Hunter's Trail

A Scarlett Bernard Novel, Book 3

By: Melissa F. Olson

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Actions have consequences—a lesson Scarlett Bernard is learning the hard way. As a “null,” Scarlett has always been able to negate the powers of the supernatural beings that surround her. But now her reckless decision to permanently change Eli from a werewolf to a human has left the Los Angeles werewolf pack in shambles, and upset the balance of power among the city’s supernatural factions. To make matters worse, Scarlett’s employers discover that a newly changed werewolf is running amok in the city. To catch the rogue werewolf, Scarlett will need help from both Eli and Detective Jesse Cruz of the LAPD…a situation that will force her to finally choose between them.

However, Scarlett and her friends aren’t the only ones on the hunt—someone else is chasing the wolf. Someone with no reservations about collateral damage. Now Scarlett and her allies must stop both the rogue wolf and the deadly hunter before the full moon rises and all hell breaks loose.

Filled with the same suspense and wit readers loved in Dead Spots and Trail of Dead, this may be Scarlett Bernard’s most harrowing adventure yet....

©2014 Melissa F. Olson (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

awesome!

I love Melissa Olsen! this is great writting. excellent story line.. I applaud her for being able to keep my attention for an entire book series!

great story as always....

good set up an awesome characters that have a honest an real feel about then.....from the moment jessie sees the "demon dog" till the end this one had me laughing out loud while still on my edge of my seat waiting to see how it all ends. i read / listen to ALOT of books an usual see the twists an turns long before they play out...which is disappointing sometimes...one thing i can say for this whole series so far....i can never truly figure out all the little details and endings. this writer has a way of truly catching me off guard an keeping a few aces up her sleeves right up until the end. while never making the plot muddy or the characters wish washy ....if anything one if her best tricks is making then so 3d and human like that it defies the cliches ...the standerd roles...the tired out concepts an the normal play ups.... her books are not what had became the normal cookie cutter worlds (ya maybe some are a new shape but in the end the little new details still are a cookie cutter ) her worlds an the people in them shift ...grow and become truly effected by the drama an trauma they endure...they just dont go through hell an then poof next chaper next story they are all good an still the exact character they were in the first book. no instead like what real people would do they slowly learn from...grow bitter because or struggle to maintain them selves after so many life altering events happens to them...awesome writing more so when considering how relatively new this writer is to the scene!!!!!

Lost Me at the Racism

One of the things I love about this story is the introduction of a Hispanic romantic lead. I've listened to all of the stories, but this is the last one I'll buy. The author essentially creates a stereotypical black character, does a slight "flip the script" to give the character a little more depth, then shoots the character. The wrongness of this, after interviewing all "white" characters and one Mexican character . . . this is essentially the Hollywood standard of adding a black character and killing him off so that everyone else can live. It's distasteful in movies, and it's far more distasteful when an author does this. It's written racism, shallow thinking, and offensive in the extreme. I also hate when narrators do a "black" voice as if ALL black people, or Hispanic people for that matter use a standardized dialect. This Scarlett Bernard story leaves me with a sense of betrayal because I believed the world that the writer created would be free of artificial stereotypes that only showed the author's wishful feelings of superiority. It is unfortunate that this story fails this necessary hurdle for culture stories, because if the author is looking for superiority, the writing and plotting is far superior to the second Scarlett Bernard story.

Whiny Chick Lit

What would have made Hunter's Trail better?

If I had stopped and discarded the book sooner.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I will make sure to listen to the sample, Amy McFadden's voice and tendency to SHOUT for emphasis really annoyed me.

Would you be willing to try another one of Amy McFadden’s performances?

No

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance: main character kept wollowing in her own self induced guilt trip; narrator sounded like an immature teenager.

Any additional comments?

Would rather be shot with a slow silver bullet than ever experience another book like this. The question I keep asking myself is why did I bother to listen to the end?

This one focuses on Werewolves

If you could sum up Hunter's Trail in three words, what would they be?

Really great narration

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hunter's Trail?

I really like the Scarlett Bernard character, and truly most of the characters are compelling. I'm not a "Werewolf fan, so I did not enjoy the story so much. This is purely a matter of my personal taste and not a reflection of the story.

Which character – as performed by Amy McFadden – was your favorite?

Oh man, this narrator ROCKS. Outstanding performance with multiple characters, all easily distinguished with her expert elocution.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I would not make a film of this book.

Any additional comments?

*please see all my reviews for similar titles I enjoyed. As a narrator myself, I tend to focus on the audio presentation.

Great Ending!

I was pleasantly surprised, shocked at the humble realistic, and very human this book ended with.
You would think by listening to other romance paranormal YA/adult novels that this would stick with the same trite formulated sappy girl runs away with the hunky sex on a stick but hardly knows or treat her right man instead of the man who truly loves her for who she is and has sacrificed his life for hers. To my blatant shock (and actual clapping I gave along with just a few crocodile tears), this book spun the cliche on its heels and took all the minuscule but essential facets to the characters and storyline, left nothing out. Loose ties weren't tied anymore, and our protagonist heroine found herself at the end even losing some critical friendships, just like life. We fall down at times but get back up and find ourselves once again enough to accept the losses and people we had to give up in order to move forward independent of anyone else needs or desires. There's no team Jesse (pretty golden boy), Cruz vs team Eli (love sap puppy). It was always about our girl and finding her way home🫶🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻

sawtx

loved listening to the book! can't wait to listen to the next book in old world magic!

"Great story, but ML is emotionally abusive"

Scarlet is great, but let's face it she's a mess from the trauma of her mentor and the world she finds herself in.
We're constantly told how good Jessie is, but he jerks her around constantly with the hot cold routine and Scarlett gives him a pass every time choosing to beat up on herself.

Take the kiss from the last book that keeps coming up. Jessie puts her on the spot about what it means for them and Scarlett daydreams about it -- both leaving out the part where he coldly rejected her for being tainted and not good enough for him immediately afterwards. Seriously?

Having been in an emotionally abusive relationship for years that did a number on me, I just want to scream at her to stop thinking it's her and run. I'm hoping that's the conclusion the author wants us to get without spelling it out for us, but so many romances involve this dynamic it will probably turn out that he's the one for her.

Amazing looks and lots of chemistry do not mean you are meant to be together long term. Wish there were more novels that got that. There are some -- Audible seems to classify them as Beta ML.

Check out Hailey Edwards' The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy series if you want to see a heroine with PTSD who grows and gains strength and finds a true partner who is a badass
in his own way without being an ass, too.

how low can you get

have being struggling with a lot of Scarlett's moods .while the story is not bad that characters sometimes are hard to relate but I think Melissa reach way low when she had Scarlett do a rapper joke "she said she was 18" wtf that was the cop joke you went with really as if statutory r@pe was funny .I'm done whit this series and this writer.

Fantastic Entry in the Series

Another fun book in the series. Narrator does a fantastic job. Definitely worth a listen!

Good book

It’s the usual convoluted plot, wrapped around Scarlet’s mixed up emotions. Will she ever get it together? Action a plenty, magic, werewolves, vampires all thrown into the pot, simmer and stir occasionally, you get the idea.

Another brilliant story

Another cant put down, page turner with lots of twists and turns. Well worth spending time with.

One of the strongest in the series

I got hooked on this series having listened to the most recent novel and then worked my way through the series. This one has a stronger, more complex narrative as well as a stronger emotional context. The reader suits the tone and fortunately she only has to tackle a few accents so it's smoother. Shall now have to wait for the next publication!

Excellent

Not my normal genre but totally loved these books, now at a loss for what to read next!

Really good urban fantasy

It took me a while to warm up to Scarlett in the first book in the series, Dead Spots, because her character was so jaded. However by this third book she's developed into not only likeable but really "laugh out loud" funny with her wicked sense of humour. I can usually tell when the writing is good because I'm engaged throughout the book and don't really notice "the writing". This was certainly true for all of the books in this series. I feel I've found another favourite urban fantasy author and I'll be looking forward to the next book. I would recommend it to anyone who likes this sort of genre. If you're looking for romance it's there, with an interesting love triangle for Scarlett. However the "love scenes" aren't anything like as "detailed" as many paranormal romance or some other urban fantasy books. The focus is definitely more on the "action" and this has a complicated enough plot to keep you guessing. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Again, I wasn't sure initially about the narrator as I found her voice a bit "whiny" at times. However, now I'm used to her voice I think she did a great job that definitely enhanced the story.

First Class

The last in the series what a shame. The whole trilogy was a pleasure to listen to, story narration and characters were first class. Highly recommended. I really could find little fault as each book really fleshed out the people and the stories moved along at a good pace.