Hunted is the second part of the Flick Carter series by Oxfordshire author Tim Arnot. The story takes place in a post-oil, post-information-age England, where most of the population have returned to pre-industrial subsistence living. The heroine is 17-year-old Felicity ‘Flick' Carter, who is struggling to rebuild her life after returning to the village of Faringdon following the events of Book 1 (Wanted). Haunted by the loss of her family, and the deaths of two men she was forced to kill in self-defence, Flick's only solace comes in bottle after bottle of the local rotgut. Once more driven from her home, she finds herself desperately trying to keep one step ahead of an assassin who is killing everyone in his way to get to her.
Hunted picks up right where Wanted left off in terms of pace and excitement, as the reader is pulled along in Flick's wake. The book is certainly a page-turner, with Flick catapulted from one misadventure to the next. In fact, there are places where the action perhaps rushes by a little too fast; the section covering Flick's unwanted military training, for example, is one of the most enjoyable parts of the book, but seems to be over much too quickly. Flick is such a likeable character, however, that you are always rooting for her no matter how quickly she lurches from one potential disaster to another.
Hunted is aimed at the ‘young adult' age range (12–18), and parents should be aware that the book does contain some violence and occasional swearing.
Overall, Hunted is a very strong follow-up to Wanted, the author's debut novel, and even feels a little more polished than its predecessor. It comes highly recommended, and I am very much looking forward to seeing how Flick's story continues.