Haunting Adeline
Cat and Mouse, Book #1
By H.D. Carlton
ISBN# 9798454848842
Author’s Website: hdcarlton.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
*Beware of spoilers*
Review
Adeline Reilly recently inherited her grandmother’s house. Her mom has been pushing her to sell it, but she and her mom never see eye-to-eye. Addie loved her grandmother and has so many great memories at the house with her. Addie has decided to fix it up and stay there. She’s an author after all and she can write anywhere.
Shortly after starting to stay at the house, Addie starts having strange feelings. She starts hearing the door slam when she’s home, only to find a red rose somewhere afterwards signally that somebody was there. Addie has a stalker and he’s getting bolder as time progresses.
Then, she brings home a random hookup she met at the club.
“Daya, it’s hard to find a man these days that can even fuck right. You think I’m going to find a man that will kill in my honor, too? That’s cute.”
The two get interrupted by loud knocking at the door. Arch goes to investigate and is never seen alive again. His hands are delivered to her the next day. Nobody can touch what belongs to Addie’s shadow. Now she has a stalker and a slew of enemies that are tied to Arch, who apparently was part of some crime family.
Then, Addie finds some old diaries that belonged to her great grandmother hidden in a wall safe. And, she discovers that her great grandmother had a stalker too. A stalker that she fell in love with, while she was married! They had a torrid love affair that she details throughout her diaries. Everyone thought that the stalker is who murdered her, but what if it was someone else?
Zade is one of the best hackers in the world. He’s decided to use that superpower for good. He created his own company, hired the best people and now they work to take down the pedophile and sex trafficking rings one at a time. Saving the kids and women from a terrible fate is his goal in life, nobody should have to endure such horrors.
Zade stumbles upon a book signing by a young author by accident one day. That is when he found his mouse, Addie. She’s gorgeous and has the sexiest voice to boot. She’s utter perfection and he must have her for his very own.
But can Zade keep his mouse safe while still taking down the perverted individuals involved in the skin trade? Or will he have to choose saving the innocent kids and women or keeping Addie?
“When you make someone fall in love with the darkest parts of you, there’s nothing you can do that will scare them away. They will be yours forever because they already love all the fucked up bits and pieces of you.”
I heard mixed reviews among my friends on this series, but I’m always up for something that’s a bit dark and walks the line (Que Johnny Cash here). So, I had to give it a go. And, honestly, I’m not upset that I gave it a chance.
I can definitely see why some people would be triggered by this book. Seattle is filled with men that want to have sex with young children. They have a whole secret society where they perform rituals killing kids so they can gain power from Satan himself. You definitely have to be able to compartmentalize that stuff. There are no details of men having sex with these kids, but you definitely see their perversions as Zade infiltrates their society. He has to pretend to be one of them *shudders*.
As a character, Zade really doesn’t make sense. He’s trying to save kids and women forced into the skin trade, but has no problem taking Addie by force, if needed. Seems like doing what he’s doing with her should go against all his morals.
“I have never pretended to be a good person. But what I did do was create my own fucking morals to live by. I will keep killing every deranged individual who resides on this goddamn planet if it means children don’t have to die, and you don’t have to live in danger.”
Of course, I think calling Addie the manipulator (because she’s an author?) to be a huge stretch.
I found the ending of this novel a bit predictable, not the specifics or who was behind everything, but the general gist of what was going to happen. I did still enjoy it though. Of course, it ends on a cliffhanger so I will have to read Hunting Adeline now to see what will happen.
The synopsis of this book made it sound like the Prequel Satan’s Affair was required to understand this book. It’s not. The main character in Satan’s Affair, Sibby, is in just a scene or two in this book, and Zade is in just a scene or two of Satan’s Affair. The two books intersect very briefly and it’s easy to understand what’s happening without reading the Prequel. I would recommend reading Satan’s Affair first or skip it altogether. After you’ve read the part where Sibby and Zade meet the prequel really seems pointless.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read. Not great, but decent. And, I will definitely be finishing up the series. And, the cover art is on point too.
“You are in my church where I am your God, and you are my equal. I’m not a jail, little mouse, I am your sanctuary”
