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: Iron Kissed

Iron Kissed is Book 3 in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Following the love triangle with Adam and Samuel in Moon Called and Blood Bound, Mercy finally makes her decision between the two. Romance aside, plot-wise, in Iron Kissed, Mercy’s ex-boss Zee, aka Siebold Adelbertsmiter (cool name.) asks her help in investigating several murders on the Fae reservation, pretty much using her like a sort of police dog, with her useful coyote nose. Mercy eventually sifts out the scent of the murderer, but in the course of her investigation, Zee has been framed for murder, and with him being so important to Mercy and all, she decides to stick her coyote nose into the whole business, with very bad consequences.

Mercy has previously been portrayed with her share of weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the first two books, although nothing really bad ends up happing to her. However, in this book, Mercy really gets screwed up. I could barely bring myself to read the book through to the end, but retrospectively, I think I rather like it. Ok guys, spoiler alert! Mercy gets raped by the baddie! Briggs deals admirably with both the event and the aftermath, realistically portraying the emotional and physical trauma faced by Mercy.

I liked this plot event since it serves as a reminder of reality, that help will not always get there in time, even for heroines and Mercy certainly isn’t a textbook heroine, but very humanly vulnerable. That doesn’t exactly make reading through it easier though, even if we get spared gruesome details. I laud Briggs for her willingness to tread into dangerous territory and for not overdoing the aftermath angst, though Mercy is mostly in shock, and also not having Mercy make a miraculously recovery(because who walks away from something like this unscathed?), but going through the normal stages of acceptance and recovery.

See also: Moon Called, Blood Bound, Bone Crossed

Plot/originality: 3.5/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Total score: 9.5/15

 

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

Review: Blood Bound

Blood Bound is Book 2 in the Mercy Thompson series and thus the sequel to Moon Called. New adventure but mostly same old characters, and same old unresolved love triangle. The Adam/Mercy/Samuel thing is starting to get old and tedious, especially since it looks as if it will last a few more books down the series. More on Stefan the mysterious vampiric friend in this book, since the baddie’s a vampire with special powers (wow.) that has nothing better to do than cause havoc in town. New power revealed for Mercy, magic resistance. Something a little overused in this genre, but the explanation here is at least somewhat logical. There is the presence of inter-species politics again, blah blah and could Stefan possibly be a new love-interest? Love square! However, there is no expansion in this area yet. Possibly saving it for the later books. Plot resolution is a tad anti-climatic, and oh, did Mercy make new enemies? Again?

Blood Bound follows pretty much the same formula as Moon Called, and while not exactly fantastic, still keeps to Brigg’s usual style. So if you liked Moon Called, then you would already be reading this. If you didn’t, then don’t read this. If you haven’t read Moon Called, then go read it first. No one likes a book-skipper!

See also: Moon Called, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed

Plot/originality: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Total score: 8/15

Review: Moon Called

Moon Called is the first book in the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. As any self-respecting fantasy reader is going to guess, this book, as evident from the slightly clichéd title,  is obviously  going to involve werewolves!  Mercedes, or Mercy Thompson as she tends to be referred to in the book, is the protagonist/ heroine, a car mechanic and surprisingly, not a werewolf. She is, however, a coyote shapeshifter who can see dead people, with the usual magic senses. Mercy barely stops short of MarySue-dom, due to Brigg’s realistic and down-to earth portrayal of her. It also helps that she isn’t exactly a teenager and is thus spared teenage angst.

So, plot-wise, Mercy meets a pathetic young werewolf in need of help and hires him, thus opening the door to more trouble.  Throw in animal experimentation, kidnappings and werewolf and vampire politics and we’ve got everything we need to rock n roll. Not to forget, the ever-present love triangle with animalistic lusts. Between Mercy, Adam, the sarcastic neighbor who also is the local Alpha werewolf (why is it always the alpha?) who happens to both be hot and have the hots for her (like we couldn’t see that coming) and Samuel, an old flame that once wanted her only for her womb (changed his mind now obviously), it does get a tad tedious after a bit.

There are an interesting variety of side characters, with Zee, her faerie ex-garage owner, Stefan, her vampiric friend with weird taste in cars and the usual local werewolf pack with more distinct personalities than most. Briggs manages to fuse the different fantasy elements quite well, creating a believable setting for the happenings of the book.

Overall, the book is not a bad read, it’s refreshing to have an older and practical heroine who isn’t infallible, but Briggs does tend to drone on in descriptions, possibly because this is the first book of the series and the plot is a little thin. I don’t really like the usual bestial sexual attraction that is often obligatory in werewolf fantasies, but it is almost bearable in this book. Characters are mostly well-fleshed out, with some more likable than others - I have almost total dislike for Samuel for his contrived angst, but each to his own. Moon Called isn’t the run-of-the-mill, bodice-ripping paranormal romance, but if you like not-so-heroic heroines, this one’s for you.

See also: Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, Bone Crossed

Plot/originality: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Total score: 9/15