Red Fox by Karina Halle Series: Experiment in Terror #2
Published by Metal Blonde Books on June 12th 2011
Pages: 300
Goodreads
With Book Two of the Experiment in Terror Series, Perry Palomino and Dex Foray trade in the stormy Oregon coast for the unforgiving deserts of New Mexico.
In the forgotten town of Red Fox, New Mexico, a Navajo couple is tortured by things unseen and by motives unknown. Wild animals slink through their house in the dark, a barrage of stones pound their roof nightly, and mutilated sheep carcasses are turning up on their property.
Armed with a camera and just enough to go on, Perry and Dex travel to the desolate locale, hoping to film the supernatural occurrences and add credibility to their flailing webcast. Only their show has a lot more working against them than just growing pains.
Tested by dubious ranch hands, a ghost from Dex’s past, and shapeshifting deception, the amateur ghost hunters must learn to trust each other in order to fight the most ancient of myths…or die trying.
I loved Darkhouse, the first book in the Experiment in Terror series, but Red Foxabsolutely blew me away. The story was even stronger than the first one (even more creeptastic if that is possible) and the tension between Perry and Dex is starting to reach explosive levels.
Perry and Dex, keen to get the ball rolling on their new internet show, accept an offer to investigate the strange goings-on at a farmhouse in Red Fox, a small town in New Mexico. A Navajo couple called Will and Sarah are being terrorized by seemingly possessed wild animals and their livestock keep turning up mutilated.
An old friend (or possibly enemy – hard to tell at this stage) of Dex’s called Maximus has gotten in touch with Dex, urging him to come down and film the strange and terrifying events. When they arrive there though, the occurrences become even more frequent and it soon becomes clear to Perry that this may have something to do with her proximity – and her talent for seeing things that most people are unaware of.
Not only that but she also has to contend with her growing feelings for Dex, which are further complicated when they are forced to pose as a married couple and share a room (and bed!).
The two soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when it turns out that what they thought was the work of a run-of-the-mill poltergeist is actually an attack by skinwalkers – beings who dabble in very powerful, dark magic and can change into animal forms at will. Can they get out of this alive (and if they do will this story be able to save their fledgling show)?
Wow. My mind was blown with how good this installment was. If the rest of the books get even better as they progress (as I have been advised they do) Goodreads will need a whole new rating system for me as this was a solid five out of five stars and I cannot rate any higher!
I love the dynamic between Perry and Dex, there was so much sexual tension between them but there was also a solid underlying friendship as well and their witty repartee and banter was a joy to read. I was unsure about Dex in Darkhouse but I can definitely say that I find him increasingly more intriguing and I am appreciating him more and more with each book.
Perry = love. That is all I can really say. The girl just gets to me in a way that few protagonists do. Sure she makes mistakes and has a very flawed perspective of herself but this just makes her more real for me.
The supporting characters were also interesting. I really liked Bird a lot. Maximus – I am intrigued but I would not trust the guy as far as I could throw him. He’s a dodgy one that’s for sure. I get the feeling he will be making an appearance again in the near future. Not as much time with Perry’s family this time around but I am still liking Ada a lot from what little we saw of her.
Red Fox only solidified my love for this series and I cannot wait to dive into the next book Dead Sky Morning (though I think I will read The Benson first since it is set somewhere in between the two).
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