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Hostage Moon

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Everything can change in a heartbeat.

Hunter Roswell thought she had left her past behind. But her carefully structured world starts to fall apart when a serial killer connected to her past emerges from the shadows and begins stalking her. Already responsible for the deaths of five women, the killer now has Hunter firmly in his sights. And he’s picked a target date—the night of October’s full moon—also known as the blood moon or hunter’s moon.

Sara Wilder, a psychologist and former FBI profiler, is brought in to help Hunter unravel the connection between her past and a ruthless killer. But as the search for the killer intensifies, both women find themselves struggling with an unexpected and undeniably mutual attraction. In a race against time, can they survive a killer who is willing to use anything—even love—to further his own agenda?

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

13 people are currently reading
205 people want to read

About the author

A.J. Quinn

7 books68 followers
AJ Quinn’s first novel, Hostage Moon, was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award finalist and a 2012 Alice B. Lavender Certificate winner. A transplant from Cuba to Toronto, she juggles the demands of a busy consulting practice with those of her first true love—storytelling—finding time to write mostly late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. An avid cyclist, scuba diver, and photographer, AJ’s always willing to travel at a moment’s notice.

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5 stars
133 (36%)
4 stars
137 (37%)
3 stars
71 (19%)
2 stars
17 (4%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Della B.
654 reviews184 followers
October 8, 2018
Wow. Great suspense thriller romance. This is my first novel of AJ’s and I have downloaded the rest of her work. Top notch writing and great characters. I highly recommend this novel.
Profile Image for Morgan.
613 reviews37 followers
September 19, 2013
Wow, where to start with this one... What should have been a tense thriller with a serial killer/stalker was instead sluggishly-paced and rather boring. At one point I realized I was on page 200 and yet nothing had yet happened to actually further the plot. It was a ridiculous story from a police procedural perspective. So then we have the characters, Hunter is described as a super genius and yet at no point is she actually written as one. Being a genius is really even in no way germane to the story, so I'm not sure why the author felt it was such an important detail. In fact, the only thing I really even know about Hunter is that she's apparently extremely beautiful. Mind numbingly beautiful. Blah blah blah beautiful. For awhile it was like I was reading Twilight again. Beautiful this, beautiful that. Don't waste your time with this one.
8 reviews
June 9, 2013
I'm about to finish it and its been enjoyable.

Before starting I read a review and i cant help but to agree with some of the things said. Hunter was just too much. Too perfect. Out of this world intellgent and beautiful, rich, plays piano, flies airplanes... it was just too much and it outshined the other main character who hardly did anything in the book. It also makes you wonder why Hunter, who is portraid as picky and hasnt had a relationship for 10 years, falls so helplessly in love with her, when Sara seems like a nice girl and thats it.

Its not ideal for an enthusiast of detective mysteries, as theres not much investigating skills shown, but its nice to pass time and romantic-wise
Profile Image for MEC.
390 reviews41 followers
November 16, 2011
Two and a half stars, rounded up to three. Well written story revolving around a serial killer/stalker and his prey (rich, genius playgir) and a former FBI behavioural psychologist. Unfortunately, the characters irked me. Hunter is just a bit too perfect with just a bit too tragic of a past. This may just me reaching my threshold for romances and published uber.
1 review
January 10, 2022
I’d fallen into a rut with reading at the end of the year and needed something easy to read to get me back on track. This was easy to read. The story is interesting enough if not predictable. The writing is…not great. But I went into reading this book with the expectation of a interesting thriller plot that I could consume in a day, and that’s what this book is so it delivered.
Profile Image for Heidi.
407 reviews1 follower
March 18, 2015
It was a fun read! At times a bit over the top, but it was truly a fun read! It had me hooked.
Profile Image for Dide.
1,489 reviews54 followers
December 16, 2019
Thriller was captivating but I found the dynamics between the two protagonists forward on occasions and the book in general unnecessarily lengthy
Profile Image for SilveringOfRose .
208 reviews15 followers
June 2, 2020
3.5 stars

I liked this one more than I liked the last A.J. Quinn story I listened to. Oh and this review is of the audiobook - which is not listed as an edition here on Goodreads yet and which I am currently far too lazy to add (yes I know, I'm a terrible person). Another book where tech plays a major part, so I'm wondering if my thinking that AJQ seemed to avoid the overly techy subject/points/facts last time was possibly wrong and maybe all of her stories have this element.

Also - based purely on these two books, Ms Quinn seems to have a very specific type for her love interest, which is:

Ridiculously smart, a young genius who completed college/high school years ahead of her peers
Uber rich - all of her wealth is self-made
A tech career
Dark hair
Piercing blue eyes
Much taller than average for a woman (around 6ft)
Angled/slashing cheekbones
Drop-dead smoking hot gorgeous
And has a tragic history


Note that I have only listened to two of her books and it could just be a coincidence but I am definitely spotting a common theme here. Perhaps even a real-life inspiration?

Is the writing good?
The writing style had improved slightly compared to Counting To Zero, which I listened to before. And as I said - I enjoyed this plot more. And this despite the fact that there seemed to be fewer facts in this one? I think the main reason I preferred it more is it was more easily believable (serial killer with a small target pool versus megalomaniac wanting to take on the president always is I think) and there were fewer holes or less jumping around in this one.

Was the voice artist good?
I am so very sorry that I forgot to make a note of the voice artist before I returned this, and I am now too lazy to go look it up. But she was good. Not the best I've heard, but about the same as the voice artist from Counting To Zero (some problems with pacing and an almost soap-opera style of reading/narrating). Just a little overdone in other words. But not in an offputting way so I didn't have a problem listening, although I did find myself tuning out easily.

Are the lead characters likeable?
I really did, although as I said AJQ seems to have a type and Hunter and Sara could almost be Pax and Emma, if they had taken slightly different career paths.

Is the supporting cast good?
The supporting cast was once again my favourite part of the story, but more than anything else I want to know the story of Tessa and Kate. How did they meet, who fell first, how long did they fight it, who kissed who first. All of it. I want their story!

Is there a suitably nasty villain?
He will give you shivers. Trust me. Someone has obviously watched a lot of Criminal Minds. Or true crime documentaries.

Is this story believable?
Way more believable than the last AJQ story I listened to.

Is there anything I would change?
I again felt that AJQ tried to squeeze too many dramatic moments into the story. And more than a few really weren't necessary.
Profile Image for Claudia.
2,986 reviews39 followers
October 5, 2022
I had read Counting to Zero by this author and really enjoyed so it was time to go back for more of their books :)

And it was a very good decision as I truly enjoyed this one. The level of suspense in this one is veeeery high, and the villain is awful *shudders* A great opponent, that's for sure.

I really liked Hunter. Yes, I know she's not a very realistic character but, hey! we all can dream about a supersmart, drop-dead gorgeous billionaire, can't we? *laughs* And I also liked Sarah a lot. She's also very smart, but not in a techy way as Hunter, more in a people's way and very sure about who she is. Their romance was nicely paced and I believed it all the way through *laughs* And I enjoyed the supporting cast, too.

But I think I'd have enjoyed this story more with only one POV. Sarah's didn't bring anything new to the story, except regarding to her feelings for Hunter, so, at least for me, it felt superfluous.

Other than that, I loved this story,

Profile Image for Zaneta.
59 reviews
July 21, 2018
That was amazing in every way possible. The story progressed at a suitable pace, the romance was realistically developed, and the characters were well written and developed. I would've liked to either have had more from Sara's perspective or just had the entire book in one point of view, as we didn't get much of her that wasn't to do with her affection for Hunter. Overall, great read! I didn't read the blurb carefully enough to know that this was a same sex romance, but I liked the way it wasn't forced or that kind of "we can't be together we're gay" thing. I also would've liked more scenes between Tessa, Kate, Sara and Hunter all together! I'm looking forward to checking out more of A.J. Quinn's books.
Profile Image for Marie Little.
27 reviews
August 9, 2019
Finally a book that successfully combines lesbian romance and mystery/thriller. For awhile now I've been trying to find something that combines two of my favourite genres and I found what I was looking for in this book. Thank you, A.J. Quinn
11 reviews
August 30, 2023
Another incredible book by AJ Quinn! Loved the characters, the plot and the story line! Only a 4 star rating because it didn't live up to my fave (not enough light) but that's just my bias! Love love love this author!
55 reviews
June 7, 2020
I enjoyed this story. Even knowing there would be a happy ending, Quinn still held my attention through character angst and plot suspense.
Profile Image for Books.
6 reviews
February 1, 2023
Sara has to be the worst former FBI agent in the world.
649 reviews4 followers
May 29, 2023
Really enjoyed the first half of the book. After that it got long and boring and monotonous. Skimmed the last half, still too long.......
119 reviews
July 24, 2023
Hunter was a bit of a Mary Sue but overall a good book.
Profile Image for Seb.
301 reviews
August 19, 2023
I have covered almost all of AJ Quinn books and this one was great
Profile Image for g.
90 reviews1 follower
April 8, 2024
there's just no chemistry between the two main characters!
Profile Image for Hud-c.
129 reviews
January 18, 2013
Reading this has been terrifying. A terrifying repercussion.

Let me explain that. I was reading this for like three days. Well, there's just once circumstance that happened. So I was holing up in my room before dinnertime and reading Hostage Moon. Eventually, have to go down and eat or my mom will be pounding my door. And that's not a great thing to imagine. So just let me go fast forward a little. Every time after dinner, we had this TV time thing. The whole family watch TV. So I took my usual and comfort zone. I don't know what's running at that time but at the corner of my eye I saw my mom looking at me curiously in a perplexing way. Her forehead crumpled as though something dubious is bothering her. That's when I noticed when I got back to reality. The television was currently showing a horrible scene and ME - I'm unknowingly grinning ear to ear with my eyes on the TV set. So after I got back from Wonderland of Hostage Moon, I was pretty much embarrassed. More especially when everyone's going to their own safe haven to retire, my mom stopped me and said in a whisper: "If anything's bothering you, talk to me or your brothers. Don't keep it to yourself."

I can't believe I heard that from her and all because I remembered some dialogue from Hostage Moon. Here's the dialogue I'm talking about: Non-verbatim



Okay, my mind is racing once again. And my imagination is at its peak level of activity. Can you blame me? I was pretty much hooked up on this one and has plan to reread this tonight.

Just a bit of info. The book, Hostage Moon by AJ Quinn centers on a stalker hunts victim kind of story. The stalker has erotomania - a type of delusion where an individual believes or has fantasies of a stranger (usually high-profile, famous, successful people) is in love with him or her. The antagonist in the story just scares me. Stalkers are the kind of criminals who for me, are hard to predict and their motives, although easy to comprehend; they just give me that slithery feeling. And a sort of bonus thing, this has an lgbt theme. I haven't tried something from this genre for a very long time. So Hostage Moon is a refreshing read. Its a suspenseful story with the right amount of romance and erotic scenes. Moreover, the characters are compelling and the plot development was well done.
Profile Image for Fernanda.
27 reviews18 followers
January 19, 2013
Don't bother...if you are fan of detective & mystery books don't chose this one!
I tell you that because in this book there is not an ounce of investigative skills...it seems more the parade of fools & rookies.
There are so many things that doesn't work in this book that it's difficult to choose where to start.

1- I don't really know why the author have choose to introduce 2 protagonist when 1 of them don't do nothing in the all time. I think she would have make a better job if she would have make Hunter the only protagonist, this is because everything happens to her and everything revolves only around her. And for a protagonist she is larger than life in an unnerving redundant way: she is super intelligent with a stratospheric QI, more beautiful than a model, she can play piano, she is rich like Donald Trump, she is a good boxer and she also can pilot every kind of winged vehicle...really tooooo much...is more like read about a super hero than a real person.

2- The 2nd protagonist, Sara, is inexistent. I really don't know why the author have chose to introduce here as one of the best psychologist and former FBI profiler that exist when in all the book this skills don't shows up EVER. She is a profiler but all her profiling is reduced at 3 or 4 pages where she ask some questions about Hunter life, the killer life, and her walking in and out of some scene of the crime.
As her psychologist skill she is even worse because she is the kind of psychologist that don't do anything to help Hunter to face and overcome her memories....really??????....she is a madly in love with a person that have nightmare every single night and that can't sleep and is evidentially traumatize by events of her past and she do nothing more than hug her and tell "I'm here, everything is fine"...???..are you kidding me?...It would have been better if she was been introduced as a friend of a friend, and let her be a person outside the "investigations".

3- Also because Investigative skills are totally absent! In this book there are 2 highly prepared FBI agents, and a lot of other people that are good detective but all the things that are discovered are the simply result of what the serial killer have set in motion for is big bad game. The serial killer have all the power from the very start till the end...no FBI agents, psychologists, detectives, and security bodyguards are ever in any position to stop, delay or comprehend the serial killer scheme...they are all hopeless idiots if you ask me...because some things are soooooo plain and simple that the reader can see the outcome 20 pages before something happens so all the brain and skills that the author have put in the 2 protagonist and their allies is useless.


The only thing that is ok in this book is the sexual chemistry between Hunter & Sara, but also that haven't help me to enjoy the read.
Profile Image for Star.
1,290 reviews61 followers
April 11, 2012
A serial killer with a link to the past of a mysterious woman is born and now she is the penultimate target while he 'practices' on surrogates - women who look a lot like her. Hunter Roswell is a sharply intelligent woman who gets what she wants. Yet all she wants is to move beyond the past, a wish made impossible now due to the fact that someone wants her dead. Can she figure out the connection between herself and the serial killer before it's too late? Dr. Sara Wilder, who wants nothing more than to help Hunter and find this killer, becomes entrenched in Hunter's life. Can she save Hunter from herself and this killer and still keep her objectivity?

Hostage Moon is a great mystery story with excellent character development and a tender romance trying to bloom in the midst of the blood and horror. I was rooted to my seat while reading this and I was very moved by the end of the book. Quinn has a way of setting the stage and the mood to elicit a visceral response from the reading audience. Very well done and I hope there are many more books from AJ Quinn in the future!
Profile Image for D. Leigh.
Author 28 books212 followers
October 9, 2011
Beautiful young genius is stalked by a serial killer and the woman called in to consult on the case is a former FBI agent, who quit because the good guys won't admit when they are wrong. I appreciated that Sara is no longer an agent, so her involvement with Hunter Roswell wasn't technically unprofessional.

It took me a couple of chapters to warm up to the characters in this book, but then their personalities began to emerge and this debut novel ended up being a page-turner. There were a few times when I questioned the characters actions. At one point, the serial killer says "I can't believe it was this easy." Well, I had to agree with him.

Still, a really good read. I was so vested in the characters - especially Hunter - by the end of the story, I reread the final chapters twice to prolong the enjoyment. I'll look forward to more from this author.
Profile Image for Estelle.
135 reviews13 followers
March 4, 2012
The whole stalker thing just give me creeps. From the beginning, the settings give insights of the fear of Hunter Roswell, which makes Hostage Moon different from many I had read. The plot comes together in the end, and pacing is just right. In the later part of the book, its pretty action-packed, the FBI, Roswell agents, all over the pages.

The love story, remains old-fashioned, broken party-girl meets rational psychologist, where they found each other in the mist of chaos. Rational strong psychologist gave broken party girl Tender loving care.

Hey, I'm not complaining, I totally loved the cheesiness of 'love at first sight', 'love of my life' kinda thing. Its traditional and good ole HAPPILY EVER AFTER...
Profile Image for Kimberly.
243 reviews11 followers
December 17, 2012
AJ Quinn takes readers on a ride you'll never forget. Hunter goes through a horrific ordeal as a teenager that she is unable to truly get over. It of course molds her into the woman she is now. Living half in past and present. The same ordeal smashes into her present life and she is forced to deal with it and a serial killer who is hell bent on killing her. Sara, an ex-FBI agent is brought in to consult on the case and help capture the stalking serial killer. This is an amazing book about self exploration and how these characters open their hearts up to love. I have read this book several times already and of course recommend it to others readers. Enjoy!
Profile Image for Toni.
113 reviews3 followers
July 7, 2024
I 1st read this many yrs ago and its just as good now as it was then. It has has great characters, drama, tension, mystery, quality spice, superb writing and so much more. Seriously what more could you want. I'm honestly godsmacked why this isnt rated higher on goodreads. It's a brilliant read and 1 I would highly reccomend to any and everyone.
Profile Image for Paige Braddock.
Author 68 books65 followers
December 17, 2013
Lately I've been sampling some lesbian fiction titles. This is new territory for me because usually I prefer non-fiction. But some of these titles have been a nice distraction. This one included. Fun read, set in San Francisco and the bay area.
Profile Image for Amy.
167 reviews
October 8, 2021
This is one that grabs you and doesn't let go. You want to finish it, but don't want to finish it. If you cam just savor it a bit.ponfer. then you get to the point where you just cannot stop and need to finish.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews

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