Thursday, April 10, 2014

Release Day Review: The Hunt by Brad Stevens

Today it is release day fro Brad Stevens book; The Hunt. I LOVED reading this one - read my review and find out why!
Remember to swing by Brad's FB party, loads of prizes and fun!


Mara Gorki lives in London in the year 2068. But it is a very different UK from what we know it today. Everything is controlled by men. Women have no right to vote, to drive. They’re not allowed to own their own businesses, homosexuality is banned and every time a woman over 18 steps outside a door, she has to wear the uniform; tights, skirt, blouse and jacket. If she should dare to go outside without wearing the uniform, the penalty is… severe.


But this isn’t the only thing women have to endure. Once there was a terrorist act, a bombing by some unknown female group (no one ever heard from them again after that), which set something more horrendous in action; The Hunt.

The Hunt is something all women between 21 and 30 can be pulled into. They have no choice in the matter, whatsoever. They have to meet in the Arena, dressed in the uniform and for a week they’re prey for the male hunters. 10 women and 10 men. One week. If you’re captured, the hunters will spend time with you – and they have all kinds of “fun” things to use. Only a few things are not allowed.

The Hunt is divided into three books; Before the Hunt, During the Hunt and After the Hunt. In each part we follow Mara in her life. Her life before the Hunt; her books (both those she read and write herself), her secret love for Yuke (remember homosexuality is banned). We get a unique insight into how the everyday life is in the new London; and it isn’t pretty.

Her life during the Hunt; everything Mara feels, every thought that goes into her mind, the other women she gets attached to, and every event during the “games”.

After the Hunt; how Mara copes with surviving, getting over the whole thing and how she has changed as a person.

I was sucked into this world that Brad has created, and I am in awe. It was so easy to fall into this world, to follow Mara and her thoughts, her fear, her courage and the love she feels towards Yuke. Absolutely amazing to read.

My stomach clenched when I read during the Hunt, it’s not for faint hearted, you feel violated along with Mara – and please, don’t get me started on the absolutely moron of Hunter she meets. *sighs and rolls eyes* I do love how Brad made a reference to a very popular book, and what the hunter put into that one. *snickers* Gosh, I didn’t think anyone could be that thick!!!

The end is… well, I have no words. It’s wonderful and sad, and I love the last part of the Hunt; very well done Brad!!!

I will DEFINITELY recommend this book!! Loved every page, made my heart jump into my throat, my soul cry out in anguish and made me snort with laughter. Amazing read!!


Great Britain in the year 2068. A totalitarian government has passed laws victimising racial minorities, prohibiting homosexuality, and preventing women from voting or having abortions. When a feminist group launches a terrorist attack, the state responds by creating the Hunt, a weekly contest in which ten randomly selected women are pursued by ten male Hunters across an abandoned district of London.

Mara Gorki is a successful crime novelist trying to keep her lesbian relationship with film critic Yuke Morishita a secret. Horrified by what is happening in the country, she seldom leaves her apartment, attempting to create a private universe where she and her lover can hide. But the external world comes crashing in when Mara is conscripted into the Hunt. After discovering what Hunters do to the women they capture, Mara enters the contest determined to elude her pursuers. The odds may be against her, but the consequences of failure are too terrifying to contemplate.


Brad Stevens is a film critic and novelist based in the UK. He is the author of 'Monte Hellman: His Life and Films' (McFarland, 2003) and 'Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision' (FAB Press, 2004). He writes regularly for 'Sight & Sound': his 'Bradlands' column appears every month on the magazine's website.

He has also contributed to 'Cahiers du Cinema', 'Video Watchdog', 'The Dark Side', 'The International Film Guide', 'The Movie Book of the Western', 'Defining Moments in Movies' and the 'Senses of Cinema' website. He recorded commentary tracks for the Masters of Cinema DVDs of 'Nosferatu' and 'Tabu', has appeared in several documentaries, and can be seen interviewing Christopher Lee on VCI's DVD of 'The City of the Dead'. He has written many DVD sleeve notes. He co-authored the English subtitles for F. J. Ossang's 'Dharma Guns' (2010), and was on the jury at the Oldenburg Film Festival in 2007.

He recently completed his first novel, 'The Hunt', which will be published by Vamptasy in April. He is currently working on the sequel, 'A Caution to Rattlesnakes'





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