BOOK REVIEW: The Huntsman, by Rafael

The Huntsman, by Rafael

I was taken by surprise by this book, the first I've read by Rafael. With an understated cover, I didn't really know what to expect - I certainly didn't expect it to be a rip-roaring page-turner that wouldn't be out of place alongside many an airport blockbuster.
This reads like the kind of story Michael Crichton might have produced - scientists dabbling in wormhole technology unwittingly unleash an alien killer on the world, a creature beyond the understanding of the federal investigators, who turn to eminent zoologist Miranda Logan for help.
In turn, after witnessing the brutal way the killer's victims have been dismembered, she seeks out the help of the spear-wielding huntsman of the title, Janesh McKenzie, who hunts man-eating tigers in the company of his two powerful dogs, Ronan and Duncan.
From there, the story bounds its way around the globe, taking in shady criminals, a Singapore mastermind desperate to acquire the wormhole technology to be able to control this world-changing discovery, CIA hit teams and, brutally awaiting them all, the bird-like alien sent to destroy the machinery that could take mankind to the stars.
We travel to more nations than Bond, all the while a simmering passion building between Logan and McKenzie. There's explicit violence and sex, and a high body count as different factions manoeuvre to gain advantage over one another. And the worst violence of all shows that the most vicious of all isn't the alien killer, but the humans themselves.
Rafael doesn't hold back on any count with this story - and it's all the better for that.

AI rating: 5/5

The Huntsman is available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Huntsman-Rafael-ebook/dp/B00PNUZQAQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461505091&sr=8-1&keywords=the+huntsman+rafael