Skinwalker is another name for the Jane Yellowrock series written by Faith Hunter.
Jane Yellowrock is the last of her race. She is a Cherokee skinwalker who can transform into any creature she wants. Jane makes a fortune by killing vampires.
Her life seemed to be following a fairly typical course for her line of work. This is at least until she meets the madam of Katie’s women. Katherine Fontaneau, the city’s oldest vampire, is a touch unusual for Jane’s liking. She summons the skinwalker to her duty and assigns Jane the job of tracking down a rogue vampire. This thrusts her into an unpleasant world.
The work has a lush background, creating a realistic vision of New Orleans.
Skinwalker, the first novel in the Jane Yellowrock series, was first published in 2009. It introduces Jane, a supernatural hunter who goes on many adventures in the expanding Skinwalker realm. The story of the skinwalkers is told in the Jane Yellowrock series of over fifteen books. The main novels are complemented by a wide range of anthologies and short stories. This includes First Sight to Black Water, Cajun with Fangs, Haints, and many others.
The story moves along at a constant speed. It never becomes bogged down by the information damps that plague many top novels.
The series skillfully knits personalities together. This sets the stage for the Jane Yellowrock universe’s following installments.
Jane Yellowrock Books in order
- Skinwalker (2009)
- Blood Cross (2009)
- Mercy Blade (2011)
- Raven Cursed (2012)
- Death’s Rival (2012)
- Blood Trade (2013)
- Black Arts (2014)
- Broken Soul (2014)
- Dark Heir (2015)
- Shadow Rites (2016)
- Cold Reign (2017)
- Dark Queen (2018)
- Shattered Bonds (2019)
- True Dead (2021)
Similar authors
- Jennifer Este’s Elemental Assassin follows Gin Blanco, a strong female assassin. She works part-time at a BBQ restaurant in Tennessee. She is on the hunt for the person who betrayed her.
- Alex Craft by Kalayna Price follows a grave witch, who can summon the spirits of the dead. She runs a service called Tongues for the Dead, in which she helps communicate with the dead.
See also: Dark Hunter Series in Order.
Most recommended books
- Dark Queen (Jane Yellowrock, #12) (4.55 Goodreads score)
- True Dead (Jane Yellowrock, #14) (4.49 Goodreads score)
- Shattered Bonds (Jane Yellowrock, #13) (4.47 Goodreads score)
- Cold Reign (Jane Yellowrock, #11) (4.45 Goodreads score)
- Shadow Rites (Jane Yellowrock, #10) (4.39 Goodreads score)
Upcoming releases
The newest book in the Jane Yellowrock series, written by Faith Hunter, is called Of Claws and Fangs. It will be published at the end of 2022.
Book summaries
Skinwalker (2009)
Amidst a bordello full of real “ladies of the night,” and a hot Cajun biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her mission—or else the next skin she’ll need to save just may be her own…
Blood Cross (2009)
The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep…
Mercy Blade (2011)
Jane, a shapeshifting vampire-hunter-for-hire, crosses paths with a stranger who has arrived in New Orleans, enlisted to hunt vampires who have gone insane-or so he says…
Raven Cursed (2012)
The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to Leo Pellissier, the Master of the City of New Orleans–and Jane’s boss–they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, Leo sends an envoy with the best bodyguard money can buy: Jane Yellowrock. But when a group of local campers is attacked by something supernatural, Jane goes from escort to investigator. It’s up to her to keep peace in the region, and unless she wants to face up to very angry vampire Master, Jane will have to work overtime to find the killer. It’s a good thing she’s worth every penny.
Death’s Rival (2012)
For a vampire killer like Jane, having Leo Pellisier as a boss took some getting used to. But now, someone is out to take his place as Master Vampire of the city of New Orleans, and is not afraid to go through Jane to do it. After an attack that’s tantamount to a war declaration, Leo knows his rival is both powerful and vicious, but Leo’s not about to run scared. After all, he has Jane. But then, a plague strikes, one that takes down vampires and makes their masters easy prey.Now, to uncover the identity of the vamp who wants Leo’s territory, and to find the cause of the vamp-plague, Jane will have to go to extremes…and maybe even to war.
Blood Trade (2013)
The Master of Natchez, Mississippi has a nasty problem on his hands. Rogue vampires—those who follow the Naturaleza and believe that humans should be nothing more than prey to be hunted—are terrorizing his city. Luckily, he knows the perfect skinwalker to call in to take back the streets.But what he doesn’t tell Jane is that there’s something different about these vamps. Something that makes them harder to kill—even for a pro like Jane. Now, her simple job has turned into a fight to stay alive…and to protect the desperately ill child left in her care.
Black Arts (2014)
Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker who always takes care of her own—no matter the cost….When Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.
Broken Soul (2014)
When the Master of the city of New Orleans asks Jane to improve security for a future visit from a delegation of European vampires, she names an exorbitant price—and Leo is willing to pay. That’s because the European vamps want Leo’s territory, and he knows that he needs Jane to prevent a total bloodbath. Leo, however, doesn’t mention how this new job will change Jane’s life or the danger it will bring her and her team.Jane has more to worry about than some greedy vampires. There’s a vicious creature stalking the streets of New Orleans, and its agenda seems to be ripping Leo and her to pieces. Now Jane just has to figure out how to kill something she can’t even see….
Dark Heir (2015)
For centuries, the extremely powerful and ruthless vampire witches of the European Council have wandered the Earth, controlling governments, fostering war, creating political conflict, and often leaving absolute destruction in their wake. One of the strongest of them is set to create some havoc in the city of New Orleans, and it’s definitely personal.Jane is tasked with tracking him down. With the help of a tech wiz and an ex-Army ranger, her partners in Yellowrock Securities, she’ll have to put everything on the line, and hope it’s enough. Things are about to get real hard in the Big Easy.
Shadow Rites (2016)
Jane is keeping the peace between visiting groups of witches and vamps in the city, but then trouble comes knocking on her doorstep. When her house is magically attacked, the wild chase to find her assailants unearths a mystery that has literally been buried deep. A missing master vampire, presumed long deceased, is found chained in a pit…undead, raving mad, and in the company of two human bodies. Now it’s up to Jane to find out who kept the vampire hidden for so long and why, because the incident could tip already high supernatural tensions to an all-out arcane war.
Cold Reign (2017)
Jane walks softly and carries a big stake to keep the peace in New Orleans, all part of her job as official Enforcer to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City. But Leo’s reign is being threatened by a visit from a delegation of ancient European vampires seeking to expand their dominions. And there’s another danger to the city. When she hears reports of revenant vampires, loose in NOLA and out for blood, Jane goes to put them down—and discovers there’s something unusual about these revenants. They never should have risen. Jane must test her strength against a deadly, unnatural magic beyond human understanding, and a ruthless cadre of near-immortals whose thirst for power knows no bounds…
Dark Queen (2018)
As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can’t let that happen.Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane’s focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.
Shattered Bonds (2019)
Jane Yellowrock is vampire-killer-for-hire, but her last battle with an ancient arcane enemy has brought her low. She seeks retreat in the Appalachian Mountains to grieve the loss of her friends, and to heal—or to die—from the disease brought on by her magic.But malevolent elements in the paranormal community still seek to destroy Jane, and a terrifying foe stalks her, even into the safety of the hills. With nowhere to run and her body failing, the rogue-vampire hunter and her inner Beast must discover a way to defeat this new threat, and find a form that gives her a chance to fight another day.
True Dead (2021)
Jane used to hunt vampires, but now she’s their queen. She’s holed up in the mountains with the Yellowrock Clan, enjoying a little peace, when a surprise attack on her people proves that trouble is brewing. Someone is using very old magic to launch a bid for power, and it’s all tied to the place where Jane was first drawn into the world of Leo Pellissier—the city of New Orleans.Jane is compelled to return to NOLA because someone is trying to destabilize the paranormal world order. And because she now sits near the top of the vampire world, the assault is her problem. She will do what she must to protect what’s hers. Her city. Her people. Her power. Her crown.
