HUNTED by Lorenz Font

HUNTED by Lorenz Font, let me just say, this was a book that went from “I don’t like vampire stories” to “Oh MY GOODNESS, when is her next book coming out because I must have it.”   Lorenz Font discovered her love of writing after reading a celebrated novel that inspired one idea after another. Hunted, the first book of The Gates Legacy trilogy, is her debut novel. Written in forty-five days, the grueling writing schedule was a personal challenge, even though she thought it was madness at first. She enjoys dabbling in different genres with an intense focus on angst and the redemption of flawed characters. Her fascination with romantic twists is a mainstay in all her stories. She currently lives in California with her husband, children, and two demanding dogs. Lorenz spends most of her free time writing while also working as a Business Office Manager for a skilled-rehabilitation hospital.

I am usually not interested in books about vampires.  I was never one to jump on the vampire team, but a friend sent me this book and asked me to read it.  She was in love with the book and the writing style of Ms. Font, so I agreed.  I can honestly tell you I am not one who changes my view on a book quickly but not only did this become one of my favorite books, her writing style is now what I classify as a once in a life time experience.   The beginning was difficult for me to follow because there were so many characters and story lines and I wasn’t use to the vampire life style, BUT that was only in the beginning of the book.  I remember asking my friend why the people of New York weren’t in an uproar about walking the streets with vampires.  Of course she filled me in on the rules of vampires and protocol so I was able to get up to speed. Very shortly after that things became clear, there was evil versus good and the story made sense. Yes, the characters had a vampire disease, but it wasn’t about the vampires.  It was about moral issues, decency of the soul, a father willing to save his daughter.  You could easily take out the vampire disease and put in AIDS or any other disease that is spread through contact and see the battle of research and prevention that they were struggling  to achieve.

Harrow is a vampire with morals and the desire to protect humanity. His life as a human had been taken from him along with his family and his passion for theater and acting. Not only did he become a vampire, he was also handed an illness that caused severe pain and sores if he didn’t continue to feed. This was an issue he wrestled with, does he save himself and feed off other humans or does he suffer the pain alone.  He loves to take charge of things and protect what little control of his life he still has yet he remains able  show love and respect to his new family, most who were included against his will.  He seriously reminded me of Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from the television show Lost.  By the end of the book I was celebrating his victories and still wanting to go slay the dragons of his life that gave him nightmares.  He is a character you will find yourself cheering for.

Jordan, the daughter of two parents who loved her dearly and wanted to teach her to love the outdoors, was faced with a horrible attack on her family. An evil vampire who didn’t have desire to do anything other than meet  his needs killed her parents in front of her and attacked her. She survived but she was never able to go back to her normal life now that she was a vampire. She let isolation and revenge take over her world and vowed to make the monster pay for what he took from her. She is a spitfire who lacks common sense when it comes to her own safety. She loves Harrow too but she really resist feeling anything other than revenge. Watching her walls slowly come down was beautiful and made you celebrate as she progressed in life to see that revenge wasn’t everything and she needed to trust her heart more.

Pritchard, who was a human, suffered from the vampire attacks as his wife and daughter had been subjected to evil vampires. His wife couldn’t live with the change and she passed on but he vowed to find a cure for his daughter. He took his wealth and established a compound for the infected vampires in hopes that he could find a cure and not only save his daughter but also the good vampires.  Allison, the daughter, accepted that she was going to live the rest of her life in her dark room reading books and shopping online.  Society didn’t have a place for her any longer.  With Jordan’s help she slowly comes out of her cave and starts caring about others and about happiness.

Tor might just be part of Allison’s happiness in the future.  He was also brought to the compound and was given the job of babysitter/protector of Harrow.  These two didn’t accept this role easily and you will witness the friendship that finally starts to form between them.  For the record I am hoping the second book in this series expands on  Tor’s story so we will hopefully understand what is causing those nightmares that plague him.  One can only hope right?

As you progress in the book, it becomes clear who is good and who is evil, but this author had a way of making you feel a connection with each character. There are points in the book that you can feel empathy for an evil one, just because you know what battles they are fighting, you can also easily hate some of them because you just want them to suffer like they make others suffer. I found myself crying over the ones lost, I also felt heart-break at watching Harrow hide his feelings for Jordan in order to protect her from the illness he carried.  He was positive that they couldn’t have a sexual relationship, , because he would rather be miserable without her than risk infecting her with his disease…………see what a guy.  Once she decided that her love for him was more important than anything else, she was determined to have all of Harrow, there is  no half way for this girl.

Two huge aspects of this book that caused me to give it a 5 star rating, other than it is just wonderfully written and fast paced, is Ms. Font writes in a way that you literally feel you are watching a big screen movie. Usually when I read, I visualize the scenes in real life form. With this book I was sitting in front of a television or movie screen watching it all unfold. Feeling the fear, getting the adrenaline rush that the characters were experiencing. I was celebrating the victories and crying, or in my case, sobbing the loss of characters I had grown to love. This was an awesome experience that I had never before had with a book. Also she has of way of making you think about where you stand in regards to morals and human change. How do we treat others, what are we willing to risk to protect those we love. It wasn’t all entertainment, I will walk away from this book looking at events in a different way. What can I do, what am I willing to give to make this world a better place?  I was going to add some quotes from the book, but she has a trailer out on YouTube and to be honest, quotes wouldn’t even come close to the trailer.

Take a few minutes and watch the trailer, then order the book and enjoy yourself and be prepared to feel the wide range of emotions that will be coming you way.  Then after you have read it, please go leave a review for the book on Goodreads or where ever you feel most comfortable leaving reviews.  I don’t think we realize how much our thoughts are considered by the authors.  So enjoy Hunted, let me know what you think.

Also check out her Facebook page, feel free to click like so you can keep up to date with her new books that are scheduled to be released this year.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gates-Legacy-Series/151370778377522?fref=ts

Don’t worry I am following her career and you will be hearing a lot from me in the future about her upcoming books.

You can purchase Hunted by Lorenz Font at these locations.

http://www.amazon.com/Hunted-The-Gates-Legacy-Volume/dp/061575919X
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunted-lorenz-font/1114720622?

reviews from Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/Hunted-The-Gates-Legacy-Volume/product-reviews/061575919X/