Review: A great new addition to Stephani Hecht's series.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2011
I give this just over four stars. It's not an epic romance or thriller that reaches new heights, but as an addition to the series by Stephani Hecht, it's a very fun story. The Lost Shifters series are supernatural thriller/romances centered around a Coalition of feline shifters. When the Ravens decimated the felines, it was thought all the young children were killed. Instead, other shifters hid them away, and the series deals with the finding of the lost children (now grown up quite a bit), and acclimating them to their new-found families.Trevor is one of the lost panther shifters. He has a lot of emotional baggage, but who doesn't in these stories. As part of the Coalition now, he avoids forming emotional bonds and is very much a playboy and known for being loose. He's also very much smitten with Shane, who is the Coalition's assassin. The problem is that Shane is a leopard shifter, and leopards are, well, not quite right. It's believed they are incapable of feeling love or any other tender emotion, and only have two desires; to kill or to have sex. Shane does come off as sociopathic, never displaying any emotions (except in mild forms to Trevor). He seems to have no ties to other individuals except two friends with whom he was held captive and taken advantage of. He's just as happy to kill you as much as talk to you.Here, we do get to look inside his head. He believes he's exactly like what they say about leopards; they're ruthless killers with no emotions. It bothers him that others are afraid of him, and the way they keep their distance does cause some pain, which he hides. Right there though, we see that he's not quite like they say he is because he does have some emotions. Especially where Trevor is concerned. The story deals with Shane's realization that he does indeed have strong feelings for Trevor, and Trevor's decision to make the disturbing leopard his lover. Behind this romance is a subplot of a particular assassin job that is giving Shane problems. There's a cobra shifter on the loose (one of the most feared shifters), who not only kills, and sometimes eats, both felines and humans, but who is also eluding Shane's attempts at finding him.Be forewarned that this is part one of a two-part storyline. It ends on a cliffhanger, and you have to wait until the next book to see their relationship and the action fully unfold. The pacing is very good, the characterization is good, and the plot zips along. The story exceed my expectations and has some emotional punch to it. It's a fun, exciting, and sexy tale that doesn't disappoint. Now I just can't wait for the conclusion!