Review: Echo Falls
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 14, 2011
Echo Falls was a quick and enjoyable read. The book centers on two main characters, Phoebe and Aidan. This book is a book that focuses on werewolves, there are no other supernatural elements within this book. That being sad this a face paced, mystery, love story, and over all small town adventure.The book starts out with Phoebe arriving in Echo Falls, and it's quite clear from the beginning that Phoebe is on the run from something. Not only is she afraid and on the run to begin with but when she makes it to Echo Falls she is attacked, and not by any random person, but by a werewolf. Clearly this has not been the best couple of days of Phoebe. A man named Aidan rescues her, and as the story progresses we find out that Echo Falls has been falling victim to the work of a serial killer, and Aidan (werewolf cop extraordinaire) is trying to find the culprit.I think this book falls under the paranormal romance category because the really the chemistry between Phoebe and Aidan is palpable from the very beginning of the book. I do appreciate that the romantic elements did not just exploded at the beginning of the book, but rather McDougall allowed the chemistry to build and the two people to really get to know each other. The romance was more organic than just completely lust based.One of the characters I would like to mention right of the bat is Mia, she is the mean girl all of us new in high school. I don't think there is a girl who hasn't experienced a mean girls wrath at some point or another, and a werewolf mean girl brings being a mean girl to a whole new level. Mia I think is one of the more well developed characters in the book, she was the easiest character for me to paint a picture off in my head.I appreciate that the book was very fast paced, and it did a great job of keeping my attention throughout the book. Although there were several occasions where the book moved so quickly it almost felt a little disjointed. Also in some scenes where both Aidan and Phoebe were in it, it felt as if McDougall switched point of view every couple of paragraphs, which sometimes made it hard for me to follow.Another point to bring up is that the action moves very quickly within the book and because of the characters don't really have a chance to evolve or for the reader to get to know them fully. If the author decides to do a sequel there is certainly enough character knowledge in this book to build on down the line. But if this is a stand alone only book then I wish I had gotten to know the characters a little bit better.I think this is a good book for anyone looking for an urban fantasy book that is both action packed with a romantic element. I know a lot of us book readers out there love books that focus on werewolves only, and if you are one of those people then this is certainly a book you will enjoy. If you are looking for a book that contains a lot of world/character building this may not be the book for you, this is more of an enjoyable weekend escape kind of book. Overall, this is a good solid book.