Hunter's Moon

Kate Shugak #9

by Dana Stabenow

The death of one of the German tourists in the hunting party she is leading through the Alaskan wilderness finds guide Kat Shugak fighting for her life against a determined killer. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Audiobook, Suspense

239 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 3, 1999

About the author

Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage and raised on 75-foot fish tender in the Gulf of Alaska. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere.

Reviews

[Yodamom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I finished this hours ago and I still feel sad inside. We lose a character in this book and it's heartbreaking. Then there is the chance that another may not make it too. After nine books I've become attached to these characters, I'd miss any of them, but to see one go so painfully for such a reason. Oh the feels hurt. Ms. Stabenow did a fabulous job of ripping my heart out. Seriously, it was a fabulously well done ending for a character and it opens so many new doors. This will be a pivotal moment in the series and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have been reading this series from the start, you must have some idea that this book is a pivotal book in this series. As the synopsis says, Kate and Jack and others are on a guiding expedition for German business Executives. Soon the expedition turns into something it was never meant to be. Kate and Jack will soon be finding themselves becoming the hunted and not the hunters.

This was the most emotionally charged books of Ms. Stabenow's that I have ever read. When I first read it in hardcover, I refused to go on with the series after what happened in this book. Luckily I restarted the series with my Kindle and slowly but surely have been working my way to this book by reading in both directions. It has since become my favorite of all the books. It is packed with action, suspense, mystery, adventure, joy, and sorrow. It will bring you a new meaning to the word grief.

It is also the book that will be introducing or rather re-introducing someone we know and perhaps lust over, in a completely new role. The next books will be all the more intense because of what Dana allows to happen in "Hunter's Moon".

I hope you loved this book as much as I did, even if it did take me two tries to get it right! ENJOY!

[Dawntwilight000 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really? Dana Stabenow had to do it?? Love the series until this book. The progression of the relationship between Jack and Kate was wonderful..until this book. Done with this series and very ticked off.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of the series so far. I love the cast of characters, Jack, Kate, George, old Sam, Demitri; they are guides on a big game hunt in the Alaskan Bush. The clients are from a German Computer Software company. Jack is so in love with Kate and has decided to retire from the DA's office of Investigations soon. He knows Kate doesn't want to get married but he has a plan to get her thinking about living together at her homestead. He memorizes this wonderful poem that says all the things he feels for her and tells her that he wants to be with her as much as she will allow. It is the most romantic nonproposal and perfect for Kate. She agrees to give living together a try and then world goes crazy. There have been two "accidental" deaths in the group of hunters. Jack and Kate are so preoccupied with being in love they aren't prepared for the blindsided attack. Jack is gut shot and with supreme effort is able to cause a diversion that enables Kate and him to get away into the bush. Mutt is hurt but makes it back to them in the bush as well. Jack saved Kate but his wound was not recoverable. Kate is able to find Old Sam and splint his leg but then she is pursued by the Deliverance twins. I cried and cried reading this book, ok so I was feeling vulnerable--why kill off the main character's love interest? it stunned me. Kate survives so many things but this may not be something she can come back from.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that changed the entire series. It is not a nice book, but one that examines love and loss as good as anything I have read. Hunting trip with a group of Germans turns murderous and tragic and Kate must do what she can just to survive. It is very difficult for an author to change directions like this in a series, but Stabenow pulls it off. Highly emotional, recommended.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

For me this series is definitely on a downhill fall. I haven't yet looked up what the next book in the series is, I probably will eventually but it's not a priority.

I don't want to give away the main part of the ongoing series storyline - will it surfice to say that I hated what Stabenow did to the characters in this book. It's something that authors with strong female characters seem compelled to do to their leads and I really think they'd be better writers if they found other ways to keep their characters on the bleeding edge of life. Maybe these characters are written to be so good at so many things that their authors have to give them something to be crap at and [spoiler whited out, highlight to read!] keeping boyfriends alive is something that they feel it's reasonable to be bad at? I much prefer my characters to have realistic love lives - to be fair Kate's never had one of those, but this was just a tedious step too far for me.

The plot of this individual series entry is almost a secondary concern, but I thought that was pretty lousy too. I still like Kate and her Alaskan setting and I'll probably want to find out what happens next but I'm in no hurry to do so.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marguerite Gavin is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel.

[Abibliofob · Rating 4 out of 5]

What could go wrong while guiding some hunters in Alaska? Well Hunter's Moon by Dana Stabenow tells a story that is so filled with bad acts that you should be surprised. Sadly some of the things that happens are not uncommon on hunts, both with new and with experienced hunters. I know, I've seen some of the things myself. Kate has her work cut out for her and also her fellow guides as the group of germans from a computer company arives for moose and bear hunting. This is one of the better ones in this series but also one of the most sad ones. (Read the book and find out)

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dana Stabenow is a good writer. Her characters are very real, the scenes vivid and believable. The problem is, I can't stand the protagonist of this series. She is so self-absorbed and judgemental I just want to scream at times. She's cold and self-righteous and very bossy.

This book was no different. At one point, someone she was hired to guide had just been shot dead and is laying on the ground beneath a tarp, she goes off out of site with her boyfriend to find out what happened and they end up having sex *twice* and talking about their wonderful relationship before they even discuss it. I don't know about you, but bloody corpses do not make me amorous. And yet, later in the book, another couple is condemned for getting off on other people's pain and misery.

This character has never heard two wrongs don't make a right. Why on Earth would you lower yourself to the level of a psychopath and justify your actions because they did something similar? I don't want to spoil the book so I will just say that at one point she does something that is so unfathomably horrific, I almost put the book down and stopped reading. She only stopped the situation after the awfulness had already begun reluctantly admitting to herself it probably was a terrible thing to do.

As far as the mystery, the first dead body doesn't appear until over a third of the way into the book and the mystery is solved another third of the way in with the last part being more of a thriller than anything else. However, the explanation for the situation is weak at best and completely unbelievable.

Finally, she did the unthinkable to one of her characters. MAJOR SPOILER: Kate's long time boyfriend is killed off. I liked him better than Kate! I don't read murder mysteries for that kind of realism.

I've read the whole series up until now, each one making me more and more irritated with the main character. Now that the author did that horrific, unthinkable thing, I won't be reading any more of the series.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have been reading this series from the start, you must have some idea that this book is a pivotal book in this series. As the synopsis says, Kate and Jack, and others, are on a guiding expedition for German business Executives. Soon, the expedition turns into something it was never meant to be. Kate and Jack will soon be finding themselves becoming the hunted and not the hunters.

This was the most emotionally charged book of Ms. Stabenow's that I have ever read. When I first read it in hardcover, I refused to go on with the series after what happened in this book. Luckily, I restarted the series with my Kindle and slowly but surely have been working my way to this book by reading in both directions. It has since become my favorite of all the books. It is packed with action, suspense, mystery, adventure, joy, and sorrow. It will bring you a new meaning to the word grief.

It is also the book that will be introducing or rather re-introducing someone we know and perhaps lust over in a completely new role. The following books will be all the more intense because of what Dana allows to happen in "Hunter's Moon."

I hope you loved this book as much as I did, even if it did take me two tries to get it right! ENJOY!

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so not prepared for this book. Dana Stabenow tells a wrenching story of love and loss. She channels Agatha Christie a bit, setting this novel at a remote hunting lodge south of Denali where people are being picked off one by one and it's not clear who's behind the murders. Kate, Jack and Old Sam are guiding a hunting trip for a group of Germans on a corporate retreat when things go south very quickly.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that Kate Shugak is my favorite heroine ever! She lives alone in the Alaskan Bush 175 miles from the nearest town. She can do anything - patch her roof (when a jet engine falls through it), shot animals for food (and butcher same), hike safely in the wilderness, guide hunting parties, figure out complex (and not so complex) murder mysteries and administer justice when necessary. Wow what a woman!

In this adventure, Kate and her man Jack Morgan are guiding a group of German tourists on a 10 day hunting trip (caribou, moose and bear). From the first minute they see this group, they know that something bad is going to happen. The German's all work for the same company and the owner/CEO has demanded that they take this retreat together. Only two of the ten have any shooting skills and none of them have any wilderness experience. Oh boy is Kate and Jack in for an adventure.

Unfortunately this was the one book in the series that I've been dreading reading. I won't say why but I will say that it made me cry. Oh Kate the things you have to deal with out there all by yourself. Hang on girlfriend it will get better.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOOOO! I hate cliffhangers! I have to go out RIGHTNOW and get the next book.
This one took a turn I didn't see coming -I usually don't but I often have a hint so when all is revealed I go "ooooh, ok"- that didn't happen with this one. Things all started moving and I was swept right along with no real idea what was going to happen -until it did and I was seriously unhappy. This book took the evil and the violence up a notch and it was exhausting - and super frustrating to have a cliffhanger ending!
(off to the library)

*edit*-I've now read book 10, so I can comment on this one.... not without spoilers though: I should have seen it coming!! OF COURSE Jack was going to die - they were WAY too happy, and WAY too sexed up. And when Kate agreed to let him move in? Such a smack in the face, how did I not see it? How did I get my guts ripped out - because I didn't want it to happen, that's why. I'm glad to have read book 10, and to know that Kate survives (so does Mutt). Im still not happy with Stabenow for killing off Jack

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was the end of the line for me. I have always found the plot in these books a little lacking, and it bothers me that the supporting characters completely change from one book to the next (Old Sam has gone from a little old widowed man with 12 children to a taller unmarried old man with no children.) In spite of the inconsistencies, the description of the Alaskan Bush and Native Alaskan culture have kept me interested, and for a while Kate seemed to be maturing and growing. However, this book seems to have crossed over from an Alaskan mystery series to an Alaskan soap opera series; the ending was a cop out, and I find myself completely uninterested in Kate's next tragedy.

[Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, thanks so much to the readers who had open spoilers on their reviews of this book. Fans of this series may have known what was going to happen but I didn't. This is the first book I've read by Stabenow & I hadn't heard of her before she was mentioned in one of the GR groups I belong to.

I did find most of the good guys in this book too macho man - & that includes Kate! But it was a fast paced, thrilling story that kept me turning the pages. I may read another in the series - but I'll keep away from the book's reviews until I've completed it!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I do not condone some of the events in this book it was still good. Once again each book has a different feel to it, keeps me on my toes and wanting more! Off to the next book, number 10 in my Kate Shugak book binge!

[Lourdes Venard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Shugak, the ultimate renaissance woman, is a guide on a hunting expedition in the backcountry. The clients: A group of very obnoxious, demanding German business executives. One of them is killed in what appears to be an accidental shooting, unleashing a whirlwind of pure evil.
This would be the one in the series that angered a lot of her fans. I already knew what was coming, but still found it very moving -- some of Stabenow’s best writing.

[Lynn Cushwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading all the Kate Shugak books in this series, but this was my favorite thus far. It was exciting from the start, almost unbelievable until you remember she lives "off the grid" in Alaska. Each book takes place in a different area of AK, and I am learning new things from each book regarding the native cultures, temperatures, survival, people of AK and the beautiful landscape. I would recommend this series of easy reading.

[Bruce Snell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book number Nine in the Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow - 4 stars. Kate is hired to be one of the guides for a group of hunters on a corporate retreat from a German business, and on the second day out, people start dying. Excellent story with a compelling ending - I'm looking forward to the next book in the series even more now.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Shugak's 9th book. Kate is working as a guide for a corporate retreat for a German company. When questions surrounding an apparently accidental death begins to arise, the body count starts to pile up. Kate, Jack and Mutt are pushed over the brink to stop the killing.

[Lucie Aran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tato série se pro mě s postupem času stala srdeční záležitostí. A tak, když má vyjít další díl, vždy ho netrpělivě očekávám, a vrhnu se na něj hned, jakmile se mi dostane do rukou. A nezáleží ani na tom, že mám čtecí krizi, knihy od D. Stabenow si s nadšením přečtu kdykoliv, krize – nekrize. V případě Lovcova úplňku, jsem se nenamáhala už ani se čtením anotace a skočila do příběhu rovnýma nohama.

I přes to, že se jedná už o 9. díl série, autorce se daří vytvořit vždy originální příběh, zasazený nejen do neokoukaného prostředí, ale vždy se něčím zásadně lišící, od dílů předchozích. A nejinak je tomu samozřejmě i tentokrát. A stejně tak i tento díl nabízí několik okamžiků, které vás pobaví, či dokonce povedou až k pousmání, ne-li přímo smíchu. Další vás pak překvapí, a některý vám možná, vyloženě vyrazí dech. Jelikož autorka, se s tím tentokrát skutečně nemazlí, a já si klidně přiznám, že v případě jednoho ze zvratů, jsem skutečně nemohla uvěřit, a až do samotného konce jsem čekala, zda je to vážně pravda, nebo autorka z celé situace nějak vybruslí. Jak to dopadlo, si ale přečtěte sami, protože tato série, za přečtení rozhodně stojí, a s M. Conellym mohu jen souhlasit, že se jedná o „Originální hlas v šedi současné krimi.''
Tak a teď honem, potřebuju další díl.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to weigh in on several things relevant to this book. I have read the series from the beginning. It has been getting better and better. I have enjoyed getting to know the characters. This book was extremely fast paced. I read it in less than 24 hours. It was a real page turner.

It is sad to see a major character leave the series, but others authors do the same and bring in fresh blood. The major drawback to the book was the cliché characterizations of the German antagonists. They really had no redeeming qualities at all and seemed to be taken from pop-culture villain stereotypes. Perhaps I am just used to seeing a more balanced approach from this author.

This book appears to be a major turning point in the series. It appears that there will be new characters, and a new attitude. Although I have found little to complain about in the earlier books, I look forward to what is coming next from this author. If you like the series, read the book. If you don't believe in major plot/character changes at the author's whim you may not like it.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying the Kate Shugak series so much. This book was no exception (well, I'm not a huge fan of arrogant Germans) until I got to the ending. I'm so disappointed. Killing Jack Morgan was so unnecessary. I liked him as a character. He was one of the few men in these stories who was worthy of Kate's attention. I will probably read the next book in the series because I think I already bought it, but I may not read it at all. Kate is an ornery character on a good day, but she is intriguing and tough and can have a good time when she feels like it. I can't imagine that she will be anything but sad, miserable, and hostile after this book. Why do authors need to fuck with their characters this way? Patricia Cornwell did the same thing, and that was the last book of hers I read.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not the mystery in this book that earns the 5 stars, it's the evolution of the characters in the series. There are so many quotable passages and unforgettable moments. I think that a reader would have to have started the series at the beginning for this book to have the power it does. I admire Dana for writing what had to be a very difficult book.

[Marilyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved reading about the characters of Kate and Jack. Very emotionally involved with both of them. I could not believe that Jack died. I was so upset with Dana Stabenow for wrenching my heart. Therefore, one star only.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ms Stabenow books are usually rather grim and realistic, but this one is too much so for me.

Most of the characters end up dead. And Kate is bereft when Jack is killed.

I generally read for escape and this was not a place I wanted to escape to.

[Angel Barton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this book 0 stars if that was an option :(. So incredibly disappointed with the direction Dana went with this. Done with this series and probably done with any other books by Dana Stabenow.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dec 2011

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, this was a powerhouse of an episode in the Kate Shugak series. So many emotions, so many changes and feelings for Kate to deal with going forward...and we see Kate in a whole new realm of bravery/tenacity/strength. This literally felt like it was revamping/moving the series in a new direction.

This book highlighted a juxtaposition between sweet and violent...so be warned that there are some horrific events that take place. The sweetness was between Kate and Jack as they made a big decision in their relationship status, and those moments were sweet in every way...the play, the banter, the passion and the care.

I could go on and on about this storyline but just let me say that it is beautifully written just like its predecessors but with a heightened emotional charge and a feeling of wonder as to how the rest of the series will play out.

Very well done.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho appena finito di leggere questo libro e sono molto triste. Non credo di fare molti spoiler, basta leggere la trama di quello successivo, per sapere che qui muore una persona molto importante per la protagonista e la cosa mi ha un po' "sconvolta". Non riesco a dire altro; mi sa che mi ci vorrà un pochino per decidere di andare avanti con questa serie...