After the death of her husband, Jodi Luna leaves her job as a poetry professor in Boston and returns to Rio Truchas County, New Mexico, to start a new career as a game warden. Jodi’s uncle is the current game warden, but he is ready to retire and hand over the reins to Jodi. On her first day solo, Jodi gets a first-hand look at how menacing the terrain and the people who traverse it can be in HOLLOW BEASTS.
When a human hand bearing a symbol is found at a local hot spring, Jodi connects the symbol with a poacher she encountered a few days prior. It’s not long before she identifies the white supremacist group behind the symbol. When other body parts start appearing in the county, Jodi knows there is something evil occurring in the area.
Young Latina women are being kidnapped in the area and hunted by the group. A local sheriff is unwilling to acknowledge the activity and a young deputy, Ashley Romero, ignores her boss and decides to assist Jodi. When Jodi’s own daughter Mia is kidnapped, the race is on to locate the group’s campsite. Deep in the mountain terrain, a young girl takes matters into her own hands and starts the fight of her life. Will Jodi make it to her daughter in time? And will they bring this evil reign of terror to an end?
HOLLOW BEASTS, the first book in Alisa Lynn Valdéz's Jodi Luna thriller series, is a wild ride, complete with vicious villains and strong women who take matters into their own hands to survive. Jodi is an interesting and complex character who can be quite contradictory at times. Her daughter, Mia, is a strong and capable young woman who has the skills to survive. The novel has interesting characters, a rugged and treacherous landscape, and plenty of action and high-impact scenes. The ending is a satisfying conclusion and opens the door to the further development of Jodi and her relationships in future novels. The strength of the plot and characters will keep readers invested. The overuse of political stereotypes may detract slightly from the overall enjoyment, although there is equal opportunity in the novel showing inconsistencies on both fronts. Overall, HOLLOW BEASTS is an entertaining and explosive novel that will have readers anticipating the second installment to see what Jodi faces next.
After a long stint in academia, Jodi Luna leaves Boston for the wilds of New Mexico to start a new life as a game warden. Jodi is no stranger to the wilderness; her family has lived here for generations. Determined to protect her homeland, she nabs a poacher in her first week on the job.
But when he retaliates by stalking Jodi and her teenage daughter, a cat and mouse game leads Jodi to a white supremacist group deep in the mountains. She learns that new recruits are kidnapping women of color to prove their mettle to the organization’s leader.
When the local sheriff refuses to assist, Jodi joins up with young deputy Ashley Romero. Together, they set out to take down a terrorist network that will test not just their skills as investigators but also their knowledge of the land and commitment to its people.
But will Jodi’s fierce resolve to protect the voiceless put her loved ones in harm’s way?
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