Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

The Alpha and Omega novels transport readers into the realm of the werewolf, where Charles Cornick and Anna Latham embody opposite sides of the shifter personality. Now, a holiday to Arizona drops them into some bad supernatural business...

Charles and Anna will discover that a dangerous Fae is on the loose, replacing human children with Simulacrums. The Fae's cold war with humanity is about to heat up - and Charles and Anna are in the crossfire.

Anna and Charles are fast becoming my favourite couple in this universe. I like Anna's down-to-earth-ness and how Charles is her opposite in so many ways but her total equal at the same time.

It's sort of hard to talk about the world building and character building details in a book that's already well into a series since the world has been built in previous books and also the Mercy Thompson series. I can however talk about the character growth in this book, Anna has decided she wants kids with Charles but female werewolves aren't capable of carrying a child to term because of the changes so Charles isn't very amenable to the idea.

Through the course of the book, Anna gets to see how Charles is with kids and this actually seems to firm her idea and make her more determined to convince Charles.

I will actually buy and read an Alpha & Omega book over a Mercy book now, and I suggest you go do the same if you haven't already read this series.


Book Depository: Dead Heat
Amazon UK: Dead Heat

Country vs Country - Mercy Thompson & Alpha and Omega

Here is my 4th cover vs cover post. This time we're going to look at Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series.

Above are the US covers and, as much as I LOVE Dan Dos Santos' artwork, I just can't find the love for these covers. I don't know what it is but I'm just glad I didn't buy these covers instead of the UK ones. Although given that the UK covers have changed (grrr) partway through the series, at least I would've had matching covers.

And these are the UK covers. I love the original ones but I really don't like the new covers .... nuh uh, just don't like 'em! I liked the original Mercy covers since they were all silhouettey and cool looking. And I liked the original Alpha & Omega covers because they were very mystic-y looking (if you know what I mean by that). I'm annoyed that the covers are changing, nothing bugs me more than my books being thrown out of whack.

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

They say opposites attract, and for werewolves Anna and Charles, this is certainly true. Charles, the pack enforcer, is a dominant alpha - whereas Anna has the power to calm others of her kind. Now that werewolves have dared to reveal themselves to humans, it's their job to keep the pack in line.

The pressure mounts when the FBI requires Charles's assistance. He's sent on a mission to Boston with Anna, and they quickly realise that a serial killer is targeting werewolves. And that they're next on the killer's list.

***SPOILERS***





I find that I'm actually enjoying the Alpha & Omega series more than the Mercy Thompson series, it may be because I like Charles more than Adam and Anna more than Mercy or it may be that the storylines seem to interest me more than those in the Mercy books. Although that's not to be read as me hating the Mercy books, just that I enjoy these ones even more.

The third and latest Alpha & Omega starts off with Anna having a stand off with Bran over Charles, Anna doesn't like him being used as the Marrok's assassin. When Bran realises that it is in fact what's bothering his son, he sends Anna and Charles to consult with the FBI on a case involving dead werewolves. What they find when they get there is that the murders go back to the 70s and most of the victims have been fae. They quickly realise that it's not a human serial killer if they've managed to take down several fae and also a few werewolves. They manage to save the latest victim but it brings the attention onto Anna who, having been a victim before, refuses to become one again.

I love how these books let us see more and more into Charles and Bran's heads, I love seeing Charles and Anna's relationship through his (and Brother Wolf's) eyes. And I think it says a lot about me that I love dominant Charles, he certainly managed to bring forth shivers when I read the scenes he's in.

I adore the writing style of Patricia Briggs and also her characters, she's had several books to work on the characters and I find myself loving them more with each book. And the ending of this book is fantastic! It brings forth a whole whack of possibilities and also leaves the series open for plenty more books.


Book Depository: Fair Game
Amazon UK: Fair Game

My 10 Favourite Series

I wrote Top 10 up there in the post title but then thought to myself "I can't actually put them in order of most to least favourite", so I deleted the top and it is now just my 10 favourite in alphabetical order.
The lists are in reading order, I have included links to author sites and, if available, direct links from there to the individual books. Also a link to my review if I've done one.

ALPHA & OMEGA by Patricia Briggs
The first story, Alpha & Omega , is actually a short story in the anthology On The Prowl. My review of On The Prowl.
Cry Wolf. My review of Cry Wolf.
Hunting Ground. My review of Hunting Ground.
Alpha & Omega #3 is due to be published in Autumn 2011

BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD by J.R. Ward
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
Insider's Guide
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine

DARKEST POWERS by Kelley Armstrong
Darkest Powers website
The Summoning. My review of The Summoning.
The Awakening. My review of The Awakening.
The Reckoning. My review of The Reckoning.
And the following book is technically a new series called Darkness Rising but it's the same world as Darkest Powers and is based on the same storyline.
The Gathering is due to be released April 2011

JANE TRUE by Nicole Peeler
Tempest Rising. My review of Tempest Rising.
Tracking the Tempest. My review of Tracking the Tempest.
Tempest's Legacy. My review of Tempest's Legacy.

KITTY NORVILLE by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty Goes to Washington
Kitty Takes a Holiday
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Kitty Raises Hell
Kitty's House of Horrors
Kitty Goes to War

MERCY THOMPSON by Patricia Briggs
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron Kissed
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked is due to be released March 2011

MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES by Rachel Caine
Glass Houses
The Dead Girls' Dance
Midnight Alley
Feast of Fools
Lord of Misrule
Carpe Corpus
Fade Out
Kiss of Death
Ghost Town. My review of Ghost Town.
Bite Club is due to be released April 2011

OTHERWORLD by Kelley Armstrong
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Involved
Personal Demon
Living with the Dead
Frostbitten
Waking the Witch. My review of Waking the Witch.
Spell Bound is due to be released July/August 2011
Men of the Otherworld is an anthology of shorts all written from the male's perspective.
Tales of the Otherworld is another anthology of shorts. If I remember correctly, Tales and Men were both written to raise money for charity.
Angelic is a novella written for Subterranean Press and was a very limited run. It is no longer available to buy (except from unscrupulous folks on ebay) but is available in audio book format.
Counterfeit Magic is also a novella from Subterranean Press. Just been released so I'm not sure about available copies. However, knowing the want of Kelley fans out there, it is probably no longer available in print.

SHIFTERS by Rachel Vincent
Stray
Rogue
Pride
Prey
Shift
Alpha. My review of Alpha.
Unfortunately, this great series is now finished.

SOOKIE STACKHOUSE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE by Charlaine Harris
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
Dead in the Family

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

For hundreds of years, werewolves have kept their existence hidden from all but a select few humans. But, if the packs agree, the time for keeping secrets might be over.
Anna and Charles have been sent to the wolves' conclave in Seattle to keep the peace. But when Jean Chastel, the leader of the French werewolves, goes after Anna, Charles can't control himself. Chastel survives the vicious fight that ensues, but when he's discovered murdered that night, Charles is the prime suspect. And the penalty for murdering a fellow werewolf is death.
Now Anna has only days to clear her partner's name. She knows Charles is innocent, but if he didn't do it - who did?
More of Charles and Anna and even more relationship growing which I'm still loving. The thing that confused me though was that the actual storyline from the blurb doesn't happen until the book is nearly finished. For ages I thought the blurb was wrong and the story wasn't going to happen until the next book. Chastel is the typical bad guy, you love to hate him and are very pleased when he dies.
I think all women secretly want a guy like Charles who's willing to do anything to protect you and loves you unconditionally. There's a particularly nice scene where Charles shows he's willing to submit to Anna to help her overcome her fear of Alphas and deal with her wolf being able to do things that she can't do on her own.
Can't wait for more Charles and Anna.
Rating 5/5


Book Depository: Hunting Ground
Amazon UK: Hunting Ground

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Anna Latham hasn't had an easy life. Turned into a werewolf against her will and forced into a life of servitude, she'd do anything to break free from her pack. So when Charles takes on her pack's Alpha, Anna finally has a chance to escape.
But now Anna's rescuer is the one who needs help. Hikers are dying and all signs point to a werewolf that's gone rogue. An injured Charles can't handle the investigation alone and soon Anna is in way over her head. Few things more dangerous than a rogue wolf, and Anna is about to find out just what they are ...
I know I already said it in the On the Prowl review but I really really love Anna and Charles. I wish I'd read these books before I read the Mercy Thompson series because the Alphas don't seen as bad in this, or maybe it was just Adam I didn't like. I don't know ... anyway Cry Wolf. Definitely worth a read, I like the Omega aspect and how everyone reacts to Anna, also how that reaction makes Brother Wolf (Charles' wolf) react to them.
Anna had a bad start as a werewolf and it takes her a while to trust Charles but Patricia Briggs writes amazingly well and with really lets you get into their heads. It's great getting both their thoughts on the matters and you can't help (well I couldn't) shouting at them in your mind that they're both thinking the same things and if they just spoke to one another they'd move forward so much quicker. But, that's why we read books, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun if the whole story was sorted out in the first chapter. Anna meets someone who knows more about Omegas and helps him, in turn he helps them with the big showdown.
Rating 5/5


Book Depository: Cry Wolf
Amazon UK: Cry Wolf