Book Review: Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters) by Heather Graham

As a New York Times Bestseller, I wanted to see exactly how Heather Graham would live up to her title, so this month I decided to read Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters) on my Kindle. From the first page, I was absolutely hooked. The first few sentences instilled a sense of fear and suspense that really sucked me into the story. I felt as if I was hearing the sound of dripping blood emanating from the pages.

Heart of Evil is a part of a series that Heather Graham has written titled the Krewe of Hunters series, which is basically centered around a group of FBI investigators that use communications with the dead to aid in their searches for missing persons or suspects of murders. The main characters in this book are Ashley and Jake. Ashley is a single woman who lives and works on her family's Louisiana plantation. She has a long history with Jake, as he was a friend of hers growing up and then turned into her boyfriend in her later teen years.

The suspense in this beautifully constructed novel begins with a Civil War reenactment performed on Ashley's family's plantation. Unfortunately, the man who acted as one of Ashley's ancestors turns up missing after the reenactment. Ashley's concern for the missing man turns into sheer horror and disbelief when she finds his body in her family's cemetery, dead and bleeding like a stuck pig. Then enters the old, still-wanted boyfriend, Jake. Jake, as you might have guessed, is a part of the FBI's Krewe of Hunters and is originally sent to the plantation in order to find the missing man. He arrives to find that the missing man has been found by Ashley and is now dead.

The plot develops as the Krewe of Hunters try to solve the heinous murder, while Ashley begins seeing and talking to one of her ancestor's ghosts. She battles with her fear of her newly-realized abilities to communicate with the dead and at the same time battles her ever-churning desires to be with Jake again. I'm sure you can guess that Ashley and Jake do end up together during the middle of the story and the romantic scenes are steamy yet classy. The author really does a wonderful job of inviting the reader to fall in love with the main characters and their developing romantic relationship. In addition to the exciting romance between Jake and Ashley, many men are suspected of the murder and more bodies begin popping up around the plantation. Fear grows in the hearts of the main characters, which in turn instills a sense of suspense and fear in the reader's mind.

The story of the Heart of Evil ends in a very dark and thrilling moment, with the killer revealing himself and his evil plan to kill one of the main characters in order to avenge one of his ancestors who had a connection with Ashley's bloodline. Of course some of the ghosts who had been revealing themselves to Ashley aid the main characters in the end and Ashley and Jake are forever grateful to the good-spirited ghosts.

Overall, Heart of Evil by Heather Graham was thrilling, romantic and invoked a sense of mystery in the reader's mind. It left me guessing, who did it? Is the murderer her or maybe him? I could never quite figure out the murderer until he was revealed in the very end. I would honestly give this paranormal thriller romance 4.5 out of 5 stars. My only criticism is that the suspenseful moments throughout the entirety of the book could have been amped up just a tad bit more, but this was truly an enjoyable and intriguing read. Heather Graham truly lives up to her "New York Times Bestseller" title. I plan to read more of the Krewe of Hunters series in the near future.