The Love Hunter [Paperback]

Jon Hassler (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (1980)
• ASIN: B000N796UU
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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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 Tender anguish, July 28, 1998

By 

fish-mich (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Love Hunter (Paperback)

It has been a while since I've read this book, but it was so good I intend to read it again, even with all the others I have waiting on the shelf. LOVE HUNTER was the first Jon Hassler novel I had the pleasure of reading, and with it I discovered one of my favorite authors. Mr. Hassler has a special way of developing characters so you somehow feel connected to them. In the case of Love Hunter, the reader can sense the anguish felt by Chris as he witnesses his friend Larry's losing battle with MS. Chris also struggles with his growing love for Larry's wife. Together, Chris and Larry attempt to continue an annual tradition which will soon cease to be.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story, well-written, don't miss it!, January 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Love Hunter (Paperback)

This is an intelligent,literate book that I would highly recommend. The writing is excellent and the story is compelling. Mr. Hassler is one of our best contemporary writers, in my opinion. His characters are so convincing and the dialogue is just as people actually speak. I particularly enjoy his observations on everyday life situations that we all face. This book has everything from laugh-out-loud comedy (Blackie LaVoi and the entire hunting camp fracas) to tragedy, and everything in between. It deals with love, jealously, and selfishness contrasted with selflessness. The characters will in turn infuriate you and then endear themselves, but at all times they are real and believable and human. This is the third novel by Mr. Hassler I have read, and I also recommend Simon's Night and Grand Opening.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well done, but not as easy to love as his others, October 14, 2007

By 

grrlpup (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Love Hunter (Paperback)

Like the other Jon Hassler books I've read, this one had sentences and turns of phrase that were so felicitous, and showed such amazing powers of observation, that I read them over and over. The descriptions of Iowa, Minnesota, and Manitoba brought the landscape into sharp relief, and I felt like I was there at the grody hunting cabin, and wading in the cold water.

The biggest problem for me in this book was the characters. None of them was likeable, except for Rachel. And she spent so much time keeping the others going that I hardly got to see her as her own person. Long sections of this book (especially at the hunting resort) were less than pleasant to read because I didn't like or care about the people I was watching.

I admire this book, but when I go to re-read some Jon Hassler I will turn to Staggerford, which renders the same kind of landscape and small-town life not just in perfect detail, but in loving detail. I believe Staggerford is Hassler's masterpiece, and The Love Hunter didn't quite measure up.