Customer Reviews

The Soul Hunter (Dylan Foster Series #2)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Creepy. Haunting. Realistic. Thought-provoking. Hilarious. Those are the first words that come to my mind in attempting to describe The Soul Hunter. Oh, and rats. If you can't handle rats, don't even pick up this book. Better yet, deal with your rat phobia and pick up the book anyway.

The night before her 35th birthday, Dylan Foster and her boyfriend David are scheduled to go out for a nice dinner. While she is getting ready for her date, Dylan hears a thud at the front door. She runs to open it, hoping for a present from UPS. Instead, she finds a bloody axe on her porch. After reporting the incident, she finds out there has been a murder, and she has been thrown right in the middle of it.

Happy birthday to Dylan.

You'd think Dylan would've had enough trouble from demons and murderers. But the saga continues and even worsens for this Texas psychologist. In addition to the axe, terror strikes when Peter Terry shows up again. Can things possibly get worse? Oh yeah.

The story continues as the search for the murderer intensifies. But things are not as they seem. A deeper power is at work for those whose lives hang in the balance. Will Dylan lean on the One who can get her through this ordeal? Will more innocent people have to suffer, or will mercy reign?

In the first book of this series, Dylan learned the inestimable value of prayer and the Word. With that knowledge under her belt, will she put on God's full armor as the only way to combat the devil's evil schemes?

There is a battle raging for men's souls. Those who wish to harm mortal man play for keeps. Thankfully, there is Someone stronger than the forces of darkness, and He is available to those who call on Him. Spiritual warfare is real, as the author has intimated in this supernatural tale. I admire the way Wells has us peer into the unseen (and sometimes seen) and think about what is happening beyond our limited vision. If we have the spiritual eyes to see, we will find God is definitely at work.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend this up and coming author of supernatural suspense. This genre deserves more fantastic books like this one.

Although there is a super-creepy villain on the cover of The Soul Hunter, demonic Peter Terry doesn't make much of a show, making this novel have more of a super snarky chick-lit mystery feel rather than horror.

In my opinion, what really makes this book stand out is the true to life heroine: A sassy thirty something, single, academic who always finds herself in the middle of one mess or another.

For mystery lovers, you'll be pleased by the twists Melanie throws at you. The writing is superb and the plot satisfying and unpredictable.

Melanie Wells is an excellent storyteller. Her writing is hip, sassy, relevant and highly entertaining.

We first met the quirky Dr. Dylan Foster in When the Day of Evil Comes, the first book in this spiritual warfare thriller series. On the eve of her thirty-fifth birthday, as she tries on a bathing suit in a department store and sees her backside in the mirror, she begins obsessing about reducing her thighs. While that may not be unusual, the bloody axe tossed onto the entrance to her house as a car sped away is.

Thinking she received a birthday present, Foster opens the door, picks up the axe, and gets blood all over herself just as her boyfriend appears to take her out for her birthday. But that's only the beginning. Demon Peter Terry appears in the middle of a wintry Dallas night and lets Foster know he's back by infesting her incredibly immaculate home with rats.

Once the police decide Foster isn't an axe murderer, she begins her own criminal investigation and discovers the secrets of the murdered co-ed raised in a religious commune.

That is when Foster's battle with Peter Terry begins in earnest. Both her personal life and her professional life teeter on the edge of a downward spiral as Terry works his evil against her.

Armchair Interviews says: Plan to feel the tension, to enjoy the intrigue, and to lose some sleep while this book keeps you guessing until the end.

Melanie Wells does it again! She entertains, amuses, and scares the dickens out of us. Her writing is superb, her heroine charming, and her villain absolutely blood-chilling. And then there's the rats...

Quickly becoming one of the most iconic characters in Christian fiction, Dylan Foster's back for battling with the demonic Peter Terry in The Soul Hunter, Melanie Wells's sequel to When the Day of Evil Comes--an equally hillarious novel. Wells's prose is sharp, sassy, and as easy to read as a writer could ever be. Dylan is so realistic and believable that one begins to wonder where author ends and character begins. Don't let the freaky cover scare you off. More a mystery than a suspense novel, this is easily one of my top five novels of '06.

This second novel in the 'Day of Evil' series, was as wonderfully crafted as its predecessor was, and maintained the same refreshingly unique style of Melanie Wells. If you loved the cheeky heroine, Dylan Foster, in the first novel, you will find her even more charming in this story. She has a wonderful sense of humor, even in the face of evil.

Each novel in this series has its own proper conclusion; however, I still recommend starting with "When the Day of Evil Comes," to prevent any minor spoilers that may be gleaned from this novel.

Although the cover art depicts the nefarious Peter Terry--a corporeal demon--do not misinterpret this to be a horror story. This is superbly written fiction, which remains stimulating without gimmick.

Dylan Foster's life has settled into a comfortable "spiritual status quo" after her terrifying encounter with Peter Terry two summers ago. However, her comfortable routine is shockingly disrupted when trouble quite literally appears on her doorstep in the form of a bloody ax. Suddenly Dylan is the suspect in a murder investigation and must scramble to find a link, however tenuous, between herself, the killer, and the victim. On the heels of this nauseating discovery, Peter Terry once again invades her life, reminding her that the spiritual warfare his presence awakened her to is still very much a force to be reckoned with. The demon is once more on the move, hunting souls and seeking to destroy lives, and Dylan is once again thrust into the role of a reluctant warrior in a fight for survival against the darkest spiritual forces imaginable.

Soul Hunter contains all of the elements that made the preceding volume in the series such an engrossing read - fast-paced action, snappy dialogue, richly drawn characters, nail-biting suspense, and a dash of humor that keeps you up well into the night turning pages. Wells doesn't shy away from attacking tough, weighty issues here, such as mental illness and rape, and she handles them with grace and sensitivity and an authentic understanding borne of her background as a counselor. I love Dylan's voice - she's sassy, sarcastic, and genuine. Wells has a conversational, matter-of-fact style to her narrative that makes Dylan so relatable she feels like she could be your best friend (albeit a slightly prickly one *wink*).

The events in Soul Hunter force Dylan to re-examine her faith as she navigates the depths of depravity to which a human can sink without the saving grace of God in their lives. Wells also examines how easy it is for a believer's faith to become complacent without "exercising" it and developing their relationship with God. She touches on how an individual's view of God is often tied to their view of their earthly father as in Dylan's case, where the intimacy of her relationship with God is conditioned by her view of her father, whose disinterest in her life has translated to the belief that God is there, just not involved. A big part of Dylan's appeal as a character is how her experiences with Peter Terry force her faith to develop in a society that devalues any reliance on God. Equal parts spiritual thriller and mystery, with just a dash of chick-lit humor, Soul Hunter is highly recommended.

This is a well written page turner that delves into the supernatural in the Christian fiction genre. I enjoyed this almost as much as her first book. Her main character is very likeable and relatable. I am anxious to see more from this author. Teens and adults would enjoy this.

More great Melanie Wells...incredible suspense and huge laughs! What more could you want?! If you're looking for a page turner, this is it!

Melanie Wells has crafted another intriguing page-turner that you just can't put down.

SMU Psychology Professor Dylan Foster is back and she finds herself right in the middle of a new mystery when she opens her door one night and discovers a bloody axe on her porch. From the beginning, the reader is taken on a thrill ride as Dylan is trying to find out the origin of the axe (not to mention whose blood it is!) and the reason for the sudden reappearance of the delightfully creepy Peter Terry.

Wells proves once again that she is the master of the first person narrative, and the story flows along at a quick pace that continually holds the reader's attention. Dylan Foster is funny, witty, and smart and Wells drops us right into the middle of her world. Fans of Wells' first novel, When The Day of Evil Comes, will love this new installment, and you will be dying for more after the satisfying conclusion.