Have you ever read a book and hated the protagonist at first but by the end you had grown to love them? 

 

Usually, when I don’t like a protagonist I don’t change my mind. In Stella Sands’ new book, Wordhunter, I found myself in a rare position regarding the novel’s protagonist, Maggie Moore: I spent almost the entire first half of the story not understanding her and actively disliking her. However, by the end of the story I was of a mind I could read another novel full of Maggie Moore solving crimes with forensic linguistics while smoking Camels and drinking Bud and be happy as a clam. She’s such a refreshing female protagonist for a crime procedural thriller with her Gen Z way of looking at life and people and her concentrated rage at men and authority figures. Maggie has more than enough trauma for a salad all on her own, but it’s clear she just wants to compartmentalize it and move on because who the heck doesn’t have a boatload of trauma, especially if they’re female? 

 

Wordhunter doesn’t live on Maggie alone: This novel also has a great idea and story behind it, with some spectacular plotting by Sands. Linguistics and forensic linguistics are things that have always interested me. Those two things were what attracted me to the book in the first place and I was so happy to see they weren’t just a gimmick or cheap trick to get people to read the book. Wordhunter is filled with a ton of small lessons in linguistics, movie quotes, book quotes, true crime facts, forensics knowledge, and just interesting bits of trivia slung around here and there that were effective in keeping me entertained and engaged should the story slow down. Geography and demography also play large (if not explicit) roles in this book as the differences between the regions of Florida come into play as to who might live where and for what reason. 

 

There are some potential triggers in this book: drug and alcohol use/abuse, an overdose, SA (adult, but not explicit), association with criminals (including pedophiles), discovery of underage photos, child kidnapping, vague descriptions of other SAs (adult), child imprisonment, cult behavior, and description of parental death. I apologize if I missed any. 

 

There are some underlying themes of found family, absent fathers, dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships, and love not being logical in here that are kind of simmering like a broth throughout but never brought completely to the surface. I really enjoyed how Sands didn’t just rest on the main plot and theme to carry this book. She gave Maggie and the other characters a loose framework of tropes to swing around on so there were connecting points to build on. That helped this story out immeasurably in the places where it might have felt a little thin. 

 

It was a great read, and I’d gladly read another book about Maggie Moore. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: Crime Fiction/Crime Thriller/Kidnapping