FAIR GAME

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs
Book 3 in the Alpha & Omega series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & paperback

About Fair Game:

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son — and enforcer — of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves — all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

Source: Info in the About Fair Game was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7942786-fair-game on 01/02/2018.

My Thoughts:

This is the first book in the series that got tantric magic in it, even including the original Mercy Thompson series. That was unexpected... With Hunting Ground, I was not so very enthusiastic about this series despite me being a big fan of Patricia Briggs. However by this book I became a devotee of this series. It finally got its hook on me after all these years! The darkness of the first novella which was the first entry into this series is now far, far away... So now I got to enjoy this author's marvellous story telling quality again without that darkness looming over my reader's head. So I enjoyed another great read from Patricia Briggs! What ticks me off though is the ugly cover art of the UK edition of this book! Why can't they keep Dan delos Santos' amazing art??! And the Anna depiction of the UK cover art is not even apropos to the story! Whats that all about!! So the cover art rating I gave for this book relates to the US cover as opposed to the UK cover.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 5
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 4.5 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 was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

STORM CURSED

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs
Book 11 of the Mercy Thompson series
Read by Lorelei King and George Newbern
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: hardback, ebook & audiobook

About Storm Cursed:

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.

And a coyote shapeshifter . . . And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.

But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it.

Source: Info in the About Storm Cursed was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25026912-storm-cursed on 02/09/2018.

My Thoughts:

Being an old fan of Mercy Thompson, I have probably said all that I have to say about this book in my reviews of previous books in this series. Nevertheless, it is still true that this book is masterfully written and a wonderful read! However, I am not sure why this book is titled Storm Cursed though... and the ending was slightly drawn-out.

Now that Mercy has discovered her new affinity for zombies, I wonder what this new ability will do for her and for the pack in the future... and what would now happen to Wulfe, after his encounter with the Hardesty witches... and after Mercy told him to be "at peace".

Looking forward to the next Mercy Thompson book!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = 5
Plot = 5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 5 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.
                     

 

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 was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

HUNTING GROUND

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
Book 2 of the Alpha & Omega series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & paperback

About Hunting Ground:

Anna Latham didn’t know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son — and enforcer — of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn’t know how dangerous it could be either.

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan — and it seems like someone else might be too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all — or risk losing everything.

Source: Info in the About Hunting Ground was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5292853-hunting-ground on 27/01/2018.

My Thoughts:

I stopped reading this series for a long while because I did not like the torture and rape that was the story of the first entry into this series, the Alpha & Omega novella, in the On The Prowl anthology book. But after several years. I forgot my annoyance and picked this series up again. Which is good because I like Patricia Briggs! And it is something good to read while waiting for the next Mercy Thompson book to come out. However by the end of this book I was also a fan of this series as well. There was a hole in the plot which I am vigorously ignoring however it still irritated me. A little. And that sank the rating of this book down, not down to the sand, but almost. But that didn't keep me from buying the next books in this series, in two or three different formats!

So the sum of the parts should rate this book a whole lot more than 3.5. And I was ambivalent about the final rating about this book. Sometimes it felt like a 3, and sometimes it felt like a 4 or more. In the end, I settled for 3.5, and by the way, no Patricia Briggs book is ever going to rate a less than 3.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 3
Plot = 3

Overall Rating: 3.5 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 was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.