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Luis has spent his career chasing the darker side of life. First a vice cop, then an FBI profiler, now he lands in the Boston field office, and not by choice. He expects his caseload to have a much lighter tone than he’s used to.
He wasn’t counting on New England’s dark history, or their pride in it. He didn’t understand how close-knit the old towns could be, or how protective they were of their own. He soon finds he’s going to have to count on every skill he ever used in his time at headquarters, and a few skills he didn’t know he had, if he wants to keep body and soul together.
Complicating matters is a new case Luis has just been handed, working with the Mass. State Police. Luis has history there, and ugly history too. Detective Donovan Carey is the guy who broke Luis’ heart over a decade ago. He wasn’t willing to even peek his head outside the closet, certainly not for someone like Luis. Can they put their history aside to deal with a mystery centuries in the making?
The Beverly 2019 Finalist
Read an excerpt
Luis would have happily stayed asleep for several more hours. He was comfortable. He was warm. He was not alone, which counted for a lot in his book. He was, in fact, happily wedged between not one but two beautiful, talented, and charming men. For Luis, this was as close to heaven as he would ever get. When he’d gone to bed, he’d fully intended to enjoy every minute of his bliss. His plans to stay asleep until his alarm went off evaporated when the hotel door opened with a whisper-soft click.
Luis came to life in a fraction of a second, pulse racing. He sat up and aimed his gun at the door in a single fluid motion. He didn’t worry about how his companions would react. They knew who and what he was. They’d be fine.
“Freeze!” he barked. “Federal agent!”
Only then did the haze of sleep clear from his eyes enough to recognize the face of his new partner, Kevin. Kevin’s face had frozen somewhere in between astonishment and laughter, a perfect O with a gray mustache for a hat.
He held two large steaming cups of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, one in each hand. No New Englander went anywhere without a cup of Dunkies. Luis had learned that much in his short time here.
“Easy, tiger,” Kevin said in a voice choked with what Luis suspected was laughter. Of course, Kevin was local. Tiger came out sounding more like “tigah.” Luis suspected Kevin exaggerated the accent for his benefit.
“We’ve got a case.” He looked Luis over and then eyed the groggy men on either side of him. “Where are your clothes?”
Fausto, the hot photographer on Luis’ left, turned to Luis with his mouth agape. “You brought a gun?” he demanded in Spanish.
Had Fausto forgotten the gun? Ignored it? Mentally blocked it? Luis had stashed it under his pillow before they went to sleep, for crying out loud.
“You brought a gun to a threesome? Are you a psycho?”
Franklin, a chef at a big hotel downtown, recoiled. “Case? You’re a cop?” In English, just to add a Babel-like air of confusion to the scene.
Franklin had absolutely forgotten Luis’ job, because last night he’d eyed Luis’ credentials with suspicion until Luis promised he was off the clock. Oh well, no one was at his best at five o’clock in the morning. Luis wouldn’t hold it against him.
Luis clicked the safety on his gun and slid off the foot of the bed. He’d be perfectly justified in reaming Kevin out for breaking into his room, but he decided to play it casual. It would hopefully dissuade him from using his lockpicks again.
Kevin gaped as Luis padded across the floor as naked as the day he was born. “You don’t tell your partners you’re with the bureau?” He put his coffee on the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Seriously?”
“Can we not do this right now?” Luis yawned and slipped into the bathroom. “I can’t have a reasonable conversation before coffee.” Before he closed the door behind him, he turned around and wagged his finger at the other three. “No awkward moments, the three of you.”
It wasn’t as though there could be nonawkward moments when a man had burst in on three others in an intimate moment. Kevin deserved what he got for showing off his lock-picking skills. The freaking Boston office had boundary issues.
For all Luis’ affected nonchalance, he took the world’s fastest shower. He didn’t want to spend too much time alone with his thoughts. He refused to be ashamed of anything Kevin had just seen. He was a grown man, and he was allowed to do grown-men things in his off-hours. If Kevin couldn’t handle it, the problem belonged to Kevin, not to Luis. Boston might have been founded by Puritans, but by God, they had separation of church and state now.
He emerged from the bathroom, clean and dry, and got dressed. Both of the other guys had at least found underwear and tee shirts, which was a damn shame. Especially in Fausto’s case, because he had a body on him that just would not quit. Oh well, it wasn’t like Mixr existed for long-term love affairs anyway.
He turned to the trio as he finished buttoning his shirt. Franklin watched him work his way into his shoulder holster.
“So who is this dude, anyway? Your dad?” Fausto said.
Luis glanced back at Kevin, who scowled and pursed his lips at Fausto. Luis snickered. Fausto’s comment should take Kevin down a peg, if nothing else came of this.
“No. He’s not my dad. Kevin, this is Franklin and Fausto. They’re friends of mine. Franklin, Fausto, this is Super Special Agent Kevin Rourke of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Franklin’s dark skin took on an ashen sheen, and sweat stood out at his temples. “You’re a fed?”
Franklin, Franklin, what did you do? I’d hate to think about a mouth like that on a criminal. Luis had told him he was with the FBI the night before. Clearly, he wasn’t here for his brains.
Kevin held up the coffee. “Relax. We’re on a case, as of four thirty this morning. And neither one of us is allowed to make any arrests until we’ve completed one infusion of standard-issue DD-Unit L, Black.”
Fausto figured the joke out first, possibly because he wasn’t cataloguing every traffic light he’d ever run. “Cute.” He sighed. “Well, thanks for a good night, Luis. Er, Agent.”
“You only have to call me agent if I break out the cuffs.” Luis winked at Fausto as Kevin hustled him out the door. “Thank you both! I had a great time!”
Reviews
Special Agent Luis Gomes started out as a vice cop and worked his way up to a profiler for the FBI. He’s smart, has several degrees, volunteers in communities and never hesitates to help when needed and is very good at his job. But as a young boy his family life was destroyed and Luis has never seen himself as a good person. He once thought he had forever with his ex but it didn’t turn out that way and hookups and one-night-stands in motel rooms became his choice. Besides, he felt he would never meet someone who would adapt to the life of an FBI agent. But that all worked well for Luis, he just doesn’t fit, he’s useless and not worth anything to anyone, even his co-workers.
When Luis and his partner, Kevin Rourke are called to Sudbury, Massachusetts to investigate serial killings, Luis has to face his ex, Detective Donovan Carey. Donovan brings back old emotions and confusion for Luis. Luis knows he has to put those old memories aside and becomes obsessed with the killings and the killer. One other thing Luis get’s caught up in is the historical lore of Captain Lightfoot a notorious highwayman.
“Hunter” is a suspenseful and gory murder mystery with a twist from the past. The setting for the story is Sudbury, Massachusetts and brings in the historical lore of King Philip Woods Conservation area, along with the highwayman’s.
As Luis’s character get’s more involved with the murder’s the profiling and police/FBI procedures become more structured and detailed which is a plus for the plot. I like the additional talent Luis discovers he has that goes along with his profiling.
Luis’s character really cemented the storyline for me. He struggled with his past family issues, intolerance, discrimination and even the thoughts that he was reckless and suicidal. There’s a big contrast also with dysfunctional family issues between Luis and Donovan. Luis may have faced a tough time as a young boy but Donovan’s family was not as perfect as it seemed.
I didn’t care for Donovan’s mother and was very irritated with Donovan. For being in his thirties he spent too much of his time afraid of coming out. He just didn’t come across as sincere is his relationship with Luis and he seemed like a “know-it- all” when it came to Luis. I also had a problem with Kevin Rourke who seemed a good fit as Luis’s FBI partner. Kevin and Luis seemed like they got along and Luis would be first to help in Kevin’s family situation. All of a sudden it seems Kevin turns his back on Luis.
If J.V. Speyer has plans for a sequel, I would be interested, especially in the historical lore, paranormal aspect and Luis’s character dealing in more cases with those elements.
Warnings: There’s a certain amount of violence in a book with serial killers in it. Mentions of drug use, suicide, promiscuity, questionable life choices.
–MaryAnn, Queer Sci Fi
This book has everything and more to keep your brain entertained and your heart racing. While murder mystery is not usually my genre, the added bonus of a ghost and a little romance and humor made this a new favorite read.
Luis is a profiler for the FBI and was just transferred to Massachusetts. He knows this assignment is temporary as is everything in his life. When a serial killer puts Luis face to face with his ex from college everything gets turned upside down. When the ghost of a century’s old serial killer starts haunting Luis he thinks he has finally lost it.
I have to say I’m really intrigued with this author. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time and can honestly say got a tad freaked out at one point while hot and bothered the next. This book had everything I didn’t know I wanted in a story and I look forward to more from this author.
–Cranky – The Book Curmudgeon
Hunter is the first book in a series and as such it’s a pretty solid start to it.
Re: Luis: He was pretty much the reason I devoured this book. He was such a fantastic character and I felt so much for him. Actually, I cried enough to go through 4 tissues and one napkin (and have the puffy eyes to prove it), because I was absolutely heartbroken with everything he was going through. He’s not perfect, he has several trust and mental issues that make it almost dangerous (for him and others) to be working in cases, but considering his background, it was completely understandable. Yet, as other characters stated and was shown in the book, he was the first to offer his help when others needed him and he went above what should have been expected of him, of course, it was never enough because he was the one with an ego problem according to all of them. sighs He was just so relatable and his spiraling out of control just made me want to cuddle him and make it better.
Re: Procedural arc: I won’t claim to be an expert, but the procedural portion of the story seemed well researched and plausible. I really enjoyed following the investigation, especially the parts when Luis profiled the serial killer they were pursuing. The killer himself was a tad blah, but the rest of it? Well done, Ms. Speyer.
Re: Donovan: Ugh, frankly it took me a long time to like him and by the end of the book, I still hadn’t fully warmed up to him. He will need to do something huge for me to actually believe he deserves Luis, as it is now? Nope, no way, no how. He is just such an entitled, privileged white twat! Grrrr! From the start, when he wasn’t sure why Luis could be angry with him if supposedly things had ended on a good note thirteen years ago and then he was a jealous jerk when Luis hooked up with/gave his attention to someone else, when even he realized he’d been the one to break things off between them so many years ago, to him actually leaving Luis then even if he was aware of all of Luis’s trust and abandonment issues and refusing to leave his very comfortable closet and using his family as a convenient excuse for it. He didn’t seem like a 34-year-old, especially when he kept running to his mommy to guide him. And even when he started standing up for Luis against his coworkers, he still couldn’t fully get what Luis was going through or support him, the guy actually believed Luis about Lightfoot (the ghost) and not that profiling actually works for hell sakes! sighs wearily I could go on and on, but I think that’s enough for now.
Re: Everyone else: Let’s start with Kevin, since he is Luis’s partner at the Boston FBI branch. At first, him and Luis seemed friendly enough, joking and helping each other and then suddenly, after Luis and Donovan get hurt and Luis neglects to tell him about his injury, preferring to take care of it himself, Kevin turns on Luis and acts like an ingrate fool, refusing to see reason until the very end. I just can’t even, so yeah, I’ll leave that there.
Then we have Donovan’s mother, who is a police captain and a homophobic racist at first— actually, most of Donovan’s family is that, so it kind of makes sense that he didn’t want to come out until he needed to—and who should’ve known better that injuries happen in their line of work and that sometimes it’s not anyone else’s fault. When Donovan and Luis get stabbed, she went ballistic and slapped Luis for not taking better care of his partner, her baby groans and yet, Kevin was there, too, but of course, let’s just blame the poor Brazilian gay guy. And afterward, when Donovan explains he’s gay and in love with Luis and that he didn’t treat Luis right, she has a change of heart and is all contrite to Donovan and even invites Luis to dinner, but did she truly apologize to Luis? Of course not. rolls eyes
And don’t get me started on Luis’s supervisor and his coworkers because I don’t want to get more worked up than I am already. Let’s just say they all grated on my nerves.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, despite all my issues with Donovan and all of the secondary cast. I’ve always loved shows that deal with the profiling side of the FBI, it’s really interesting to see how Luis managed to get in the right frame of mind to think as the killer would. I liked the paranormal bit, too, even if it wasn’t as prevalent as I thought it would be. I hope that’s not the last we’ve seen of Captain Lightfoot, though. I’ll be looking forward to more books (and more of Luis, of course) in this series!
–Bayou Book Junkie