Review: The Fur Flies!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 29, 2012
Quite good for a debut novel.This is the story of Caleb from North Carolina, who wakes up one morning to find that he's a dog. Fortunately, his dog happens to speak human, and is able to calm him down until his father comes home, when he is able to communicate in a rather interesting way to his father  that he isn't some stray (nice n a shifter book that the parent knows from the beginning and the kid has a support system). You see, Caleb's mother skipped town 6 years ago, and never bothered to tell her son and husband that she's from a family of canine shifters. Big point not to mention, huh?Caleb winds up in Los Angeles, where they find they have an entire family of shifters. He makes lots of friends, at least one enemy, discovers a fiendish crime, and reconciles with his girlfriend (you know, the one who is always the last to know).This is definitely a series and the author says that the second part comes out in the winter, and I will definitely be reading it. A few problems I had: (1) Ms. Bridger creates a Clark Kent / Lois Lane situation (almost exactly). It's been done - a lot. I hate it when the GF/BF is the last to know. The first person I would probably turn to in this situation is my girlfriend, especially how Caleb and Jo seem to love each other. They did this on "Teen Wolf" but, thank God, it didn't take an entire season for the girl to find out. (2) The evil villainous is unnecessarily cruel to Caleb. I get that this is a series, and that he has no choice but to work with her, but come on, she doesn't have to be a witch about it (well, she kind of has to, but...). I don't know why, but I think these two will become allies of sorts as the series progresses, because she apparently has no one in her life, and can help her with her work.All in all, a great book. It's told in the first person, and Ms. Bridge nails guy speak perfectly (some books, the guys sound like women and vice versa). He is extremely likable, and I rooted for him all the way. Caleb is quite a likeable guy. The secondary characters are quite good, and I really liked that the father supported his son 100%, accepting the bizarre while not quite understanding it. Clueless unsupportive parents just don't work in shifter books, and this one did - a lot. Even the "enemy" was somewhat likeable and interesting.All in all, an excellent debut. I look forward to more from Ms. Bridger. I would definitely enjoy corresponding with her, as she writes so well!