I have read one e-book by Shiloh Walker before only it was an erotic contemporary romance. After having read the entire Hunters series I can tell you that she can write paranormal erotic romance even better! I recommend reading all of The Hunters series in order. As you read, you meet and learn a little about the characters in following stories, which will provide you with valuable information when the time comes for their own story to be told. So far, there are six in this series, but the author has plans for two more, although they are not contracted for yet. I eagerly await the future release of these and any others that will follow.

This series is very unique and highly original. In the world of The Hunters, there are many paranormal creatures, from vampires to werewolves to witches, with many differences and weaknesses both between the different groups and within each group. For example, with regards to werewolves, there are two types: the werewolf and the inherent. The werewolf is a creature unable to control their change, the call of the moon being too strong. The inherent can shape shift at will, not at the call of the moon. For this reason the inherents are feared. A weakness of the werewolves is silver; this element has the ability to either severely wound or kill a werewolf, depending largely on the weapon used and wound inflicted.

The series name comes from the occupation of the main characters of the stories. There is a clear division between good and evil in this series. The good are those who prey only on the evil – murderers, rapists, and destroyers of innocence. The evil (ferals) are those who prey on the innocent. It is the job of the Hunters, under the supervision of the Council who recruit Hunters (both warriors and healers), to eliminate those who harm and kill people for fun.

Ben and Shadoe is the fifth release of The Hunters, published in January of 2005. This is the story of two rare people in the world of the Hunters: each a witch/inherent werewolf hybrid. Simply put, both of the main characters have the powers of both a witch and an inherent werewolf. This is rare because the powers of the one usually cancel out the powers of the other, and vice versa. 143 pages in length, this story is not for the faint of heart. I must warn you that contained within this tale there is extreme violence, including rape and murder. Furthermore, whilst the sex scenes are positively sizzling, they may be too much for some, as they involve a threesome (M/F/M) and anal sex.
Shadoe is unaware that she is a witch/inherent hybrid – she does not even know such a world exists. When she was a toddler, her parents were killed but her mother had enough time to ‘magick’ her away, suppressing her memories and her powers in order to protect her.

For many years Ben has been searching for her. Unfortunately, he only finds her after Marcus does. Marcus is a feral inherent werewolf. When he first sees Shadoe, he can tell by her scent that she is not human and he wants her – badly. Ben only finds her when her face is plastered across the newspapers for the murder of a man named Jimmy, whom she killed in self-defense when he and his Master, Marcus, tried and nearly succeeded in raping her. Marcus escaped and Shadoe was sent to jail for manslaughter, since Jimmy was the town’s ‘golden boy’, coming from a very rich family.

These events play out in the opening scenes and are violent. After this, the story picks up five years down the line, when Shadoe is released from prison. Ben makes contact with her, just as her powers begin to break free – and Marcus finds her again, determined to have her and take his revenge on her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this marvelous story. The sex scenes had me squirming and the bravery of the characters in the face of great evil impressed me. The way the story was worded drew me into the tale so that, whilst on one level, I am aware that it is fiction, I was drawn into the world of The Hunters. Having read this e-book, as well as the others in the series, I can confess to now being a large fan of Ms. Shiloh’s works – particularly her paranormal romantic erotica. I look forward both to others in this series and other unrelated masterpieces by this author.

Reviewed By Elizabeth
© July 2005