Fate is a Hunter

by Susan Wüthrich

Lydia Greyling is devastated!
After years of psychological abuse, her South African husband has left her taking the children with him.
With a lacklustre response from the police, the British mother of two turns to the Child Rescue authorities, but because James and Lucy have dual nationality, it seems it could be years before she sees them again.
While waiting for news, Lydia delves into her errant husband’s dubious past. Early clues lead her to his home in Cape Town where she is dismayed to learn that Doug Greyling, never existed. At a loss and almost driven to despair, Lydia is forced to confront the truth, he had hidden his real identity in a mire of lies and deceit.
Desperate, she hires a private investigator. Together they travel the length and breadth of the country, peeling back layers of deception, revealing a trail of racism, murder, and a broken family in the remnants of South Africa’s troubled past.

280 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2020

About the author

Raised in the United Kingdom, after spending twenty-five years in South Africa, she now lives in a picturesque village in Switzerland; an idyllic setting in which to pursue her passion.

Reviews

[Pretty Peony Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fate is a Hunter is a suspense thriller by Susan Withrich. The story is about a woman named Lydia who goes on a search for her husband and children. She hires a private investigator to help her find them, but it wasn’t as easy as she’d thought.

The story is fast paced and has three point-of-views. Lydia’s story is in first point-of-view, the husband is in third limited, and then there’s third omniscient where we’re able to see the story from afar. I found these point-of-views a little confusing because at times I wasn’t sure who’s story it was about. I didn’t think it was necessary to do multiple povs in this way. I also couldn’t really understand the motivation behind what the husband did, but it sounded like he was suffering from depression. The whole story just appeared pretty sad and heartbreaking.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I was curious to find out what happened with Lydia and her husband and was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

[Edie Baylis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with a private detective, Lydia attempts to track down her husband who has disappeared to South Africa, taking their children with him. Now, Lydia is no stranger to heartache, thanks to the abuse her husband has dished out during their marriage, but she hadn't expected to discover what she does about him in her quest to get her children back.

A very interesting and enjoyable read which is well-written and combines both thriller/action elements with the history/way of life of other countries. There are heros and losers, depression, hope, romance and lies in this story, weaving a tangled web and creating a very enjoyable read.

[Iva Kenaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read suspense thrillers sometimes, and especially such as the Fate is a Hunter, which is based on strong, multidimensional characters and an emotionally driven plot. Everything in this book is so well-thought-out, I'm honestly impressed by it. Lydia's story pulls you in right away when she comes home after a fun meeting with friends and finds out her husband took her children away and left without a trace. And not to give away too much, after the situation gets even worse, Lydia pulls herself together and as any good heroine would, she doesn't leave the solutions only to the authorities and sets on her own mission to find her children. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author's writing makes this such a good read. I was invested in Lydia's journey to reunite with her children because of the great writing. The sensitivity given to the abuse Lydia suffered and the depths she would go to in order to find her children and get them back from her ex kept me invested. Sometimes when authors write novels dealing with abuse it will come off as unrealistic or over the top. This author did a great job of covering what life is like for a woman that loses her children to her abuser.

[Ellie Midwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fate is a Hunter” is a compelling thriller/mystery with an original set of characters and an exotic setting. When Lydia’s husband disappears with two of their children, she swears to do anything possible and impossible to get them back. However, it may not be so simple given that her husband is South African and she knows virtually nothing of his past and has no idea of where to even start searching for her missing family. Soon, more and more details begin to emerge that shed light on Lydia’s ex’s past and some of them raise quite a few red flags…
This story deals with quite a few important issues, which I really appreciated - cultural differences and how dangerous intolerance is; the issue of mental illness and the importance of taking it seriously; the failings of the system and the dangerous edge an individual can be driven to out of desperation. Read it both for entertainment and education as this story serves both purposes. Recommended to all fans of the genre.

[Gordon Bickerstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mother’s nightmare

This story spans several genres. It is a PI thriller with layers of romance, history, suspense, and psychological trauma to name a few. It is all knitted together into a fascinating sequence of scenes that certainly kept me turning the pages. The characters are intriguing, well-drawn, and perfectly believable as are the situations they face. The plot with all its insights, nuances, drama, and nightmares is compelling and unputdownable. Highly recommended.

[Dorothy Bürge-Ovey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this tale of Lydia searching for her abducted children, albeit by a man she had been married to for nine years. The author takes you on yet another exciting journey through South Africa with all its exciting culture and mannerisms. Very well written with emotions running high and elements of surprise which are quite captivating.
I highly recommend this excellent read!

[T R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good one! That’s what I’d respond if asked how I liked this book. A well-paced psychological thriller.
The characters ran deep with Lydia’s psychological breakdown brilliantly developed and portrayed putting the reader into a difficult mindset. Everything about this complicated plot works. And is enjoyable despite some of the dark themes. This is an author I will definitely read again.

[Lucinda Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOOD SOLID STORY
I enjoyed this book. An intriguing story, South African scenes that are familiar and characters I cared about. A scenario that might happen to any ordinary mother and wife which turns her life upside down. Recommended.

[Heather Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

This is the first book I’ve read from Susan Wuthrich and I wasn’t disappointed. A great read. Great writer. It was easy to read and a story I felt interested enough in to follow.

Fate is definitely a hunter as you will appreciate when you read the book. The story is about a South African, Doug, who meets and marries Lydia in the UK. They have two children. Then one day after 9 years he abruptly leaves his wife and takes his children without Lydia, his wife, their mother having a clue. Once she recovers from the initial shock and turmoil and affect this has on her life, she relentlessly tracks him down.

This involves betrayal, family issues, prejudice, intrigue, adventure, war, dangerous encounters, murder and horrific experiences. All of this as well as humanity and romance. And in the end it all comes together.

The plot has two timelines 1996 and 2006, bringing South African and Cuban history to the fore and the here and now. The fragility of history and life - heroes, brutality, love, jealousy, fear, lies, deceit, heartbreaking details and the love of a mother who will stop at nothing to find her children.

Susan Wuthrich has succeeded in portraying the human element and the way this is written, in such simple language, it is effortless to read, have empathy and think yes, I’d do that....

The characters and their motivations were interesting and I particularly took a liking to Thorne and his aunt. What a great pair, in particular Thorne, and the revelation at the end, which was no surprise as fate has a huge part to play, was quite heart wrenching.

Susan Wuthrich has lived in South Africa for 25 years, which I didn’t know about at the time of reading. When I researched and took a look at her profile I then appreciated why South Africa and understood how she seamlessly brought the country and its culture and challenges to life in these pages.

Most definitely 5* from me.

[Please Pass the Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fate is a Hunter by Susan Wüthrich is a chilling psychological suspense thriller that follows protagonist Lydia Greyling as she throws herself into hunting down her own children. On the outside, Lydia appears to have something of a static life. Her friends are a weekly staple, he neighbors find her to be pleasant enough, and she has a seemingly standard nuclear family consisting of her husband Doug and their two children, Lucy and James. Behind closed doors, Doug is an abusive alcoholic, and Susan has battled a lifelong affliction of depression. To the shock and horror of all, Susan returns from a friendly lunch to find her husband and children gone. When she stabilizes to the best she can mentally, she is taken on a cross-continental journey to find her kids; the discoveries along the way begin to reveal that the life she had and the man she married was built on a house of cards.

Susan Wüthrich enchants with a story that weaves itself between past and present in Fate is a Hunter, with the threading of Lydia Greyling's life frequently tangled in a hopeless series of knots. Her depression shifts and the abuse she's suffered are as much an enemy to herself as her husband Doug. Except Doug isn't real. Lydia has spent a decade married to a man who is an enigma, making her search for the children in Doug's native South Africa even more difficult. Lydia is a fully-fleshed and authentic character, well developed and frail. Her humanity and flaws are convincingly crafted by Wüthrich, and the slow burning pace of the story line gives a reader the opportunity to experience Lydia's anguish in a country that almost becomes a character itself. This is an excellent read and I believe it will be well received by those who enjoy the likes of Minka Kent, Kendra Elliot, and Betty Mahmoody.

Review written for Readers' Favorite.

[Allen Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Fate Is A Hunter by author by Susan Wuthrich surprised me. I have read my fair share of thrillers before but this one is special.
It starts simple enough with Lydia presenting herself to the reader as a well-adjusted, happily married mother of two meeting up with friends. The façade quickly disappears as Lydia’s husband, Doug, leaves her without a word, taking with him their children. Lydia attempts suicide and ends up in a psychiatric clinic.
Forced to deal with the reality of her shattered life, her failed marriage, Lydia learns that her husband was not who she thought he was and has left the country with her kids and one of her friends. She suspects they went to Dolore’s homeland, Cuba, or to Doug’s homeland, South Africa.
Local police advise her to contact Child Rescue Alert who begin to make inquiries. This leads to deeper intrigue as Lydia learns a great deal about Apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, and Cuban-supported communist forces that operated at the border between Namibia and Angola.
Lydia, after getting her financial situation in order, heads for South Africa.
All the characters are deep and believable. It is sad and tragic as stories of torture and arrests are explored including the death of one Phineas Motholo.
I highly recommend this book. Once I got a few chapters in and the unraveling of where the children had been taken began to become clearer, I couldn’t put the book down. 5 stars.

[B.J. Tiernan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be forever grateful that I did not read this book, or another one like it, when I was a young mother raising my two children. Knowing my psyche, I believe I would have been consumed with worry the entire time that one or both of my kids could be taken from me and there would be nothing I could do to get them back. "Ignorance is bliss" applied when I was a young mother, and I never read intense books like this one. As I consumed each page, I felt complete and utter angst for Lydia, the mother, as she moved through her painful search. That being said, I will be forever grateful that I DID read this book as an older person, for so many reasons. The description of South Africa alone is as vivid and beautiful as it gets. The dealings with mental illness, racism and injustice are handled skillfully, and the descriptive prose deftly moves the intense story along. A gripping tale of two discordant lives, poor choices and the end result of those choices makes FATE IS A HUNTER a good, solid read, and I highly recommend it.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving, and in many ways sad, story. The main plot deals with a woman, Lydia, whose husband, Doug, has run off with their two children. It captures Lydia's journey to South Africa where Doug said he was from. If only told from Lydia's experience, it would have made a good story about her search for the children, and you'd be left with a negative impression of her husband. But, it also goes back many years to events in Doug's life, events that led up to the current situation, and you can feel compassion for the man, even though you'll still probably dislike him for the poor choices he made.

What makes this story even more heartfelt is how it treats mental illness, in particular various types of depression. How people with it cope .. or don't cope, and how others are loathe to talk about the illness because of lack of understanding.

A wonderful book that will give you plenty to think about.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read. I sped through the final section.
Difficult to pin it down to one genre, a mystery thriller with an element of romance but it deals with violent experiences and the mental scars that are left behind.
When Lydia's South African husband disappears with her children she travels to South Africa and employs a private detective to track them down. Lydia and her husband Doug are flawed characters who make mistakes. Lydia's reaction when she discovers her children have been taken at first seems off. Doug has made bad decisions throughout his life but once his back story is fully revealed it is hard to not feel for him. The books's strength for me was showing the two main character's experiences and points of view in a way that made it hard to judge either of them.
Recommend.

[Kell Frillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lydia was an intense character who teetered between desperation and sadness. Can you imagine being in that situation? Just thinking about it freaks me out. Your husband takes your kids and the harder you try to find them the more lies you uncover... not knowing if your kids are okay or even alive, or what this stranger that you once shared a bed with is even capable of.
Wuthrich does a great job at amping up the tension and suspense; on one hand, I was wanting to put the book down and never return, but on the other hand, I couldn't stop reading it because I HAD to see if she was able to rescue her family and find out all of the secrets her ex had been hiding. Its a mess of who the bad guys really are and how the flaws in society condition us in some dangerous ways. Worth a read, but be warned, you may need some antacid to prevent an ulcer!

[Mark Morey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and fast-moving story, covering both depression which is one of the most common mental illnesses, and spending most of its time in South Africa. The reason I was interested in this story was a close family member had melancholic depression, and here the portrayal of Lydia's struggle was well done. I have also been to southern Africa so I was interested in the setting of this story. South Africa was described quite well, but it was very much a white persons view of South Africa where whites make up less then 10% of the population, with surprisingly few interactions with Africans. In my opinion something was lost by this if not quite ringing true to the place. Despite this one reservation I enjoyed this story very much.

[Dawn Bolton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good novel , well worth reading..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2021
Verified Purchase
A woman finds her husband has left the marital home and taken their children with him. She tries to commit suicide but later attempts to restore her life and goes to South Africa to find her husband and his children. She finds he is not the man she thought she married. The writer tells the story from both the perspective of Dirk, a man who appears through the book, and the wife. There is a subtle mystery underpinning this novel. Who is Dirk and what connection does he have with the woman? The novel is interesting and deep as the author explores the woman's feelings after being betrayed by her husband and Dirk's complex history and the impact it has on his later life.

[Ian Slatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fate is a Hunter tells the story of Lydia, a mother of two whose worst nightmare comes true when she returns home to find that her husband of ten years has left her and taken their two children with him. Once she recovers from the shock she sets out to find her children and bring them home, a journey that leads her to South Africa and which uncovers a multitude of secrets from her husband’s past.

This is an excellent book which is highly readable. Author Susan Wüthrich does a fine job of intertwining the main storyline with flashbacks to apartheid-era South Africa, leading the tale to an exciting conclusion.

[Colleen Penor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a woman searching for her husband who has left her suddenly, taking their two young children. It’s well-written and I enjoyed the mystery. I didn’t feel like it was a thriller until a couple of pages before the ending. It read like a cozy mystery until about the middle of the book and then the sudden appearance of sex scenes and adult language written from a different narrator’s viewpoint was a bit shocking. The handling of the two different narrators was done well, it was always clear what timeframe I was reading about due to clear transitions. Characters are well-developed and memorable.

I recommend this book to all readers of a good mystery.

[Niaby Codd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Great plot, great characters, taking the reader on an interesting adventure through South Africa.

It was interesting to see how the story unfolded and gave a bit of an insight into what it may have been like to have grown up in South Africa during troubled times. I really felt for Doug's character as the plot thickened into his background and the reasons why he did what the did.

I'm looking forward to reading some of Susan's other books.

[Daniel Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool story with good twists and turns

I had a bit of a rough time getting into this story at first, but I'm glad I pushed through. As soon as it got into the second act I was engaged the whole time. The book takes the reader to interesting settings with a lot of south African history sprinkled in along with some interesting insight into mental health struggles. Overall it was a fun read.

[LB Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thriller that has a depth to the characters that is very well done. A woman's husband leaves without notice, taking her children to a foreign country. With only a couple of clues and years of mystery to go on, she risks everything to get them to safety. I read it in one sitting - it was hard to put down.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author knows how to trigger an emotion from a mom like me. Lydia’s life from an abusing husband, losing her children and do whatever it takes to find her kids no matter what how difficult it is really a bit traumatic. This book might have been a bit slow in the beginning but definitely worth it. The title fits the story well.

[Dawn Brookes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!
I knew after the first few pages, I would love this book. A wonderful story with engaging characters and a real mix of human emotions.
The story is well woven with intrigue and mystery all pulling together at the right moment. I have read all of this author's works and enjoyed each of them. I also enjoy being taken around the globe! Highly recommended.

[Ramcy Diek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Fate is a Hunter by Susan Wuthrich an enjoyable read.
It's about Lydia, a mother, who suffers from depression, who goes on a journey to find her two children after her husband takes off, taking them with him. Her desperate search takes her to South-Africa where she finds extreme poverty, a beautiful country side, and new friendships. Plus all the secrets her husband had been hiding from her.
Susan's writing is terrific and fast-paced, and I loved to read how strong Lydia becomes. It is definitely a worthwhile read.

[Collette Mcgaahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

i Really fancied this book when I first read the blurb about it and the writing style is good so no complaints there. However I struggled a lot to get through the book and whilst I have no experience of depression the opening chapters failed to interest me or seem very believable. .

[Patricia Bursten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Starts slowly;; but wow. Emotions, love, hate, and forgiveness.
Could bot put it down. She is a superb writer, gifted and knows how to make almost every force you to read the next one.

Thank you,
Bruce

[S.E. Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast moving enjoyable read

Quickly moved from being a tale of a controlling man leaving his wife ‘ into a rollercoaster mystery. Characters were very real, with strengths and weaknesses and the setting of South African over the last 30 years was fascinating. Highly recommend.

[Richard Devall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super book about a husband leaving with the children. Full of intrigue and suspense. I highly recommend this book.