Review: The Huntress

The Huntress
Kate Quinn
Expected publication date: February 26, 2019

From the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Alice Network, comes another fascinating historical novel about a battle-haunted English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America.

In the aftermath of war, the hunter becomes the hunted…

Bold, reckless Nina Markova grows up on the icy edge of Soviet Russia, dreaming of flight and fearing nothing. When the tide of war sweeps over her homeland, she gambles everything to join the infamous Night Witches, an all-female night bomber regiment wreaking havoc on Hitler’s eastern front. But when she is downed behind enemy lines and thrown across the path of a lethal Nazi murderess known as the Huntress, Nina must use all her wits to survive.

British war correspondent Ian Graham has witnessed the horrors of war from Omaha Beach to the Nuremberg Trials. He abandons journalism after the war to become a Nazi hunter, yet one target eludes him: the Huntress. Fierce, disciplined Ian must join forces with brazen, cocksure Nina, the only witness to escape the Huntress alive. But a shared secret could derail their mission, unless Ian and Nina force themselves to confront it.

Seventeen-year-old Jordan McBride grows up in post WWII Boston, determined despite family opposition to become a photographer. At first delighted when her long-widowed father brings home a fiancée, Jordan grows increasingly disquieted by the soft-spoken German widow who seems to be hiding something. Armed only with her camera and her wits, Jordan delves into her new stepmother’s past and slowly realizes there are mysteries buried deep in her family. But Jordan’s search for the truth may threaten all she holds dear. - from Goodreads

I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaways.

After hearing Kate Quinn speak at a book festival last year, I was really looking forward to reading her upcoming book, and then I won a copy, which meant I got to read it even sooner!  The Huntress focuses on the search for a Nazi war criminal after the end of WWII.

Ian and Nina both have their reasons for wanting to find the Huntress, a Nazi who disappeared after the war ended.  The Huntress killed Ian's brother, and Nina was the only person to escape her.  They join forces to search for her in Europe.  In Boston, a young woman named Jordan is welcoming a new stepmother into her life - or, at least trying to, because something seems to be off about her, like she's not telling them the whole truth.

Although Nina wasn't a very likable character, I enjoyed the narrative of her time serving in a bombing regiment in the Russian air force.  It was clear that Quinn had done a lot of research and incorporated it well.  Jordan was probably my favorite character.  Although she wants to be a famous photographer, she feels pressure to take over the family business and look after her stepsister.  She's also dealing with this stepmother that makes her quite uneasy at times.

The book features three storylines, and I enjoyed the way they jumped between times and places.  The book was quite long, but the pacing was excellent.  I never felt bored, and even though the story was kind of predictable, I was looking forward to when the stories would converge.  Unfortunately, the climax of the story felt really off.  For me, it was just too melodramatic and unrealistic.  Overall, though, as someone who enjoys WWII-era novels, I thought this was a fresh and interesting look at the aftermath of the war.

4 stars