4.5 (32 ratings)

Hunted by the Dead King

Name: Hunted by the Dead King
Rating: 4.5 (32 reviews)
Author: Mallory Benjamin
ISBN: B0FDSP5FHD

by Mallory Benjamin

demons

About this book

Dead or alive—he owns me.

Magnolia made a deal with the devil, and she’s been paying for it ever since. For seven years, her only contact with the living has been dragging bodies back to the Dead King. With each human he forces her to hunt, another piece of her humanity slips away, leaving Magnolia more dead than the ghosts inside his castle. But she doesn’t have a choice. The Dead King owns her—body, mind, and soul.

Her next task: infiltrate Viven, the kingdom of the living, during a deadly tournament designed to recruit new dragon riders. To complete her hunt, Magnolia must live alongside the most lethal beings in Viven. But monsters are nothing new to her—she’s spent years chained to the deadliest one, becoming nothing more than a weapon with a pulse.

As the tournament unfolds, Magnolia realizes she’ll be forced to betray the one man who looks at her like she’s still human, and she starts wanting something she can never have.

Can Magnolia escape the deal she made seven years ago, or will this hunt take what’s left of her humanity—and her life?

Publication Date: May 25, 2026
ASIN: B0FDSP5FHD

Reader Reviews

A really great read!

May 21, 2026

4.5 (really great) First things first: thank you to the author for my eARC. I truly appreciate the privilege of being able to read this early. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters, the world, and the story just pulled me in after an intriguing and slightly slow start. Once it fully grabbed me I had a very hard time putting it down. I truly felt for Magnolia and all the trauma she had been through. As more characters were introduced and more details of the world revealed I became even...

Gripping, tragic, and dark

May 22, 2026

I received this book as an ARC. Actual rating 4.5/5. This story was gripping, tragic, and dark. This was my first book by Mallory Benjamin, and I really enjoyed her writing style. The book opens with a really intriguing premise with our FMC serving a life sentence as the King of the Dead’s hunter. Anything he wants or anyone he wants, she has to provide for him, and all because she made a deal to save a life. I really liked the magic system in that Tokens are gifted or revealed because of a...

So good!

May 21, 2026

In Haunted By The Dead King Magnolia finds herself ensnared in a life of servitude under King Dahes, where she becomes both his assassin and a pawn in his malevolent schemes. Tasked with infiltrating a rival kingdom, she must gather crucial intelligence on King Elian while trying to win the trust of the formidable warrior Hale, who could play a pivotal role in a revenge plot against the monarchy. Initially, Magnolia strikes a deal with Dahes to protect her beloved brother, but as the truth...

A Dark Romantasy I Couldn’t Put Down!

May 21, 2026

This book was such an enjoyable and quick read! It’s the first book I’ve read by Mallory Benjamin and it was a great introduction to her writing. Her world building was done so well that it never felt overwhelming, and I didn’t want to put this one down! I really felt for our FMC, Magnolia, who made a deal with the devil to save someone she loves and has lived a devastating life ever since. I loved experiencing all the emotions alongside her throughout this story. Both Magnolia and our MMC,...

A Slow Burn with a Strong Finish

May 22, 2026

This book was a really enjoyable read overall, even if it took me a little while to fully get invested. My biggest issue was definitely the pacing in the first half of the book. It moved slower than I typically prefer, and at times I found myself waiting for the story to really pull me in. That said, I’m so glad I stuck with it because the second half completely changed my experience. Once the plot picked up and all the threads started weaving together, I couldn’t stop reading. The ending was...