HUNTER: A Novel [Hardcover]

James Byron Huggins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1999

If you are lost, Hunter can find you. Whether or not you want him to. Still, he's particular about the searches he takes on. So when the men from the military who come seeking his help are very secretive about the mission they want to recruit him for, Hunter's instincts tell him to refuse.

But the beast that is loose somewhere north of the Arctic Circle has already charged through an undercover research facility, wiping out an elite military training squad armed with automatic weapons. And it is headed south for civilization, ready to wreak all kinds of devastation. What Hunter uncovers in the arctic snow is a half-human abomination with a hunger for human blood, the result of outlaw genetic experiments that may have made it immortal. In an unholy race with the same secret government agency that spawned this beast, Hunter and his team find themselves isolated, with only their courage and survival skills standing between them and annihilation.

When it comes to action, nobody does it better than Byron Huggins, and Hunter -- already snapped up by Sylvester Stallone -- is his best action thriller yet, the most riveting beast story since Dean Koontz's Watchers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The first time we meet Nathaniel Hunter, the world's greatest tracker, he and his giant black wolf, Ghost, arrive at the scene of a massive search for a lost boy. "With primordial strength--an almost frightening animal strength brought to life with a single word--the enormous wolf turned, massive muscles bunching and hardening beneath the heavy black coat. The huge head, as broad as an anvil, went to the ground as it padded toward the treeline." No wonder Sylvester Stallone has bought James Byron Huggins's latest thriller for the movies! What a role--and the part of Hunter isn't bad, either...

Hunter, a historic-looking mountain man who dresses in stylish leather garments designed by himself, finds the boy quickly and is ready to set off for Manchuria in search of a rare Siberian tiger when an even more dangerous target surfaces in the wilds of Alaska. An illicit medical experiment has gone wrong, and the attempt to combine the recovered DNA of one of our more violent and predatory predecessors with that of modern man has resulted in a creature whose amazing powers of brain and muscle are matched only by its survival instincts.

As readers of his previous thrillers (Cain and Leviathan) already know, Huggins can make the most outlandish material instantly credible by creating scenes of great power and imagination. He also knows more about weapons and ways of killing people and animals than anyone. There's nothing cozy or literary about his work, but the action is nonstop and fully absorbing. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

Huggins's latest thriller (after the biblical Cain), about the clinical combination of modern man with the recovered DNA of a super-predatory but mercifully extinct proto-human, avoids falling into mere mindless action fiction by its unusually deft characterization. In the near future, illegal medical experiments in Alaska have created this nearly indestructible creature of incredible cunning and savagery, who goes on a rampage through the ranks of the research stations. To cover their blunder, the government sends out an elite team of special-operations warriors, led by the title character, Nathaniel Hunter, a mountain man born out of time and the best tracker in the world. Meanwhile, U.S. marshals are on the trail of the secret and the cover-up, intervening in the action in an unexpected way. Huggins's pacing is nonstop; his visual imagination is so compelling that the book will work splendidly as a movie; and the action scenes are fine if the reader has the stomach for a high body count. The author's expertise on weapons and wilderness survival keeps the narrative interest high, as do the well-fleshed characters such as Hunter; Bobbi Jo, the female sniper; and Takakura, a Japanese equally at home with modern weapons as with his ancestral katana. Huggins also chillingly gets inside the head of the savage, highly intelligent beast. This is a feast for gun nuts and pure entertainment for the more dedicated thriller reader. (Jan.) FYI: Hunter has been optioned for film by Sylvester Stallone.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First edition edition (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684844613
• ISBN-13: 978-0684844619
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Non-Stop Terrifying Action!, May 10, 2000

By 

L. Jenkins "Laurie-J" (Murchison, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunter (Paperback)

I devoured this book! The foe is a mutant human monster with horrendous strength and absolutely no conscience, whatsoever. The hero is a tracker who is the best in the world. A sad and lonely man, still Hunter has a soft spot in his heart, especially for lost children. Then we have a strong female secondary character that actually doesn't cry and cower and have to be constantly rescued. Add to that a government conspiracy of blood-chilling proportions and you have a mesmerizing thriller. This book is non-stop action!

Additionally, I especially enjoyed the scenic descriptions of the cold North Pole and Alaskan wilderness. I also was interested in the details of tracking. I felt that that aspect of the story provided useful information I probably otherwise would never have considered.

Gory descriptions of battles with the ferocious monster are liberally scattered throughout the book. Definitely not recommended reading for the overly squeamish. The story flows at a relentless, savage pace. Entertaining fiction! Come; join the hunt if you dare!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Formulaic Action Read, but Repetitive..., November 11, 2000

By 

Ryan Costantino (Nowhere, Special) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunter (Paperback)

I must admit that Mr. Huggins style is immediately immersive, the pacing lightning fast. I was at first intrigued by the fearless tracker Nathaniel Hunter and his huge wolf Ghost. The action was intense and bloody, the weaponry and the tracking information extensive. But then the story got repetitive. Which made me feel kind of cheated. Overall I enjoyed this novel and the trek across Alaska to kill an enemy that seemed impossible to kill. But the suspense level really wasn't all that high, I had a pretty good idea how this book was gonna turn out. Some of the twists were slightly unexpected, the characters were well developed (especially Hunter and Ghost) and the monster was a true vision of Horror. However, I do have a major problem with characters being thrown into the same situation again and again, only to prevail and fight another day and blah blah blah. The story kept building up to the same climatic scene over and over, just in a different way with a higher and higher body count. It kinda made me question the intelligence level of the elite special forces unit sent to track the creature. But, taken for what it is, an action novel, Hunter does deliver the brainless goods. I must admit I had fun reading this and I daresay, if you're an action fan, you'll enjoy this fast paced book too. You just might get a little irritated toward the end. Overall, a good, quick read, that you will strangely recommend to friends.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good story...yet..., January 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: HUNTER: A Novel (Hardcover)

If books were ranked according to how nasty the villian was, this one would be off the charts. Huggins has created a surprisingly believable genetic-monster "bad guy", that -- wouldn't you know it -- likes to feast on human brains. Of course the beast has the interest of lots of people, including government officials who the author successfully makes the reader loathe. This bloodthirsty superhuman is persued by the best tracker in the world, Nathanial Hunter.

If you've read any of this author's works, for instance CAIN, you'll be at home reading HUNTER. If you are a mother looking for a gift for your young son who likes to read thrillers, skip it. The author, who entered new territory when he included profanity in his last book (the first one he had done outside of the Christian publishing realm), takes things even further with HUNTER -- the "F" word appears several times and our aforementioned protagonist Hunter has a sexual encounter with the only female in his creature-tracking entourage.

On the positive side the book does include a light moral lesson (i.e. it's a bad idea to try to achieve eternal life through scientific experiments), amidst a great deal of action. Further, Huggins writing exudes storytelling. When he wants to create an ominous tone, in one paragraph he does it as well as most bestselling writers do in an entire novel. His word choice and imagery drips with talent.

If you're looking for something "safe", this book isn't it. If you just want a good read, go for it.