Book Review: Hunted by the Others, by Jess Haines

If you want your significant other followed because you think he/she is cheating on you, call Shiarra Waynest, PI. Unfortunately, Shiarra does her work so well that the “others” in the world wish to hire her as well, and that’s when things can turn a bit icky.

Hunted by the Others is a crazy fun rollick with a sassy, tough and slightly freaked-out heroine, a devastatingly gorgeous vampire named Alec Royce, a sexy ex-boyfriend who is a werewolf, a geeky mage who’s knowledge and abilities come in handy, and her business partner, Sara Halloway.

Shia is about to lose her detective agency, so when a member of The Circle, a powerful coven who owns half of the city, hires her at a ridiculously high fee, Shia sees this as the perfect opportunity to save H & W. All she has to do is get close to the most powerful vampire in the city, Alec Royce, and keep her eyes peeled for an arcane object known simply as The Focus. Sounds easy enough until Royce buys out the contract she has with The Circle and forces her to sign a contract with him. Meanwhile, an anti-Other extremist group called the White Hats (think Ku Klux Klan) is also trying to recruit Shia to kill the mages and the vampires for them. See what I mean? Icky! Everyone threatens to kill Shia unless she does their bidding and all she wants to do track down missing persons – human missing persons.

Shia quickly became my new favorite heroine in this book. Throughout the story she obtains fantastic weapons and a kick-ass outfit that protects her, but she’s not Buffy the Vampire Slayer by any stretch. In fact, her first meeting with Royce is together scary and hilarious. She has a snarky mouth that rivals Sookie Stackhouse; in fact I’ll go as far as to say that I think these two could be great friends. Hunted by the Others is told in the first person, so you are viewing everything from Shia’s point of view.

Jess Haines does an excellent job of putting you in Shia’s shoes. There were many times during this story when I would react to something I’m reading only to have it echoed by Shia in the next sentence. I love when a book can do that. Jess tells her story in a colorful, witty way, and you are kept at the edge of your seat with every turn of the page.There was nothing I didn’t like about this book and I’m dying to get my hands on the next two. These are the kind of books you like to read over and over again. I give it 5 out of 5 stakes.

Hunted by the Others is the first of three (so far) books. Taken by the Others is available in book stores now and Deceived by the Others comes out in July of this year.