Review: On the Prowl (anthology)

Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs (13/15)

Fans of Patricia Briggs will appreciate the Alpha and Omega novella, which takes place before events in Cry Wolf and Hunting Ground. The story centers on Anna Latham, an abused omega wolf in a Chicago pack. When she suspects that her Alpha, Leo, might be responsible for a death of young werewolf Alan McKenzie Frazier, she calls the Marrok. She then meets up with his investigator, Charles Cornick, whose wolf takes her as his mate.

Things go as smooth as sandpaper from there. Assassination attempts, nasty confrontations, and brutal fight scenes ensue. Charles’ and Anna’s tale is a pleasant change from the Mercy Thompson series – it’s nice to see the story told from a perspective other than Mercy’s. While I’m not a big fan of rape stories (what’s with all the rape in Briggs’ recent works, anyway?), Alpha and Omega manages to deal with the beginnings of the recovery process realistically. Not a fluff piece, but it’ll leave you wanting more.

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks (12.5/15)

Inhuman is based on Kai Michalski, a girl who’s Gifted with an ability to read minds and emotions. She’s not technically a mind-reader – she can see the colour of people’s auras. After digging a bullet out of her hot non-human neighbour’s flesh, things take a turn for the disturbing as the story delves into the Nathan’s investigations as a Hunter. And the truth finally comes to light: Nathan was born a hellhound, which accounts for his insanely long lifespan.

The characters in Inhuman were engaging and well-scripted, and the attraction-charged interactions between Nathan and Kai were absolutely electric. Kai is a likeable heroine, and her unique urban fantasy universe Eileen Wilks paints is a fascinating and action-packed one. Kai and Nathan’s story continues in Night Season, book 4 in Wilks’s World of the Lupi series.

Buying Trouble by Karen Chance (12/15)

I usually have an issue with fey stories, since I’ve yet to read one that’s left an impression. Buying Trouble takes off with protagonist Claire being auctioned off to a bunch of Otherworldly beings. Claire is a mage, and her special ability is that she nullifies magic around her within a certain radius. She gets whisked off from the auction grounds and straight into Faerie by mysterious fey Heidar, and the action kicks in from there.

It’s a mad chase in the gritty alleys of Faerie as Claire and her savior dodge kidnap attempts by several… persistent clans, each determined to capture her and use her powers for their own means. Somewhere in the midst of all this running, they have sex. And… she turns into a dragon after the deed. Yep, weird doesn’t even begin to cover it. It turns out that Claire’s Two-Natured, and her other form is one of a baby dragon. Fun times.

Buying Trouble was a fun, fast-paced read, and throughly enjoyable. It’s written as a one-shot, and the story ties up nicely in the end, where Claire and Heidar relocate to the human world so she can come to terms with her dragon half.

Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny (6/15)

The story revolves around a Monère Queen (three quarters Monère, one quarter human), and the opening cahpter jumps right into the midst of the story. Mona Lisa is torn between Dontaine, her loyal follower and numerous other lovers in her bid to bear a child for the royal line. There’s loads of shapeshifting drama in this one – Mona Lisa’s other form is a tiger, and Dontaine’s is a wolf.

I can’t say I enjoyed this one as I did the others, mostly because the whole story seems very out of place with the other novellas that are clearly more urban fantasy-oriented. Mona Lisa Betwining is opens with more erotica than plot, and the protagonist’s promiscuity had me grimacing for most of it. If that’s your cup of tea, though, you can pick up other titles by Sunny that run in the same vein: Mona Lisa Awakening, Mona Lisa Blossoming, and Mona Lisa Craving.

See also: Cry Wolf, Hunting Ground, Night Season, Mona Lisa Awakening, Mona Lisa Blossoming, Mona Lisa Craving

Review: Hunting Ground

Happy Hunting Ground Day!

Hunting Ground is the long-awaited sequel to Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs. The series takes place after the events in the Alpha & Omega novella in On the Prowl. While Cry Wolf focused on Anna’s adjustment to Montana and her new relationship with Charles, Hunting Ground takes place a few weeks after, where the two are more settled with their freshly-established mating bond.

Bran sends Charles and Anna to Seattle, where Charles is supposed to head a conference to the Alphas of various werewolf packs about coming out to the public. Needless to say, not everyone agrees with this notion, and there’s a fair bit of political conflict. Cue dominance battles, cold-blooded murder, attempted kidnappings, and numerous incidences of bloodshed and decapitation. Any attempts to put down the book will likely be thwarted by the constant new developments in the story – I had quite the full bladder at the end of it all.

We get to observe Anna settling into her omega influence here, and the impact of the mating bond on her existing powers. We get more insight on the Charles/Brother Wolf combo, which was pretty refreshing. Anna’s inner wolf also makes a quick cameo – blink and you might just miss it.  Fans of Charles and Anna will enjoy the progressing of the duo’s relationship, both emotionally and physically.

Overall, it’s an action-packed plot with excellent characterisation – the new characters introduced to the series were likeable and nicely fleshed-out. You might recognize Moira and Tom as characters from Strange Brew (which details how they met). A lovely read from start to end.

And my favourite quote from the book? It was close, but it’s just got to be -

“Women are the bloodthirsty sex,” said Ric sadly. “We get the reputation, but it is only because the women stand behind us and say, ‘Kill it. Squish it.’ “

Highly recommended.

See also: On the Prowl, Cry Wolf, Strange Brew

Plot/originality: 4.5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4.5/5

Total score: 14/15

Review: Cry Wolf

Before we begin, let me just say that Cry Wolf just might be one of my favourite books to date. I tend to be a fairly picky reader and I dislike Mary Sues with a fiery passion – so I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up Cry Wolf.

Cry Wolf is a continuation of Charles’ and Anna’s story from the anthology On the Prowl. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the latter, you might want to do so before you start reading Cry Wolf. The book jumps straight into the story without preamble, which might be confusing for those who aren’t familiar with the backstory.

The Alpha and Omega series operates in the same bookverse as the Mercy Thompson series, but on a slightly different timeline. The events occuring in Cry Wolf unfold in parallel with the Mercy books, albeit at a slower pace. The story focuses on dominant wolf Charles Cornick (Bran’s son) and his newfound mate, Anna Latham. A little background on this new addition to the werewolf family – she’s an abused Omega wolf that was brutally victimized by her previous pack, and carries numerous emotional and physical scars to show for it. She follows Charles back to Montana after the death of her previous pack leader, Leo, and tries to adjust to her new life as Charles’ mate in snowy Aspen Creek. I enjoyed Anna’s interactions with Charles immensely; Briggs explores and depicts their progressing relationship with great aplomb. I particularly loved Charles in this one – he didn’t get much screen time in the Mercy series, but his character was so well-fleshed out in Cry Wolf that I seriously contemplated constructing some sort Charles shrine (the shrine is a no-go, so this review will have to do).

I love Patricia Briggs’ writing style – Cry Wolf is written in 3rd person (unlike her Mercy novels, which are written from Mercy’s perspective). It provides a fresh sort of outlook on the dynamics in the Marrok’s pack, and the appearance of various characters (both new and old) tied in with the main story beautifully. The latter half of the book was action-packed and had me on the edge of my seat. Highly recommended.

See also: On the Prowl, Hunting Ground

Plot/originality: 4.5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Total score: 13.5/15