Review: A pretty solid 1st in the series with a few issues
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 20, 2010
Keith and Abigail are an interesting leading couple. Both are alpha's (this is not typical for many paranormal/werewolf/vampire type books I've read) and strong. A leading lady that is strong but not hard and sarcastic is a welcome change for me. At first I thought Abby very smart - then she makes a choice I did not feel was in character for her and her strength sort of fizzles.I felt that the concept of a guide was good - that a new werewolf needed someone to help him/her control the wolf and learn about the community. Surprisingly that part did not seem rushed to me - I was fine with it. I thought the sex scenes were fine - they don't overwhelm the story nor do they seem contrived just for their own sake.What this book needed is about another 50-100 pages. Its true you hit the ground running but it leaves you with a quizzical bewildered viewpoint that just never really goes away. Too many unanswered questions.It needed backstory as to why the bad guy would turn Abigail, what he stood to gain from it, and why he so desperately seems to want her back. And her own backstory is flimsy - you just don't really feel her at all.Although there is some explanation of the politics of the shifter world it needed to be more in depth - as we are told repeatedly that there are bad alpha's and good alpha's and the good are becoming more and more scarce. I was very intruiged with that storyline and wanted a lot more depth and explanation of it - especially as the Main alpha Gavin didn't seem to have a ton of contact with other "old school" alpha's. It seems as if the story is going to devolve into an us vs. them...if so we need to be more connected to the "us" so we want to win against the "them".The werewolf/witch war also needed a bit of backstory - again another intriguing concept that gets barely a scarce mention and a very brief exposition. It would have been a much stronger book if we would have experienced Keith in combat - as it is we are just told.And that was my main problem with the novel - we are just told too much. It definitely had the feel of a series set up - the elements are all here they just don't fit into the puzzle as nicely as they could have. It has a very superficial feel. Like you are scratching the surface only and there is much below. It needed more fleshing out.However it is a quick read (very quick - all told less than an hour for me) and the characters are likable enough. It has great potential to develop into a wonderful series with more depth. I will be picking the other books up to read on my Kindle.