Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

Fair Game is the 3rd novel in the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs. I suggest you start with Cry Wolf. 

Summary: They say opposites attract, and for werewolves Anna and Charles, this is certainly true. Charles, the pack enforcer, is a dominant alpha – whereas Anna has the power to calm others of her kind. Now that werewolves have dared to reveal themselves to humans, it’s their job to keep the pack in line. The pressure mounts when the FBI requires Charles’ assistance. He’s sent on a mission to Boston with Anna, and they quickly realise that a serial killer is targeting werewolves. And that they’re next on the killer’s list.

My Thoughts: I can always count on Briggs to deliver a fairly satisfying story. What I really enjoy about her progression through her various series (including the Mercy Thompson books) is her ability to continuously evolve her main characters while at the same time bringing in new faces and new kinds of adventures as well as enemies. I think that’s a pretty hard thing to do, especially when you have a series that’s grown to over 5 novels. In this case, anyway, Fair Game is the 3rd in the series begun by Cry Wolf and continued in Hunting Ground.

The growth of character is most obvious in Anna, the protagonist of Fair Game–she’s progressed from a shy, timid, abused young woman to someone stronger and more assertive. I’m glad we got to see more of that in Fair Game. She and Charles have settled into a more comfortable routine for awhile now, but things are starting to slide into the deep end when Charles’ unofficial job as enforcer of his father’s laws begins to wear on him in some scary and deeply depressing ways. That they’re sent on a trip to the East coast to help out the FBI with a serial killer case is almost a blessing, a distraction from everything else that’s been going on.

And there’s a lot going on because the world now knows the truth of what Anna and Charles and their friends are: not human. The so-called “coming out” of the werewolf community to the rest of the world is handled interestingly and fairly realistically, I think, by Briggs. There’s politicking, panic, curiosity, and the whole atmosphere felt a bit like a tension before the explosion–maybe this will be explored more in future books?

The only major criticism I’d have against Briggs is something that I see in a lot of her writing, and is not specific to Fair Game. She will often do a lot of exposition in her novels, where there’s a lot of dialogue between her characters that’s meant to explain some new supernatural concept or relationship to the reader, but it’s done in a fairly heavy-handed way that does not sound natural. It sounds a bit forced at times, but it doesn’t detract from the excitement of the plot.

A good addition to a great series.

Author Website: http://hurog.com/
How did I get this novel?: Ebook!

New name; currently reading; getting back in the game

First off: I used to be lasrisas.wordpress.com, but I thought a name change would do me some good. This book blog is now shelfworn.wordpress.com–trying to get more in line with the “book”-y aspect of things.

I’ve got a few more weeks of school left, and then it’s summertime, which means READING time! Reading for pleasure I mean–I do plenty of reading during the school year, but it’s a lot of textbooks and analysis and blah blah blah.

Anyway, I jumped the gun into summer by finishing Bitterblue in about a day, and I’m currently in the midst of Patricia Briggs’ latest Alpha & Omega novel: Fair Game.

Here’s the summary for the 3rd novel in the series:

Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, “always enchants her readers.” (Lynn Viehl, New York Times bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey…

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can’t afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father’s dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack’s help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer’s sights…

I think one of my goals for summer 2012 is to do a better job on this blog–more reviews, more networking, more discussion, more everything. I’ve really been neglecting it for the past few months. At one point in the past I was updating twice weekly and doing giveaways! That was also back when I had more time to read & review, however.

Time to get back in the game.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review: I read this when I was back home in Seattle for Thanksgiving Break, and I am only just now getting around to doing reviews for books I read around that time. Anyway, Hunting Ground was a great sequel to the first (Cry Wolf) in the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs. Here’s a summary from bn.com because my memory is a little fuzzy:

Anne Latham didn’t know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son–and enforcer–of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn’t know how dangerous it could be either…

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan–and it seems like someone else might be, too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all–or risk losing everything…

I haven’t really enjoyed any of Briggs’ other series (even her famous Mercy Thompson series) but I enjoy this one because I like Anna and I like Charles. They are both realistic, believable characters to me and I like how their relationship progresses. What doesn’t hurt is this funny coincidence–in Hunting Ground, Anna is Chicago native currently in Seattle, whereas I am a Seattle native currently living in Chicago! This book was set in the Puget Sound/Seattle area and it was nice to be reminded of all the familiar places at home.

I could have written a better review had I gotten around to doing it sooner… suffice to say I enjoyed it.

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: INTRODUCING THE ALPHA AND OMEGA NOVELS…

Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack… and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.

My Thoughts: I’ve never been the biggest fan of Patricia Briggs. I’ve read some of her older stuff, didn’t like it, and tried her popular Mercy Thompson novels, but didn’t much like those either.

The summary for Cry Wolf sounded interesting, so I decided to give Briggs another go. I’m glad I did, because I liked this one a great deal better than her previous novels. I liked the heroine, Anna, and her main man, Charles. The progression was interesting and kept me entertained.

Generally a good read, not all that engrossing, but a nice way to spend a few hours.