WILD SIGN

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs
Narrated by Holter Graham
Book 6 of the Alpha & Omega series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audio

About Wild Sign:

Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham must discover what could make an entire community disappear — before it's too late — in this thrilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Alpha and Omega series.

In the wilds of the Northern California mountains, all the inhabitants of a small town have gone missing. It's as if the people picked up and left everything they owned behind. Fearing something supernatural might be going on, the FBI taps a source they've consulted in the past: the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. But Charles and Anna soon find a deserted town is the least of the mysteries they face.

Death sings in the forest, and when it calls, Charles and Anna must answer. Something has awakened in the heart of the California mountains, something old and dangerous — and it has met werewolves before.

Source: Info in the "About Wild Sign" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54325980-wild-sign on 05/03/2021.

My Thoughts:

I was hoping that we will see Wellesley again... and we kinda did... if only through his art! I'm happy with that! However, I am still hoping to see more of him in subsequent books.

I still think that the US cover art is far more wonderful than the UK one. I always liked Dan Dos Santos' work! I wish UK would hire a good artist too! The UK covers are amazingly dull! Not to mention not apropos. Anna never carried a gun! The only gun mentioned here is the witch gun which is described more like a taser than a gun. The UK covers is a disservice to Patricia Briggs' stories!

As usual this author delivers a story with compelling story telling quality and a stunningly wonderful reading time! But then again, I am a devoted, old fan so my review of this author's work would always be biased.

Empirical Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5 (US)
Cover art = 3 (UK)
Pace = (9 hrs and 47 mins listening time)
Plot = 5
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Alpha & Omega Series:

             

About Patricia Briggs
	Patricia Briggs was born in Butte, Montana to a children’s librarian who passed on to her kids a love of reading and books. Patricia grew up reading fairy tales and books about horses, and later developed an interest in folklore and history. When she decided to write a book of her own, a fantasy book seemed a natural choice. Patricia graduated from Montana State University with degrees in history and German and she worked for a while as a substitute teacher. Currently, she lives in Montana with her husband, children and six horses and writes full-time, much to the delight of her fans.
www.patriciabriggs.com | facebook | twitter | goodreads | Amazon

The Narrator

About Holter Graham:

Holter Graham, winner of AudioFile's 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Acheron, is a stage, television, and screen actor.

www.holtergraham.com | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
This book, in all it's purchased formats, was bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

BURN BRIGHT

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
Narrated by Holter Graham
Book 5 of the Alpha & Omega series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audio

About Burn Bright:

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf — but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills — his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker — to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

Source: Info in the About Burn Bright was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35294265-burn-bright on 03/02/2018.

My Thoughts:

I find Holter Graham's words are not very clear and distinct so I am so very glad of kindle's whisper sync feature where you can read the ebook and listen to the narration at the same time. Otherwise I would not have bought just the audiobook by this narrator. Having said that, I find Holter Graham's reading of this book is not as slurred as the previous book.

Patricia Briggs surprised me with the plotting with this book. I'm not really used to twists in urban fantasy. Most of the time they're formulaic. So kudos to the author for the story building!! Not to mention the masterful story telling quality and wonderful world building, as usual! Now its post-great-read-depression!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5 (US)
Pace = (9 hrs and 47 mins listening time)
Plot = 5
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Alpha & Omega Series:

             

About Patricia Briggs
	Patricia Briggs was born in Butte, Montana to a children’s librarian who passed on to her kids a love of reading and books. Patricia grew up reading fairy tales and books about horses, and later developed an interest in folklore and history. When she decided to write a book of her own, a fantasy book seemed a natural choice. Patricia graduated from Montana State University with degrees in history and German and she worked for a while as a substitute teacher. Currently, she lives in Montana with her husband, children and six horses and writes full-time, much to the delight of her fans.
www.patriciabriggs.com | facebook | twitter | goodreads | Amazon

FTC Disclosure:
This book, in all it's purchased formats, was bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

SHIFTING SHADOWS

Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs
Narrated by Alexander Cendese and Lorelei King
Novellas in the Alpha & Omega and Mercy Thompson serieses
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Shifting Shadows:

Mercy Thompson’s world just got a whole lot bigger…

A collection of all-new and previously published short stories featuring Mercy Thompson, “one of the best heroines in the urban fantasy genre today” (Fiction Vixen Book Reviews), and the characters she calls friends…

Includes the new stories…
“Silver”
“Roses in Winter”
“Redemption”
“Hollow”

…and reader favorites
“Fairy Gifts”
“Gray”
“Alpha and Omega”
“Seeing Eye”
“The Star of David”
“In Red, with Pearls”

Source: Info in the About Shifting Shadows was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821263-shifting-shadows on 07/02/2018.

My Thoughts:

I believe that these collection of short stories or novellas in the world of Mercy Thompson would have been better read chronologically within the series' timeline. As it is, I read them in one bulk as given here in this anthology after I've read the books that has been published already thus far. And a few of those books were read, like, donkey's years ago, that I have forgotten the events in those stories already. This kind of diminished my enjoyment of the little stories here, however, I would still read them even though it is no longer according to chronological order because they are good reads. And I am a die-hard Mercy Thompson fan. Little bits of morsel to savour. Most of these little stories are like little snippets with in which the ending and the start was in the books in the series, therefore, if you haven't read the books, it would not make a lot of sense and I presume that it would just be more frustrating than an enjoyable read. So caution to those who are not followers of this urban fantasy world. This anthology book is so not a good place to start reading about the Mercy Thompson world or the Alpha & Omega series.

Plot... some of the short stories does not have much of a plot because it is just a little slice of the bigger story in whatever book in which the short story fits into the Mercy Thompson timeline. So, in so many ways, the plot rating does not apply to this anthology. However, even though the stories here are just short and/or snippets, the wonderful story telling quality that is the trademark of this author still shines through, that is why this book remains a good read despite all my whining about it.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = (N/A)
Writing Style = 4
Ending = (N/A)
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (14 hours & 52 minutes)
Plot = (N/A)
Narration = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


  Books In The Mercy Thompson Series:
Click on the cover image to go to my review or to the GoodReads page of the book for more info.

                     

  Books In The Alpha & Omega Series:

             

About Patricia Briggs
	Patricia Briggs was born in Butte, Montana to a children’s librarian who passed on to her kids a love of reading and books. Patricia grew up reading fairy tales and books about horses, and later developed an interest in folklore and history. When she decided to write a book of her own, a fantasy book seemed a natural choice. Patricia graduated from Montana State University with degrees in history and German and she worked for a while as a substitute teacher. Currently, she lives in Montana with her husband, children and six horses and writes full-time, much to the delight of her fans.
www.patriciabriggs.com | facebook | twitter | goodreads | Amazon

FTC Disclosure:
This book, in all it's purchased formats, was bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.