I enjoyed this audiobook! This is the fourth book in The Huntress/FBI Thrillers series that focuses on killer Cara Lindstrom and the FBI agent on her case, Matthew Roarke, along with the rest of his team. I would recommend reading this series in order since each book builds on the events in previous books. I really had a good time with this book and couldn't wait to see how everything would work out.

The story was a little different than I expected. Not a bad kind of different - just different. So far the books in the series have been more focused on the chase to put Cara Lindstrom behind bars but in this installment, the focus is on events from Cara's teen years. I really liked the way that we see the events in this story from Cara's point of view as a teenager alternating with Agent Roarke's present-day investigation. I was really hooked by the mystery and I thought that it was eye-opening to see some of the events that helped to shape Cara.

R.C. Bray did a wonderful job with the narration of this story. I think that he does a great job of creating distinctive voices for each of the key characters in the story and is able to really bring the story to life. I thought that his voice was very pleasant and I had no problems listening to this book for hours at a time. I think that his narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this series to others. I thought that the mystery was very well done and the characters that were easy to like. I look forward to reading more of this series soon. ( )

I had received several books of this series and loved them so much, I binge read all three. So apt this book comes after the others. I think I got a lot more from it, because I am totally engrossed in how Cara came to be a vigilante.

In Bitter Moon, Cara relives her tragic past and it is brutal, horrifying, terrifying, and haunting. The insight into her motivation makes me see evil in its purest form. It’s no wonder she takes her revenge as a vigilante on all the users and abusers. The atrocities committed on defenseless children by family, friends, strangers, they need a guardian angel and Cara will fight to her dying breath for herself and for them.

Roarke has walked away from the FBI because of his conflicted feelings about her. He is lost, isolated, confused…As he tries to find answers for himself, Roarke tracks her past. He walks where she walked, meeting some people she knew, gaining insight. The nun simplified if for him, he is on a mission.

Can evil be drawn to a particular person? Can someone attract the bad through no fault of their own?

It is frightening and horrifying as I read of her past and know these things really happen, that the depravity of humans are going on right now. I am at a loss for words with an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

I love Cara and don’t know how she can have a happy ever after, but I so much want it for here. If any character I have ever read about deserves something good in her life, Cara does. She is dogged by evil, she never quits, never gives up, willing to take them out one by one.

She runs from IT, but IT follows here everywhere she goes.

Monsters are real!

Research? If half of what Alexandra Sokoloff has written about rape and trafficking, the women and children, throwaway kids, the predatory people out there is true, we should all be afraid. It may be easier to turn the other way, but you never know when EVIL might come for you.

I had wondered if there would be more, because the rest of Cara and Roarke’s story needs to be told, and I am so happy to know…there is.

There are so many great quotes, that I had to share a few of them.

“Look too long into the abyss and the abyss looks back into you.”

“Fear the wolf, or be the wolf.”

“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” John Stuart Millshad

Alexandra Sokoloff had me wound so tight, I felt like I would explode. My emotions were all over the place and I did breathe a sigh of relief…and regret…when I was done. The characters have captured my heart and I miss them as soon as I close the ‘cover’. Stay safe everyone, I’ll be back.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Bitter Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff and these novels will be sitting on my reread shelf!!!!

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I don't like novels written to highlight a social ill. Which is not to say that highlighting social ills is not part of a writer's job, I just don't like it when the social justice part overshadows the plot part. Neither purpose of the novel – elucidation or enjoyment – is well served.

As much as I like the Moon series by Alexandra Sokoloff, I can't rate Bitter Moon very high. This is a second book about Roarke, not Cara. Cara is there as a ghostly flashback character, and as you all know, I can't stand flashbacks. But Cara seems to be in the book only to be a victim and witness to injustice. I imagine that Ms Sokoloff intends for us to see this forming Cara's character but I see it as unneeded.

I received a review copy of "Bitter Moon: The Huntress/FBI Thrillers, Book 4" by Alexandra Sokoloff (Thomas & Mercer) through NetGalley.com. ( )

Genre: Adult, Thriller
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Bitter Moon is the fourth book in the Huntress series. In this series we have an FBI agent named Matthew Roarke who has spent a large amount of time tracking down a woman named Cara Lindstrom. Cara goes after the most evil of predators, as she was once a victim herself. However, nothing condones murder. The biggest problem for Roarke is he finds himself stuck between doing his job and his admiration for Cara. This makes Roarke take a leave of absence.

When Cara escapes Matthew Roarke goes back on the hunt. This time he uncovers the very thing that set Cara on this path. This will take him back to her old high school and more brutality than he could imagine.

One thing that made this book so great to me is the very thing some people might not like. The author uses alternating chapters to go back in time to show us how Cara became the person she is today, and then chapters to show us present time with Matthew Roarke trying to uncover Cara’s past. This is a sixteen year spread. I felt that this was probably the very best way to tell this story. It is what has made me fall in love all over again with the story line. Learning what you do about Cara’s past makes a part of you really like her, even though a part of you can’t condone what she has done.

If you haven’t read the first three books in the series, you really must. It will explain things you really need to know to make this book an outstanding one to read. However, having said that, it reads well as a stand alone book. This one had a lot more emotional backdrop. The reader is given a look at the social system from Cara’s point of view. Unfortunately it really mirrors a lot of today’s system. As I have said before, any book that can make me feel such a range of emotions is a book I will definitely recommend to my readers. Don’t walk, run to get your copy. You won’t regret it. I think one reason I loved this series is because it kind of reminded me of the Dexter series that was on television years ago. It was probably my favorite series because it showed someone deeply scarred seeking revenge on those he saw as evil.

You can read my review of the other books in the series and a guest post by the author by clicking below.

Huntress Moon
Blood Moon
Cold Moon
Author Guest Post ( )

Wow! I wasn’t sure how the author could possibly come up with another book to draw me in as deep as her earlier trilogy, but I was sucked in from the very first pages. If you’ve read the other three books, you NEED to read this one too. I want to call it a prequel but it’s actually divided between being the early story of Cara and FBI agent Matthew Roarke digging into that early story in the present, knowing what he does now of Cara and It. Cara’s history is intriguing and it explains how she became the vigilante she is in the series. It also focuses on Roarke as he goes into the past and discovers a horrendous assault on young teen girls, somehow tied to Cara. He decides that he must find the horrible man who had done these things to the girls, and the more he digs the faster I needed to read, to find out the big who-done-it. You really should read the other three books in the series before you read this one (although you probably could read this as a standalone—with some confusion in the backstory). The series just keeps getting better and better. Absolutely loved Bitter Moon! ( )