into this expecting some sort of slasher-type situation where Nell pieces it all together and finds the killer. That is not this book. This is a more quiet, character focused mystery with some good spooky moments. All the characters are a little on edge this time of year, because even if they say they don't believe the Hunter exists, there's still a chance. So I'd say go into this read with a more character-focused, small town tension expectations.
I really loved the way the past deaths were integrated into the story. We get these very brief chapters with a sort of investigative lens to the past deaths. The deaths do not go in order, but they do give the reader a nice mix of deaths that 100% sound like accidents and ones that sound more suspicious. This helps put the reader in the mindset of the town where no one is really quite 100% sure if the Hunter really exists. This is also a quick way to get info to the reader so we know what most of the residents of Presley know without having some heavy-handed dialogue or big flashback scenes. Since there have been so many deaths, the individual details don't matter as much as the overall picture they paint for both the characters and the reader.
The character work in this was far and away the star of the read. We're mostly following Nell, but we also have chapters from her friend Ada's POV. Both of these women could absolutely be categorized as unlikable and Nell is an entire hot mess who sometimes you just want to shake her because she just makes bad decision after bad decision. However, they are also extremely compelling and are fully fleshed out characters who, despite their questionable choices at times, are both trying to do the right thing for their situations. Getting Nell's POV as the Hunt brings up intense feelings of guilt and grief as well and Ada's POV shows us her balancing of Nell's feelings while also being an avid hunter of the Golden Egg every year. And as with any small town setting - we get a whole cast of side characters that help flesh out the world.
The tension didn't quite build up for me as much as I think it needed to in order to have a really great payoff at the resolution. While we do get moments throughout the book where a character acts a certain way or there are certain events that make the reader think that maybe the Hunter is real, those moments were so small and so spread out throughout the read that they didn't really build in my mind. So, then when we have a character who is suspected of being the Hunter's next victim, I didn't feel the amount of tension or worry that I think I should have.
The ending was a bit of a mess in all the best ways. We get so many plot points coming together but also get some unexpected points thrown in as well. It was a little messy but felt very realistic that a lot of characters and plot lines would come together around the Hunt. It would be interesting to see, upon re-read, if I could pick up on smaller point that would make the ending feel a little less haphazard or if that was Ford's intention all along. The main story does end a bit abruptly, but we get 2 flashforward scenes to help give more of a resolution to the reader.
Overall, while this was a more character-focused and less bloody read than I was initially expecting, I ended up really enjoying it. I think the last 25% or so wanted to be more of a thriller, but I didn't find the tension had built enough to really make me worry for these characters. The ending was a little wild and came together a bit more quickly and messily than I was expecting but overall I thought it was a good way to close the story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.
Publication date is July 25, 2023
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