While Liam was gone, someone murdered his former handler and sworn enemy, Agent Broussard, so now there is a hefty bounty on Liam's head and he's the current quarry of all of the bounty hunters. Malachi, Gavin, and Claire decide to head to the bayou to warn Liam and Eleanor, and also to see them, since Liam left Claire without so much as a goodbye after the battle and she has no idea where they stand.
During their arduous journey, Gavin and Claire encounter a few rough bounty hunters, since there is also a bounty on Claire, because she used magic in full view of everyone during the battle, and as they progress, the bounties will grow to include Gavin, as well. They stop off at a plantation so Malachi can check in on a group of Paras who have, essentially, been given leave passes from Devil's Isle, only to discover that the daughter of a dear Para friend is gravely ill. What's worse, more Paras will come down with this strange illness and Claire and her group must try to figure out what is making Paras outside of Devil's Isle fall ill.
Naturally, Liam decides to return to New Orleans to fight these bogus charges when he hears he has been set up, and he and Claire discover that the frame-up job was instigated by a man whose brother was dating Liam's ex. Apparently this guy really had it in for Paras and he was working closely with Laura Blackwell, a scientist that Darby Craig (the human scientist from Malachi's Delta team) had previously worked with at Containment. Laura Blackwell holds the key to many questions, not the least of which are Claire's questions about her own past and that of her father, but Blackwell is on a mission to rid the world of Paras, no matter what the cost. Can Claire, Liam, Gunnar, and the rest of their group stop her before she takes action and causes irreparable damage? The answer is yes and no, and the end of The Hunt leaves us wondering what is to become of New Orleans and the world, as some pretty big stuff happens at the end of the book.
I love the way Chloe Neill writes and she can craft an incredibly easy to read yarn. I also love the characters in the Devil's Isle series and can't wait to read the next book, since this one ended on quite the doozy of a cliffhanger. Her stories are fast-paced, with copious helpings of action, but also romance and mystery, and she doles out little pieces of the overall backstory of Claire in each book, such that it keeps you coming back for more, but it's only one puzzle piece of the complete story. If you've been reading up to this point, you won't want to miss The Hunt. All of the characters you love return, but leave you wanting more.
